Sardar Singh to lead India in Hero Hockey World League final

Bengaluru, 4th November 2015: The 18 member India squad has been announced today for the Hero Hockey World League final which will feature eight top international contenders on display from 27th November – 6th December 2015 at the Raipur International Stadium, Chhattisgarh.

The announcement has come in the midst of the ongoing National camp at the SAI centre in Bengaluru. Sardar Singh will lead the team and will feature P.R. Sreejesh and Harjot Singh as goalkeepers.

Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, VR Raghunath, Jasjit Singh Kular and Rupinder Pal Singh will make the pool of defenders.

Sardar Singh alongside Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Devinder Walmiki, Manpreet Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Danish Mujtaba would form a strong pool for the midfield while SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Talwinder Singh would lead India’s attack for the upcoming tournament.

The Indian team is slated for a three match test series against the mighty Australians from the 19th to 23rd November 2015 in Rajnandgaon and Raipur in Chhattisgarh before starting their campaign for the much awaited Hero Hockey World League final 2015.

“The team has been together in the camp for quite a while and they are showing tremendous progress. The test series with Australia will help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses before going into the Hero Hockey World League Finals. We are excited and there is high degree of positivity within the boys and that gives all of us a lot of confidence. We are confident of playing some competitive hockey and hope to produce the best result in the league” said Roelant Oltmans, High Performance Director & Chief Coach, India Men’s Hockey team, who has been guiding the team since the beginning of the national camp on 26th of October 2015.

Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, President, Hockey India said, “ The Hero Hockey World League final is going to be our first test for us enroute to the Rio Olympics next year. It will give us a good perspective to our position as we would be testing our best players against the world’s best, with all the teams in the Hero Hockey World League Finals having secured 2016 Olympic qualification. With a robust coaching staff that we have set up for the team I am confident that we will see some great hockey at display from our boys. The test series against Australia is the ideal warm up that the team can get ahead of the Hero Hockey World league finals.”

The India – Australia series will begin on 19th November with the first match in Rajnandgaon and consecutive matches at Raipur on 22nd and 23rd November. The Hockey World league finals will immediately follow the test series with world’s top eight teams meeting each other for the last time before the Rio Olympics next year.

The Indian Squad for the India – Australia test series and the hero Hockey World League Finals are –

Goalkeepers

1. P.R. Sreejesh (Vice Captain)
2. Harjot Singh

Defenders

3. Birendra Lakra
4. Kothajit Singh
5. VR Raghunath
6. Jasjit Singh Kular
7. Rupinder Pal Singh

Midfielders

8. Sardar Singh (Captain)
9. Chinglensana Singh Kangujam
10. Devinder Walmiki

11. Manpreet Singh
12. Dharamvir Singh
13. Danish Mujtaba

Forwards

14. SV Sunil
15. Ramandeep Singh
16. Akashdeep Singh
17. Lalit Upadhyay
18. Talwinder Singh

Teams participating in the Hero Hockey World League Final:

Pool A:

Australia
Belgium
Great Britain
Canada

Pool B:
Netherlands
Germany
Argentina
India