New Delhi : After making an impressive start to their maiden campaign at the FIH Hockey Pro League with a brilliant 5-2 and 3-3 (SO 3-1) win against the Netherlands, Indian Men’s Hockey Team will regroup for the National Coaching Camp in Bhubaneswar ahead of their tie against World Champions Belgium on 8 and 9 February 2020.
Hockey India on Saturday named 32 players for the Camp which will see the return of dragflicker and defender Varun Kumar who was out of action due to a nerve injury.
The Core Group continues to remain the same with a mix of experienced and young players including PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bhadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma and Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Chinglensana Singh, who made a good comeback against the Netherlands after a year-long hiatus also finds his name in the group along with young Striker Dilpreet Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Nilam Sanjeep Xess and Dipsan Tirkey.
SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Shamsher Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Gurjant Singh and Sumit too have been called up.
“The next two weeks, we will continue to stay focused on the process we have put in place. Improved fitness was one of our key strengths and it is important we keep up the optimal level. The players got a good week’s break before returning to camp so I am expecting everyone to be fresh. As I had mentioned earlier, we need to improve one-on-one tackling, that will be one of the main focuses of our camp, and we look forward to the challenge against the World Champions,” stated Chief Coach Graham Reid.
Members of the National Coaching Camp:
1. P R Sreejesh
2. Krishan Bahadur Pathak
3. Suraj Karkera
4. Harmanpreet Singh
5. Dilpreet Singh
6. Surender Kumar
7. Birendra Lakra
8. Rupinder Pal Singh
9. Gurinder Singh
10. Amit Rohidas
11. Kothajit Singh Khadangbam
12. Manpreet Singh
13. Hardik Singh
14. Nilakanta Sharma
15. Vivek Sagar Prasad
16. Simranjeet Singh
17. Akashdeep Singh
18. Ramandeep Singh
19. S V Sunil
20. Mandeep Singh
21. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay
22. Gursahibjit Singh
23. Shamsher Singh
24. Varun Kumar
25. Jarmanpreet Singh
26. Dipsan Tirkey
27. Nilam Sanjeep Xess
28. Jaskaran Singh
29. Rajkumar Pal
30. Gurjant Singh
31. Sumit
32. Chinglensana Singh