Hockey India recalls Sreejesh, Sardar, Talwinder to national camp from January 4
Hockey India recalls Sreejesh, Sardar, Talwinder to national camp from January 4: It is a blend of youth and experience that will train together at Southern centre of Sports Authority of India in Bengaluru from January in preparation of Indian hockey team for the coming major international events, including Commonwealth games, Asian games, Champions Trophy and the World Cup.
Among 33 probables announced for the national camp are versatile and experienced Sardar Singh, goaleeper Sreejesh besides several members of the 2016 Junior World Cup champion team. India ad ended 2017 on a bright note with a Bronze Medal at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final at Bhubaneswar.
Before the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, India will undertake a tour of New Zealand to play in a four-nation tournament. Other events to follow will include the Hockey Champions Trophy in Breda (Holland) in July, the Asian Games Jakarta in August, Asian Champions Trophy in October and the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 in November.
Goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak, part of the winning team of 2016 Junior Men’s World Cup, finds himself in the group along with Akash Anil Chikte and Suraj Karkera who had promising outing at the Men’s Asia Cup and contributed to India’s success at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final. They will be joined by senior compatriot PR Sreejesh who is vying to find top form after nearly eight months of injury break.
Nilam Sanjeep Xess, the young defender from Sundargarh, Odisha, who led the Indian team to U-18 Asia Cup win in 2016, has been called to the Senior Core Group. He will join stalwart Sardar Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar, Gurinder Singh in the back line.
The line-up of midfielders remains unchanged with Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, S.K. Uthappa, Sumit, Kothajit Singh, Satbir Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Simranjeet Singh, Harjeet Singh in the group.
Young forward Sumit Kumar, who featured in the Indian Junior Men’s Team in 2016, has been included for the camp with seniors’ SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Armaan Qureshi, Affan Yousuf, Talwinder Singh.
India will begin the season with the Four Nations Invitational Tournament in Tauranga and Hamilton, New Zealand which will see Belgium, Japan and the hosts in fray. The ten-day national camp starting on January 4 will lay foundation to a testing season ahead. “The camp will be short and we need to deal with the players who just played domestic matches which means we need to be careful in training considering we play eight matches in New Zealand,” expressed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.
“Like always, the evaluation of the previous tournament needs to come from the players so that’s the first thing we do when we meet for this camp. I would like to understand what their experience was of the tournament and what they think needs to improve. For me, Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017 gave an insight into what is necessary to improve when we play higher ranked teams and I certainly believe we can do better in our 1 vs 1 defending. In the next tour this will be one of the key areas we would like to improve,” added the 43-year-old Dutchman.
Goalkeepers
1. Akash Anil Chikte
2. Suraj Karkera
3. P.R. Sreejesh
4. Krishan B Pathak
Defenders
5. Harmanpreet Singh
6. Amit Rohidas
7. Dipsan Tirkey
8. Varun Kumar
9. Rupinderpal Singh
10. Birendra Lakra
11. Surender Kumar
12. Gurinder Singh
13. Nilam Sanjeep Xess
14. Sardar Singh
Midfielders
15. Manpreet Singh
16. Chinglensana Singh
17. S.K. Uthappa
18. Sumit
19. Kothajit Singh
20. Satbir Singh
21. Nilakanta Sharma
22. Simranjeet Singh
23. Harjeet Singh
Forwards
24. SV Sunil
25. Akashdeep Singh
26. Mandeep Singh
27. Lalit Upadhyay
28. Gurjant Singh
29. Ramandeep Singh
30. Armaan Qureshi
31. Affan Yousuf
32. Talwinder Singh
33. Sumit Kumar
-PTC News
