The coach of the Bangladesh youth hockey team, Siegfried Aikman, has expressed disappointment over the cancellation of their planned tour to Switzerland before the upcoming FIH Hockey Junior World Cup in India from November 28 to December 10.
The team was set to compete in two matches each against the youth teams of Switzerland and Austria on a European tour in early December. However, the tour had to be called off due to complications with visa applications.
During a press briefing at the Bangladesh Hockey Federation headquarters, the general secretary Riazul explained that the Swiss Embassy did not grant visas for all 26 players in a single application as the tour was not part of an official international tournament.
Coach Aikman shared his disappointment, stating, “I’m very disappointed. I was very upset, but you always need to have a Plan B.” He mentioned that the alternative plan involved training the senior team and pitting them against the junior team, which proved beneficial for their preparation.
Aikman revealed that the team’s focus in Malaysia was on defense, and following that tour where they lost four out of five matches, they worked on improving their defensive strategies. The original plan was to assess the team’s performance in attack and defense in Switzerland, which unfortunately could not materialize.
As a backup plan, Aikman is currently training 31 players for both the Junior World Cup and an upcoming series against Pakistan’s senior team, which will serve as qualifiers for the Senior Men’s World Cup.
Looking ahead to the Junior World Cup, Aikman aims to compete strongly against higher-ranked teams in the group, emphasizing the importance of playing competitive matches rather than losing by large margins. He expressed a desire to surprise Korea and perform well against Australia and France.
The team is scheduled to depart for India on November 18, where they will have training sessions and practice matches against Switzerland and Chile before the tournament commences with 24 participating teams.
The immediate focus for the team is on the best-of-three-match series against Pakistan on November 13, 14, and 16 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium, with the winners securing a spot in the FIH Senior Men’s Hockey World Cup next year.