Bengaluru: The core probable groups of the Indian hockey teams — senior men, senior women, junior women, India-A men and India-A women — have started returning to the national coaching camp at the Sports Authority of India centre here.
While the India women’s team resumed its camp from April 24, the senior men’s, junior women’s, India-A men and India-A women will report later on Monday.
Following a successful FIH Pro League 2021/22 home leg, the current table-toppers Indian women’s team have commenced their preparations for their final set of Pro League matches as well as the FIH Women’s World Cup 2022, scheduled in June and July, respectively. India will be up against teams such as Belgium, Argentina and the US in their remaining Pro League games before heading to the 2022 World Cup, which begins on July 1 in Spain and the Netherlands.
The preparatory camp will conclude on May 31.
The 36-member probable list includes a mix of experienced players such as goalkeeper Savita, Gurjit Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka and Navjot Kaur, along with young players like Bichu Devi Kharibam, Ishika Chaudhary, Sharmila Devi, Salima Tete and Lalremsiami, who were part of Indian junior women’s team’s fourth-place finish at the recently concluded FIH women’s Junior World Cup in South Africa.
“After a well-deserved break, I feel the team is ready to enter the final preparation phase for FIH Hockey Pro League in June as well as the 2022 World Cup in July. We made good progress in the last months and we will look to build on our performance. The focus will be on increasing our level of fitness and speed combined with fine-tuning our game principles. I’m keen to see the players individually take a step forward, as they know what areas they want to work on,” said India women’s hockey chief coach Janneke Schopman.
The Indian men’s team, which is currently leading the FIH Pro League pool table by eight points to second-placed Argentina, will begin their preparations for the Hero Asia Cup 2022 and the last two Pro League double-headers against Belgium and Netherlands, respectively.
The senior men’s core probable group features a mix of veteran players such as goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, Amit Rohidas, Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh, along with young guns Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh and Jugraj Singh, who recently made their international debuts for the team. The senior men’s camp will end on June 4.
“We had a good two weeks break after a hectic start to the season with Pro League matches. It’s good to finish on top of the table after the home games, but we still have a task at hand when we play top teams in our away matches. We will be working on the areas we have recognised following these past few matches, and the camp in Bengaluru will be an ideal place to revisit our performance and plan the things we need to work on ahead of the all-important Asian Games 2022,” said Indian men’s chief coach Graham Reid.
Following their fourth-place finish at the recently concluded FIH women’s Junior World Cup in South Africa, the junior women’s team will also regroup in Bengaluru. Apart from the fresh faces, the list also includes players like Khushboo, Vaishnavi Phalke, Beauty Dungdung and Mumtaz Khan, who were an integral part of the junior team at the marquee event. The 33-member core group will report to coach Erik Wonink.
After a short break, the newly-formed India ‘A’ women’s and men’s ‘A’ core groups too will assemble at the national camp here. The women’s ‘A’ core group and will report to former Indian men’s team forward and two-time Olympian Deepak Thakur, while the men’s ‘A’ core group will report to former Indian men’s team captain Sardar Singh.
List of core probable groups of each team:
36-member senior women’s core probable:
Goalkeepers: Savita, Rajani Etimarpu and Bichu Devi Kharibam.
Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Suman Devi Thoudam, Akshata Abaso Dhekale, Rashmita Minz, Nisha, Salima Tete.
Midfielders: Mahima Choudhary, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Jyoti, Navjot Kaur, Monika, Namita Toppo, Sonika, Baljeet Kaur, Upasana Singh.
Forwards: Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Neha, Rajwinder Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Sharmila Devi, Mariana Kujur, Deepika, Sangita Kumari, Preeti Dubey, Aishwarya Rajesh Chavan.
In Rehabilitation: Rani, Reena Khokhar, Manpreet Kaur
35-member senior men’s core probables:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera.
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Hardik Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Ashis Kumar Topno, Jugraj Singh.
Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Abhishek, Mohd. Raheel, Sukhjeet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Gurinder Singh.
33-member junior women’s core probables:
Goalkeepers: Khushboo, Madhuri Kindo, Kurmapu Ramya.
Defenders: Preeti, Neelam, Mamita Oram, Mahima Tete, Nishi Yadav, Sanskriti Sarwan, Kajal Bara, Manita, Manju Chorsiya.
Midfielders: Vaishnavi Phalke, Jyothi Edula, Jyothi Singh, Hritika Singh, Kshetrimayum Sonia Devi, Jyothi Chhatri, Ashwini Kolekar, Priyanka Yadav, Nikita Toppo, Anisha Sahu, Hina Bano.
Forwards: Annu, Beauty Dungdung, Taranpreet Kaur, Rutuja Pisal, Madugual Bhavani, Mumtaz Khan, Deepika Soreng, Chandana J, Kajal Sadashiv Atpadkar, Aanchal Sahu.
31-member India ‘A’ women’s core probables
Goalkeepers: Rashanpreet Kaur, F Ramenmawi, Sheweta.
Defenders: Simran Singh, Gagandeep Kaur, Marina Lalramnghaki, Priyanka, Reet, Mudita, Sumita, Premanjali Toppo.
Midfielders: Khusbu Kujur, Rinki Kujur, Prabhleen Kaur, Ajmina Kujur, Sushma Kumari, Jyoti, Amandeep Kaur, Kavita Bagdi, Kirandeep Kaur.
Forwards: Chetna, Yogita Bora, Jiwan Kishori Toppo, Lalrindiki, Sarabdeep Kaur, Raju Ranwa, Neeraj Rana, Kanchan Nidhi Kerketta, Anjali Gautam, Monika Dipi Toppo, Dipti Lakra.
33-member India ‘A’ men’s core probables:
Goalkeepers: Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Pawan, Pankaj Kumar Rajak.
Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manjeet, Yashdeep Siwach, Moirangthem Dinachandra Singh, Abhishek Lakra, Akshay Avhad, Sunil Jojo.
Midfielders: Mareeswaran Sakthivel, Sushil Dhanwar, Sheshe Gowda BM, Bharat KR, Ankit Pal, Rajinder Singh, Vishnu Kant Singh.
Forwards: Maninder Singh, S Karthi, Prabhjot Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Abharan Sudev, Pardeep Singh, Harsahib Singh, SV Sunil, Sunit Lakra, Rahul Ekka, Uttam Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Angad Bir Singh, Sudeep Chirmako, Bobby Singh Dhami.
–IANS