3 Players From Odisha In 34-Member Core Group For Hockey Final National Camp

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the Hockey Men’s World Cup, a 34-member core group for the final National Camp was declared on Wednesday. Among them are three players from Odisha – Birendra Lakra, Shilanand Lakra and Amit Rohidas.

The selected campers will report to Chief Coach Harendra Singh for the 23-day training camp scheduled to begin from November 1 at Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

During the camp, coach Harendra Singh will work with the core group and also pick the final 18-member team for the quadrennial event.

The team will look to prepare for the mega-event by training in the host city to get acclimatized to the conditions before they start their campaign against South Africa on November 28.

Indian Hockey Team was recently declared joint winners at the fifth Hero Asian Champions Trophy held in Muscat, Oman.

Singh said the campaign at the Asian Champions Trophy served as a good preparation for the team before the World Cup. “Now is the most critical time for us as we look to reinvigorate our spirits and work on the areas, which need improvement,” he said.

The core group includes three goalkeepers P R Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera and Krishan Pathak and defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Pardeep Singh, Suman Beck, while captain of the Junior Men’s team for the Sultan of Johor Cup 2018, Mandeep Mor, have been called for the camp.

Selected as midfielders are Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Sumit, Simranjeet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Yashdeep Siwach and Vishal Antil. Among the forwards are Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Dilpreet SIngh, Sumit Kumar, Gursahibjit Singh and Shilanand Lakra.

Ace striker Ramandeep Singh will join the camp after his knee surgery that he sustained during FIH Champions Trophy earlier this year. Seasoned defenders Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra will also attend the camp. Completing the 34-member core group is forward S V Sunil.