India – Pakistan Hockey DiplomacyThanks to the Junior Hockey World Cup, India – Pakistan Hockey diplomacy got revived after 3 years. For the first time since 2018, the Pakistani hockey team arrived in India to participate in the Junior Hockey World Cup. The last time a Pakistani hockey team was in India was for the senior World Cup in 2018. Before that, they had participated in the Champions Trophy in 2014. Pakistani players were not issued visas for the Junior Hockey World Cup in 2016 – the year of the Pathankot and Uri attacks, which was followed by the surgical strikes. A platform to mould youngsters into individualsThe experience in the Junior Hockey World Cup will definitely help players in their overall development. Apart from providing a global platform to the participating nations to groom their young talent, the tournament offers the countries a fantastic opportunity to expose their players to varied cultures from around the world and help them grow as individuals so that they can make it to the men’s national team. The players will also learn from watching these 16 nations. It’s a good way to know which countries are going to do well in the next eight years. No wonder then, the teams (India and Belgium) that played in the final of the last Junior World Cup in 2016 finished at first and third position in the Tokyo Olympics. Seven Indian and five Belgian players, including reserves, from that Junior World Cup final in 2016 played in the Tokyo Olympics. In that context, the Junior World Cup assumes a lot of significance.
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