KARACHI, June 6 The ninth Junior World Cup Hockey tournament breaks into action with eight matches at different venues of Malaysia and Singapore on Sunday.

Pakistan will be opening their campaign by playing their first match against Russia at 3.30pm (PST) at Johor Bahru, Malaysia while the other three matches also at Johor Bahru include Belgium vs Egypt, Korea vs US and England vs Malaysia.

In Singapore, Japan will be taking on South Africa, Netherlands will face Singapore, New Zealand will oppose Poland and Germany will take on Chile.

The tournament featuring 20 countries has teams divided into four pools. Pakistan is placed in Pool 'A' along with Russia, Egypt, defending-champions Argentina and Belgium. Pool 'B' comprises Australia, Chile, Germany, Japan and South Africa while England Korea, Malaysia, Spain and US make up Pool 'C'. Meanwhile, Pool 'D' boasts of India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and Singapore.

Pakistan's second match will be against Egypt on June 8, third against Argentina on June 11 and fourth against Belgium on June 12.

Pakistan won their only Junior World Cup title in the inaugural event in 1979 by beating West Germany 2-0 in Versailles, France. The following editions saw them winning one silver and three bronze medals and then no medals at all as they gradually lost grip on the national sport.

The team that won gold in 1979 was coached by Jahangir Butt and captained by former Olympian Manzoor Jr with Kaleemullah and Rashidul Hasan as the other stars in the side.

Speaking to Dawn on the eve of the ninth Junior World Cup, the winning team's coach Jahangir Butt said “Those were completely different times with entirely different playing conditions. For starters, the matches were played on grass rather than Astroturf, which has changed the pace of the game. The off-side rule also existed then and scooping the ball was considered foul play.”

When asked what he thought of Pakistan's chances this time around, the former junior and senior team coach said “I know that the boys in the current team have been working very hard. It is a good and capable team that has been playing together, with a few exceptions, for two to two-and-a-half years now. They have all developed a good understanding with each other but their only drawback lies in the fact that they have played very little against European teams.

Meanwhile, one of the 1979 team's forwards Kaleemullah, who scored the first goal in the final against West Germany, thought otherwise. “I wish them well, of course and am always praying for a win but I can see that our chances of winning the Cup again this year are close to nil.

“Speaking as a former captain and vice captain of the team, I know the side will face difficulties when playing against the European teams,” he said.

The second Junior World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1982 saw Pakistan settling for the third position as West Germany grabbed gold and Australia silver.

West Germany also took gold at Canada in 1985, while the Netherlands took silver and Pakistan bronze again. The fourth edition at Ipoh, Malaysia, in 1989 saw West Germany taking the title again with Australia taking silver and Pakistan bronze for a third successive time. Still on a roll, Germany won the fifth event at Spain in 1993 as well by beating Pakistan 3-1 in the final. Australia took the bronze that year.

But they came back with a vengeance to take gold in the sixth edition at England in 1997, with India taking silver and Germany getting bronze.

The 2001 edition at Australia was won by India as Argentina took silver and Germany bronze. Having won the previous 2005 event in the Netherlands by beating Australia 2-1 in the final, Argentina are the defending champions this year.

The event concludes on June 21.

Squad

Goalkeepers Imran Shah and Imran Butt.

Fullbacks Mohammad Ateeq, Kashif Ali and Amir Shahzad.

Halfbacks Mohammad Irfan, Fareed Ahmad, Mohammad Rashid, Mohsin Bilal and Sibtain Raza.

Forwards Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool (Captain), Abdul Haseem Khan (VC), Abbas Haider, Mohammad Zubair, Inayatullah, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Taufeeq, Hassan Akhtar and Azlan Khan.

Officials Khawaja Junaid (head coach), Danish Kaleem (coach), Ahmad Alam (goal-keeping coach), Faiz-ur-Rehman (manager) and Dr Asad Abbas Shah (physio).