Lovely battle...

THERE will be no love lost between India and Malaysia in the final group match of the Sultan of Johor Cup today, but love is on the air on the sidelines.
    For India skipper Manpreet Singh, 21, has fallen head-over
heels with a Malaysian girl and has even made plans to marry her after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
    "We met during the second Sultan of Johor Cup (2012) and after exchanging numbers, we kept in touch and love blossomed. I plan to marry her after the Rio Olympics," said the youth with 79 international caps as he is also a regular with the senior side.
    He even took the girl to Punjab, India, last year, and she stayed and enjoyed village life in Lahore.
    "My parents like her very much and approve of our relationship, and she also liked my village very much," said Manpreet.
     Even though he is high on love with a Malaysian girl, his feet are firmly on the ground to rally his men to beat Malaysia today,
and again in the final tomorrow.
    "I love this country, but will plan for a victory for India in both the encounters because I and my mates want to land our hands on the title," said Manpreet.
    Malaysia won the Inaugural title in 2011, Germany claimed the next title, and it will be a tussle between Malaysia and India in the Third Edition.
    "We will be playing India twice, and I will use the first to give more playing time to my fringe players. We will be going for wins in both the encounters, but I will caution my players to play safe and try to avoid injuries and cards because the Sunday match is what matters most," said Malaysain coach K. Dharmaraj.
     From champions, Malaysia turned to chumps by finishing last in last year's edition: "We will be playing with tournament favourites and also one of the strong contenders for the World Cup title.
    "The match will not be an easy one, but I am looking forward to it because it will give me a super chance to test my players against one of the top junior teams in the world," said Dharmaraj.
   This Indian junior side plays hockey until the strikers reach the opponents semicircle, and then change to cricket by slamming in loose balls like they were looking for Sixers.
    The Indian strikers have shown killer instincts which has netted 15 goals in four matches. They have only let in four goals.
    Malaysia has scored 16 and let in six: "We won an average of eight penalty corners in every game, but the scoring rate has been very poor.
   "This is one of the departments that I need to strengthen before New Delhi," said Dharmaraj.
   The Junior World Cup will be held in New Delhi on Dec 6-15, and all six teams in the Sultan of Johor Cup have qualified.
    Malaysia are in Group D of the World Cup, and have England, Pakistan and South Africa for company. In Johor, Malaysia beat England 3-1 and Pakistan 4-2.
 
STANDINGS
                                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
INDIA                       4   4   0  0  15  4   12
MALAYSIA               4   4   0  0  16  6   12
PAKISTAN                4   2   0  2  11  10   6
ARGENTINA              4   1   1  2  9   9     4
S KOREA                   4   0   1  3  4  16    1
ENGLAND                 4   0   0  4  4  14    0

   TODAY -- Argentina v Pakistan (4pm), India v Malaysia (6pm), South Korea v England (8pm).
    Sept 29: Final -- Malaysia v India (8.35pm);