Hockey: Former skipper Sardar Singh among 55 players named for men’s national camp

Bengaluru, April 26: Former skipper Sardar Singh was on Thursday (April 26) named in the 55-member probable list announced by Hockey India for the men's national camp starting at the Sports Authority of India campus here on Friday (April 27).

Sardar, who was dropped from the 18-member Indian hockey squad led by Manpreet Singh for the Commonwealth Games, has been included in the probable list which will be pruned down to 48 after the camp concludes on May 18. The list features all the 18 players who were part of the Indian men's team that returned from the Commonwealth Games without a medal after finishing fourth, following a 1-2 loss to England in the bronze medal playoff.

Forward Ramandeep Singh, defenders Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Dipsan Tirkey and Nilam Sanjeep Xess also feature in the list of 55, which also includes players from the domestic circuit who showcased outstanding performance at the Senior National Championship (A and B Division).

"The result from CWG is not what we expected but the lessons from there will be used for future preparations. The team and the coaching staff is confident of the playing structure and we all know that we have to improve on certain areas," said Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

From Senior Men's A division, Vikas Dahiya, Jarmanpreet Singh and Gurjinder Singh of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) who finished runners-up have been called up while Amit Gowda, Pardeep Singh of Railway Sports Promotion Board who beat Air India Sports Promotion Board in the Bronze Medal match have made the Core probable list.

Anand Lakra of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Raj Kumar Pal, Mohd Raheel of Air India Sports Promotion Board and Maninderjeet Singh of Punjab & Sind Bank, V Veerthamizhan of Association of Indian Universities also made it to the list.

Somjeet from Hockey Haryana, Amon Mirash Tirkey of Hockey Gangpur - Odisha, Abharan Sudev of Hockey Karnataka, Ajay Yadav of Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Dharminder Singh of Hockey Punjab who won the National title this year, have also been rewarded for their performance.

From Senior Men's B Division, Pardeep Mor, Sukhjeet Singh, Gagandeep Singh (Sr) of Punjab National Bank have been included along with goalkeeper Jagdeep Dayal of runners-up team Canara Bank. Sumit Kumar and Pravakar Minz of Sports Authority of India, Abhilash Stalin C of Hockey Bengaluru, Karthik Yadav of Chhattisgarh Hockey, Harish Mutagar of Hockey Coorg have also made the cut.

National Campers List:

Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, Krishan B Pathak, Vikas Dahiya, Jagdeep Dayal.

Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Kothajit Singh, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jarmanpreet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Amit Gowda, Pardeep Mor, Anand Lakra.

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Simranjeet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Lalit Upadhyay, Sardar Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet (Jr.) , Somjeet, Raj Kumar Pal, Amon Mirash Tirkey, Dharminder Singh, V. Veerthamizhan.

Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Dilpreet Singh, Sumit Kumar, Mohd. Umar, Abharan Sudev, Mohd. Raheel, Pardeep Singh, Ajay Yadav, Armaan Qureshi, Sukhjeet Singh, Gagandeep Singh (Sr.), Harish Mutagar, Abhilash Stalin C, Kartik Yadav, Pravakar Minz, Maninderjeet Singh.