HI prunes Azlan Shah probables, final list on April 19
While a group of 40 had been undergoing training at the National Stadium for almost a month now, the first pruning of probables for the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament on Wednesday kept the list at 45. Reason? With the Sports Ministry deciding to take a non-confrontational approach to the entire issue of who gets to run the national sport in the country, the tussle between Hockey India and IHF meant a second batch of 21 players, selected by the IHF, landed up on Friday, just two days before the trials, taking the number to 62.
And, to the credit of the selectors who watched the three score players over two days, they have included players from both the lists in the initial 45. That includes the likes of William Xalxo, Vikramkanth and Sunil Yadav from among those who were recommended by the IHF, even though the selection panel owes its allegiance to Hockey India. Xalxo has been out of the national scene for a couple of years now while Yadav got injured in the run up to the 2010 World Cup. The panel includes Col. Balbir Singh, BP Govinda, Syed Ali, Thoiba Singh and AB Subbaiah besides Government observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey.
The list, however, does not include drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and defender Sardar Singh, both currently playing in the European league in Belgium. While there are reports that the federation is upset at the two not coming for the camp, team sources said both the players had not only informed the team management and Hockey India about their participation in Belgium much in advance but also assured that they would be available for the trials at 48 hrs notice. However, the fact that the league is still on forced them to send in a mail to the federation three days back seeking permission to continue till May 30 in Belgium.