Edited by Deepali Verma
Hockey India on Tuesday announced the 39-member core group for the Men’s National Coaching Camp that commences on January 3, 2024 at Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru. The short 11-day camp comes ahead of the team’s departure for Cape Town, South Africa where they will be taking part in a 4 Nation Tournament to be played against France, the Netherlands and the host South Africa.
The South Africa’s test event as part of the team’s preparations for the Paris Olympic Games, is expected to provide good exposure ahead of Bharat’s FIH Hockey Pro League campaign opener in Odisha to be held this February where they will be head-on with Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland in double-header games.
India’s 39-member core-probable group:
The list of goalkeepers include Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Suraj Karkera, Pawan and Prashant Kumar Chauhan.
The list of Defenders include Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Dipsan Tirkey and Manjeet.
The Midfielders include Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Sumit, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen and Maninder Singh.
Lastly, the list of forwards consists of S. Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra and Pawan Rajbhar.
The Indian Men’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton while in conversation regarding the upcoming tour, remarked, “The players are returning fresh from the holiday season and a break with their families. The hockey season for the year begins with the South Africa Tour and from here on it will only get busier with regular games leading up to the Paris Olympics. Our core group is pretty solid with experienced players. Some of the names in this group will also be playing the FIH Hockey World Cup in Muscat, Oman.”
“Like always, this camp has its focus on getting better as a team and we are eager to get on with the season,” Fulton added.
