18-player roster announced for Malaysia Junior World Cup
Field Hockey Canada is thrilled to announce the touring roster for the 2023 Junior World Cup taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in December.
Canada qualified for the Junior World Cup by placing second at the 2023 Junior Pan American Championships, in Barbados. Team Canada defeated Barbados, USA, Guyana and Chile en route to the gold medal game.
The 2023 Junior World Cup marks the fourth consecutive Junior World Cup that the Junior Men’s National Team has qualified for. In 2021, the team defeated USA and Chile in the last two games of the World Cup to secure 13th place, the team’s best finish since the 1980s.
The roster consists of primarily returning athletes from their Pan American silver medal-winning team. 16 of the 18 athletes were in Barbados. This includes the goal-scoring threats of Robin Thind and Hudson Loh. The back-end is well protected by Alex Bird, Grant Simpson and Maan Sidhu as well as the dual-threat goalkeeping duo of Gaurav Ghai and Armaan Bagri.
Jyoth Sidhu, Julius D’Souza and Alex Bird are the three veteran players who return from the 2021 Junior World Cup roster in India. 10 members of the 2021 junior national team are now training and competing with the senior national team. The development pipeline between the junior and senior men’s team is consistently producing elite talent that is making the next jump, a strategic element of Field Hockey Canada’s blueprint for international success. Emma Bray, Field Hockey Canada’s High Performance Director notes this strategy means success at all levels is at hand.
“We’re really seeing the development pathway pay off as we’re consistently moving players from the junior to senior environment. We have qualified for four consecutive Junior World Cups, meaning these athletes get international experience as they enter the senior training environment,” Bray said. “This group is no different. They already have a Pan Am silver and I know they will perform well at the Junior World Cup in Malaysia.”
The 2023 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup begins on December 4 in Malaysia. Canada will face Spain, Korea and India in their pool before moving onto the knockout stages.
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
| PLAYER NAME | POSITION | HOMETOWN |
|---|---|---|
| Callan McCulloch | MID | Chelsea, QC |
| Jyoth Sidhu | MID | Abbotsford, BC |
| Leighton De Souza | MID | Toronto, ON |
| Jude Nicholson | MID | Vancouver, BC |
| Noah Louie | MID | North Vancouver, BC |
| Julius D'Souza | MID | Mississauga, ON |
| Arshmit Pannu | MID | Hong Kong |
| Armaan Bagri | GK | White Rock, BC |
| Gaurav Ghai | GK | Calgary, AB |
| Kirin Robinson | FWD | Vancouver, BC |
| Robin Thind | FWD | Surrey, BC |
| Hudson Loh | FWD | Vancouver, BC |
| Ravpreet Gill | FWD | Brampton, ON |
| Grant Simpson | DEF | Calgary, AB |
| Satpreet Dhadda | DEF | Surrey, BC |
| Joshua Miranda | DEF | Mississauga, ON |
| Arjun Cheema | DEF | Surrey, BC |
| Maan Sidhu | DEF | Abbotsford, BC |
| STAFF | Role | |
| Geoff Matthews | Head Coach | |
| Richard Hildreth | Assistant Coach | |
| John De Souza | Video Analyst | |
| SJ Sanghera | Athletic Therapist | |
| Kim Ewasechko | Team Manager |
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