Hockey India name 33-member senior core group for major tournaments this year

New Delhi, January 25: A few new faces were picked as Hockey India on Tuesday (January 25) announced a 33-member men's senior core group to prepare for major international tournaments this year starting with the FIH Hockey Pro League next month.

The 33 probables were chosen from 60 players who were called for a three-week camp at the Sports Authority of India Centre.

The initial 60 players were picked based on their performances in various Hockey India domestic tournaments.

The core group has senior players like Tokyo Olympics bronze winners PR Sreejesh, captain Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay as well as youngsters such as Mandeep Mor, penalty corner specialist Jugraj Singh, strikers Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.

Sanjay and Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, who were part of the men's junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar last December, have also been named in the core group.

Apart from the 33 probables, Simranjeet Singh and Gurinder Singh will remain at the SAI, Bengaluru to undergo rehabilitation.

Focussed on winning Asian Games to qualify for Paris Olympics, youngsters will get opportunities: Sreejesh

Speaking about the new core group for 2022, chief coach Graham Reid said, "We have used the last three weeks to have a look at the next layer of players in the country. Today we have chosen 33, which allows us to refresh and bring some new faces into the squad.

"This is an important year for us, and this new squad will help us face these challenges head-on," Reid said the centralised training programme has been a boon in the pandemic times and believes this approach is great for building a strong team.

"One thing that was certain was all 60 players who had come into the national camp improved during the three weeks of camp making it extremely difficult to pick the final 33 for the core group. This shows you how a centralised environment with good tempo of training and games can improve players."

India Core Probables:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera.

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh.

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Jaskaran Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno.

Forwards: Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen.

In Rehabilitation: Simranjeet Singh and Gurinder Singh