Hockey India has announced the 26-man sqaud for a Four Nation Tour in Cape Town, South Africa, starting January 22. The tournament will feature France, Netherlands, India and hosts South Africa. The Indian team will be led by Harmanpreet Singh and FIH Player of the Year winner Hardik Singh will shoulder the responsibilities of vice captain. Youngsters Araijeet Singh Hundal and Boby Singh Dhami have been included in the squad following an impressive outing with the junior side. Goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak and Pawan have been included in the squad along with defenders Jarmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Sumit, Sanjay and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem.
Midfielders selected in the team are Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Hardik Singh and Manpreet Singh. The forward line features Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Boby Singh Dhami. Speaking about the South Africa Tour, Chief Coach Craig Fulton said: “We are quite excited to get on with the season in the Olympic year with the South Africa Tour where we will play quality teams. We have chosen a big squad in order to give players exposure and it will also give me an opportunity to see some of the players in competition mode ahead of the FIH Hockey Pro League.”
Squad: Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak, Pawan
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Sumit, Sanjay and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem
Midfielders: Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Hardik Singh and Manpreet Singh
Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Boby Singh Dhami.
Tag: Varun Kumar
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Hockey India announces 26-member men’s team for South Africa Tour
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Harmanpreet, Varun score braces as India hammer China 7-2 in opener
Chennai (TIP)- Drag-flickers Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored a brace each as India began their campaign at the Asian Champions Trophy with a 7-2 win against China here on August 3.
Seven of the goals in the game came from penalty corners, with world No. 4 India converting six of their nine and China finishing one of four.
Apart from skipper Harmanpreet (5th and 8th minutes) and Varun (19th and 30th), the other scorers for India were Sukhjeet Singh (15th), Akashdeep Singh (16th) and Mandeep Singh (40th). Interestingly, all the scorers for the hosts hail from Punjab. E Wenhui (18th) and Gao Jiesheng (25th) scored for world No. 25 China.
The big win took three-time champions India to the top of the table, with Malaysia and South Korea second and third, respectively.
Earlier, Firhan Ashari struck twice as Malaysia defeated Pakistan 3-1. For Malaysia, Ashari scored in the 28th and 29th minutes, while Shello Silverius found the net in the 44th minute. Pakistan’s lone goal was scored by Abdul Rehman in the 55th minute.
The opening match of this edition saw defending champions South Korea beat Japan 2-1 in a close contest.
It all began in the sixth minute when Ryoma Oooka netted the opening goal of the tournament before Cheoleon Park equalised in the 26th, as both the teams went into the halftime break locked at 1-1. Just five minutes into the third quarter, JungHoo Kim put the Korean side in front. Source: Agencies