ACT, a chance to test new combinations before Jr WC: Clark

With focus firmly on the FIH Junior Men's World Cup in December, India is sending a relatively junior team for the Asian Champions Trophy in Japan and chief coach Gregg Clark said the upcoming tournament will give him a chance to assess all the arsenal at his disposal ahead of the quadrennial event.
Hockey India has included as many as 13 players from the Sultan of Johor Cup-winning junior squad in the 18-man touring party announced for the third Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) to be held in Kakamigahara, Japan from November 2-10.
"The Junior World Cup is merely five weeks away so the preparations are mainly aimed at that. We are testing out some new combinations. It's all part of the process to try and make sure that come December 6 we are in the best place as a team," Clark told reporters at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here today before departing for Japan later tonight.

"We will just try to build on what we did previously in Johor Cup in terms of all our structures. We scored some good penalty corners there but we need to better our conversion rate. Gurjinder Singh is in the team, he wasn't in Johor. He is very effective in penalty corners. So the tournament will be a test for him. Our main focus will be to see how complete as a team we are by the time ACT gets over," he added.
The South African said the ACT is an opportunity for some regular members of the senior side like Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh to mix with the junior set up.

"The strength of the team is that we have got 13 players from the Sultan of Johor Cup team. We can build on that. Hopefully, the players who are coming in can add really good values. For guys like Mandeep and Akashdeep who have joined the team, it is an opportunity to learn from Greg Clark and Baljit Saini, may be slightly different from Roelant Oltmans' coaching in the Asia Cup," Clark said.