New Delhi [India], Mar.10 : Hockey India on Friday announced the 33-member core probables list for the national camp which will commence at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), South Centre in Bengaluru starting March 14.
The national camp, held under chief coach Roelant Oltmans, includes as many as 11 players from the Gold Medal Junior World Cup winning squad.
This move comes as no surprise considering the team's winning performance not just at the Junior World Cup in Lucknow last year but these players were also incredible at the recently concluded Hockey India League (HIL) where they held their nerve against some of the world's best hockey stars.
While Mandeep Singh, Harjeet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Vikas Dahiya have been part of the senior men's camp earlier, defenders Dipsan Tirkey, Gurinder Singh, midfielders Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Manpreet, Simranjeet Singh, forward Gurjant Singh are the latest inclusions in the core group which will be put through the grind ahead of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in April followed by the Men's Hockey World League Semi-Final London 2017 in June.
20-year-old goalkeeper Suraj Karkera from Mumbai has also received a call-up for the Senior Men's camp.
Karkera was part of the Junior Indian men's team in the four-nation International Junior Hockey Tournament in Valencia last year.
Amit Rohidas, who formed an integral part of the this season of the HIL winners Kalinga Lancers defence structure, too finds a place in the core probables list.
The squad contains the likes of PR Sreejesh, Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, SV Sunil, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, SK Uthappa, Chinglensana Singh, Talwinder Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh among others featuring in the national campers' list.
"It was a busy start to the new year with the Coal India HIL where I feel some of the players did extremely well under pressure situations.
Like I had mentioned earlier, the selection process for the core probables was based on the players' performances in the year 2016 as well as the 2017 Coal India HIL.
This is an important year for Indian hockey with the Men's Hockey World League Semi-Final London 2017 and the World League Final in December.
This year's performances will be vital in bringing us fresh perspective towards building our game further as we move into the year of the Men's World Cup in 2018.
I believe the players will be mentally and physically ready for a new challenge this calender year after a two-week break post the Coal India HIL," stated Oltmans.
The 62-year-old Dutchman will be joined by new recruits Hans Streeder, who has replaced Roger van Gent as the Analytical Coach for the Senior Men team and Scott Conway who has been brought in as the new Scientific Advisor for the team.
While Streeder was earlier with the Junior Men's Dutch squad and has been in the coaching profession since 1983, Conway from Australia has been practicing Sports Science since 2011 and was previously with the Institute of Sukan Negara (and) Malaysian Hockey Confederation.
Core probables: Goalkeepers 1. Akash Chikte 2. PR Sreejesh 3. Vikas Dahiya 4. Suraj Karkera Defenders 5. Dipsan Tirkey 6. Pardeep Mor 7. Birendra Lakra 8. Kothajit Singh 9. Surender Kumar 10. Rupinderpal Singh 11. Harmanpreet Singh 12. Jasjit Singh Kular 13. Gurinder Singh 14. Amit Rohidas Midfielders 15. Chinglensana Singh 16. SK Uthappa 17. Sumit 18. Satbir Singh 19. Sardar Singh 20. Manpreet Singh 21. Harjeet Singh 22. Nilakanta Sharma 23. Manpreet 24. Simranjeet Singh Forwards 25. Ramandeep Singh 26. SV Sunil 27. Talwinder Singh 28. Mandeep Singh 29. Affan Yousuf 30. Nikkin Thimmaiah 31. Gurjant Singh 32. Akashdeep Singh 33. Lalit Upadhyay.
Source: ANI
