Ahead of Indias final against Belgium at the junior hockey World Cup in Lucknow on Sunday, ESPN introduces three players who seem to have done enough during the tournament to merit consideration for selection to the senior team. Across defence, midfield and attack, Varun Kumar, Santa Singh and Armaan Qureshi have formed the spine of the team. They spoke to us before the tournament and here is their journey in their own words.First influencesThere was nobody in my family who played hockey, but [India international and captain at the 2013 junior World Cup] Manpreet Singh and I are schoolmates. He began playing hockey before me and suggested I take up the sport. So, inspired by Manpreet, I began playing in Mithapur, my village. - VarunI started playing hockey because of the atmosphere in my village. [Indian midfielder] Sardar Singh also hails from there. One of my uncles was a very good hockey player and his son used to play hockey. He would often visit us, and one day I accompanied him to the ground and decided to start playing hockey. Ive always followed Sardar, and thats the reason I play in midfield. - SantaMy uncle Hasrat played for India, and he became my inspiration to start playing hockey. There used to be hockey camps in our school during summer vacations. Thats where I started playing for the first time. I also played cricket and pursued it quite seriously for a while. Then one day, they laid a new AstroTurf pitch in Gwalior, where I live. After that I started playing hockey quite seriously. - ArmaanBest coaching adviceWhen I started playing hockey, [former India captain] Pargat Singh gave me a lot of motivation. He would come to the ground and tell us about how to practise, what to eat. Whatever he learnt playing for India, he would pass on to the rest of us. - VarunThe coach at my hostel [former India international and Sardar Singhs older brother Didar Singh] used to support me a lot. He always told me that in modern hockey you must always look up while playing. Training under Harendra Singh [head coach of the junior team] has also been good, because he varies it up all the time. This prevents it from getting monotonous. - SantaI went to the Madhya Pradesh Academy in 2007, and my coach there was [former Olympian and Dhyan Chands son] Ashok Kumar. Then in 2013, I joined Air India, and my coach there was [former India captain] Dhanraj Pillay. Ive been fortunate with the coaching Ive had all these years. The one thing theyve all taught me is that you cannot give up. If you arent able to do something perfectly, then you must keep working at it till you achieve it. - ArmaanKey to success in hockeyThe most important attribute for a good defender is to have patience. You must know how to defend against an opposition forward and how to finish their moves. These qualities define a good defender. - VarunIt is tough to play against the Europeans. They tend to play with a lot of physicality. But our team now is very good. We tend to play with good fitness levels. Weve worked very hard on all major points. - SantaThere are parallels between football and hockey, especially in attacking patterns. The one-to-one passes and the attacks from the outside are more or less the same. I like [Lionel] Messi because of how he plays and the confidence with which he plays. On our first two tours, I wore jersey No. 29, but then when it was announced that everybody could put forward their favoured numbers, I went for No. 10. Hes not a player... hes a magician. - ArmaanUltimate goal in hockeyMy biggest ambition in life is to always give my best when playing and to play at the Olympics one day. - VarunThe junior World Cup is the main target for our entire group. Only after this can we think about what we want to achieve in life. The way that weve been performing at the junior level for the last couple of years, nothing less than gold will do. - Armaan China Jerseys Stitched . PETERSBURG, Fla. China Jerseys Wholesale . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. China Jerseys Cheap .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. Vin Scullys storied career comes to an end this weekend in San Francisco as the Dodgers visit the Giants. He has been in the game since 1950, a year so far removed that its often hard to put that into perspective. These numbers give us an idea of how much things have changed over Scullys time in the business.1 cent: Price to obtain a Jackie Robinson Topps card in 1952. That card in the best condition this year sold for $90,000.25 cents: Cost of a hot dog at Shibe Park, where the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies in Scullys first broadcast on April 18, 1950. That was also the cost of a large Coca-Cola. A popcorn and a megaphone (they came together) also cost a quarter.$1.75: Price of front row seat down the third-base line at Ebbetts Field in 1950. Thats half the price that seat is today ($37), after factoring for inflation. Comparatively, thats a good value.$430,239: Payroll for Dodgers in year Scully started with team. Thats $4.3 million in todays dollars. The current Dodgers payroll this year is more than 60 times that.Six times: When Scully started with the Dodgers, the average player made ($13,228), about six times what the average American worker made.dddddddddddd Compared to today, the average MLB player makes 100 times, $4.4 million, what the average American worker, $44,000, does.$100,000: When Scully first signed on, the highest-paid player in the league was Joe DiMaggio at $100,000. This year Clayton Kershaw makes $32 million, which, factoring for inflation, is 32 times what DiMaggio made.$200: What Vin Scully was paid when he got his first big break, the 1953 World Series. Gillette actually owned the radio rights and it was Red Barber who had done play by play for years. But Barber is said to have wanted more than Gillette was paying him. Scully took the job for $200 for the entire series.$4.2 million: Value of the Dodgers in the fall of 1950, confirmed by the fact that Walter OMalley had purchased Branch Rickeys 25 percent share of the team that October for a little more than $1 million. Today, the team is worth $2.5 billion, according to Forbes. ' ' '