LAHORE, Dec 2: The Umar Bhutta-led Pakistan junior hockey squad left for New Delhi via the Wagah border on Monday to take part in the FIH Junior World Cup to be held Dec 6 to 15.

The squad, comprising 18 players and five officials, was issued visas late on Saturday and with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) finding it difficult to book airline tickets in such a short time, the team left via bus to Amritsar from where they reached the Indian capital by air.

“We’re ready to fight for the title,” Umar said at the team’s departure. “We’re placed in a difficult group with [five-time champions] Germany and Belgium and we must play each game with a winning mentality.”

Umar further said that during the recent training camp, the focus was to bring improvement in penalty-corner conversion and ball retention.

Head coach Manzoor-ul-Hasan Senior said: “Germany would be tough contenders in the group and we will try our best to win against them.”—Sports Reporter