This generation gives the entire Swiss hockey a lot of new confidence for the future: Swiss head coach Jair Levie

Jair Levie

In Group-B with Oman, Chile and two-time champion India, Switzerland oozes confidence going inito the prestigious competition

Minutes before Switzerland’s match against Chile at the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup was scheduled to start, a man wearing Swiss gear made his way to the stands while taking cover from the incessant rain.

He began distributing miniature Swiss national flags – easily over a 100 of them – attached to plastic straws. It was Punleuk Kam, Managing Director of Swiss Hockey, who asked fans to pose for a photograph holding the flags and asked them to cheer as well. He then turned to the press and joked, “Switzerland is a neutral country. So if you wave the flag and cheer for us, you are still supporting both teams!”

As the final hooter went at Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium with the tournament debutants defeating Chile 3-2 in a thriller, a few hundred fans had become Swiss supporters. It was their second successive victory after the 4-0 win over Oman on Friday. And just like that, they find themselves on 6 points and dreaming of a possible quarterfinal spot (even though they still have to play India).

“Can’t be better, right? It can’t,” beamed their Dutch head coach Jair Levie. “We showed a lot of ambition and so much fire. It felt like a home game. We have tried to do everything we can to put field hockey into the picture. It’s all about ice hockey in Switzerland, and now with all that we have done here, we’ll get this to work.”