The tenth junior hockey World Cup got underway on the 6th of December at New Delhi’s Major Dhyanchand national stadium. This is the first time that India is hosting the quadrennial event.

Malaysia is the only country to have held the junior World Cup on more than one occasion. They have hosted it thrice, including in 2009 when they co-hosted it with Singapore. For the junior World Cup, the players must be under the age of 21.

Pakistan qualified for the event by finishing second in the Junior Asia Cup last year.

The top three teams from that tournament, Malaysia, Pakistan and Korea, made it to the junior World Cup as the Asian representatives; India qualified automatically as the hosts.

Pakistan have quite a few players who have donned the senior colours. Three of them, Umar Bhutta (captain), M Tousiq (vice-captain) and M Rizwan Jr, played in the 2012 Olympics.

One Pakistani umpire, Haider Rasool, has been selected to whistle at this junior World Cup.

Some interesting facts:

* Pakistan’s tally in the tournament history is one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

* After climbing the podium in each of the first five editions, Pakistan have failed to win any medal since 1993.

* In the sixth edition they ended 5th; they failed to qualify for the seventh Junior World Cup; in the eighth, Pakistan were 7th; and in the ninth, our juniors finished 5th.

* Pakistan’s captains in eight appearances: Manzoor Hussain (Jr), Qasim Zia, Shahid Ali Khan, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammad Khalid (Sr), Mohammad Khalid (Jr), Shakeel Abbasi and Shafqat Rasool. Of these Manzoor Hussain Jr, Shahbaz Ahmad and Shakeel Abbasi went on to lead Pakistan’s senior side as well.

* Manzoor Jr enjoys a rare distinction. He was the captain of the Pakistan team which won the first Junior World Cup in 1979. Then in 1984, he also skippered the gold medal winning national side at the Los Angeles Olympics.

* Mohammad Shahbaz Jr with 10 goals in 1993 is Pakistan’s highest scorer in the Junior World Cup.

* Fourteen out of 16 members of the Pakistan team in the third Junior World Cup (1985) had or later played for the senior team.

* The team that ultimately finished third in the fourth Junior World Cup (1989) is considered Pakistan’s finest ever junior squad. From 1986-89 this team played 49 matches against various junior as well as senior national sides. They won 45, drew two and lost just one match (the semi-final of the 1989 Junior World Cup). The teams they defeated included senior squads of nations as strong as Holland and England.

* Incidentally, Anjum Saeed, one of the coaches of the current junior squad of Pakistan, was a member of that 1989 Junior World Cup team. The other coach Danish Kalim played in the 1993 edition when Pakistan last won a medal (silver) at the Junior World Cup.

* Pakistan’s victorious team in the first Junior World Cup had full-back Afzal Chaudhry as one of its members. Afzal’s elder brother, Arshad Chaudhry, was a member of Pakistan’s winning team in the first senior World Cup (1971).

* Pakistan’s team in the second Junior World Cup (1985) had twin brothers in K M Awais and K M Bilal. Their third brother Khawaja M Junaid was a member of the third Junior World Cup (1989) team. Junaid was the coach of the team in the last junior World Cup (2009).

* Pakistan’s squad for the sixth Junior World Cup (1997) also included a pair of brothers, Imran and Irfan Yousuf. Germany are the most successful side, having lifted the junior World Cup five times. Four of their wins came in successive editions: from the 2nd to the 5th editions. Pakistan, Australia, India and Argentina have all been victorious once.

Pools for this year’s tournament:

Pool A: Pakistan, Germany, Belgium, Egypt.

Pool B: Australia, Argentina, France, Spain.

Pool C: India, Holland, Korea, Canada.

Pool D: England, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa. Top two teams from each pool will progress to the knockout phase starting from the quarter-finals.