Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
Subscribe Now  
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Manpreet Singh to lead Indian hockey team on European tour

Hockey India names 18-member squad under Manpreet Singh to tour Belgium and Netherlands

By Unnikrishnan

Bengaluru, July 28: Hockey India on Friday (July 28) announced an 18-member squad for the tour of Belgium and the Netherlands. Midfielder Manpreet Singh will lead the side and Chinglensana Singh is the vice-captain.

India will kickstart the tour with a match against Belgium on August 9 at Boom and six players in the team are fresh faces.

Indian hockey team to tour Europe

The authorities have placed accent on young talent in view of the 2020 Olympic Games. Goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who missed the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year due to injury, Varun Kumar, Dispan Tirkey, Nilkanta Sharma, Gurjant Singh and Armaan Quershi, who did well in the Junior World Cup, are the new faces in the squad.

"We will continue to test some of the younger players in this tour to give them the international exposure in this new Olympic cycle. The team has been training in SAI (Bengaluru) where we have been working on improving our counter control and defence apart from working on variations that can improve our goal-scoring. It is important for the youngsters to face top teams like the Netherlands and Belgium early in their career which will benefit our long-term goals," said coach Roelant Oltmans.

India will play Belgium on August 9 and 10 before playing the Dutch outfit on August 13 and 14 at Waalwijk. India's last match on the tour will be against Austria im Amstelveen, Netherlands on August 16.

The squad: Goalkeepers: Akash Anil Chikte, Suraj Karkera. Defenders: Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Varun Kumar. Midfielders: SK Uthappa, Harjeet Singh, Manpreet Singh (Capt), Chinglensana Singh (vice-capt), Sumit, Nilkanta Sharma. Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Updhayay, Gurjant Singh, Armaan Qureshi.

OneIndia News

Story first published: Tuesday, August 8, 2017, 11:00 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 8, 2017