Rajpal to stay for Arjuna ceremony

Skipper Rajpal Singh will not fly with the Indian squad on Sunday for the Asian Champions Trophy. Instead, he will remain in New Delhi to receive the Arjuna Award on Monday before joining the team at Ordos, China for the September 3-11 tournament.

Chief coach Michael Nobbs said he had acceded to the forward’s request to attend the ceremony as it was “a big occasion for the player.”

The team will leave SAI Bangalore on Friday morning and will spend two days in New Delhi playing practice games. Nobbs will also attend the meeting of the disciplinary panel of Hockey India which will go into the sudden departure of Sandeep Singh and Sardar Singh from the camp.

“We had a good match today and are all set,” camp coordinator SS Grewal said. “Visas for the two standbys – VR Raghunath and Vikas Sharma – who were included in the team after Sandeep and Sardar left the camp, too are ready.”

The team played its final practice match at the MEG ground, defeating Army XI 4-2.