Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s hockey star Amit Rohidas is set to be a two-time Olympian after being named in the Indian squad for next month’s Paris Olympics.
The 31-year-old defender was part of the team which claimed a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Rohidas, gold-medallist at the 2022 Asian Games (Hangzhou), Asian Champions Trophy (Chennai 2023) and Asia Cup (Dhaka 2017), is the only player from Odisha in the Paris-bound squad. In the Tokyo Games, Odisha’s Rohidas and Birendra Lakra were part of the squad.
Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and midfielder Manpreet Singh will both be making their fourth Olympic appearance.
The 16-member squad announced by Hockey India on Wednesday includes five first-time Olympians — Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Raj Kumar Pal, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
India have been placed in Pool B alongside defending champions Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland.
INDIAN SQUAD
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh.
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay
Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh
Reserve player: Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak.
INDIA’S MATCHES
* July 27 – India vs New Zealand
* July 29 – India vs Argentina
* July 30 – India vs Ireland
* Aug 1 – India vs Belgium
* Aug 2 – India vs Australia.
