Hockey India and Hockey New Zealand announce six-match Test Series

New Delhi, 22 September 2015: Hockey India and Hockey New Zealand today announced a six match series between India and New Zealand scheduled to take place from 2 to 11 October 2015. The matches will be played in Auckland, Nelson and Christchurch.

While India will play the first two matches against the New Zealand A team, the last four matches will be played against the New Zealand senior men team.

For India the Tour will be in preparation for the all important FIH Hockey World League Final 2015 to be held in Raipur from 27 November to 6 December, followed by Rio Olympics slated in 2016 while for New Zealand it is a preparation for the upcoming 2015 Oceania Cup wherein a win there would confirm a berth for them in the Rio Olympics 2016.

In June 2015, New Zealand finished at 6th position in the FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina after a defeat against Canada in the quarter-final match. With this set-back and another defeat against Spain in 5th-6th Classification Match, they missed the opportunity to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

However, New Zealand still has a chance to qualify for the Olympics if they win the 2015 Oceania Cup, which will be held at their home-turf coming October and hence their clash against India will be an important ground to gear up for the upcoming challenge.

Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India: “The series was planned keeping in mind the upcoming important tournaments that are lined up for the Indian team. Series like this will help our team to understand the continuing changing game style of the opposition and this helps us to further work on our strategies. The team is very excited and are looking forward to continue their good form in the series.”

Malcolm Harris, Hockey New Zealand Chief Executive: “We are very excited about this upcoming series – it’s the first time since 2009 that India Men have toured New Zealand. Our fans can’t wait to welcome India – it’s a great chance for Kiwis to see world-class hockey here in New Zealand. It also provides the Black Sticks Men with some strong competition ahead of the important Oceania Cup (Stratford, 21-25 October).”

Roelant Oltmans Director, High Performance & India Men Chief Coach: “The boys are looking forward to the tournament ahead and are confident of a positive show. Also Dave Staniforth recently holding a 3 week goalkeeping camp has got the goalkeepers pepped up and are waiting to exhibit the learning’s under the bar. It is a motivation to see a squad which oozes confidence. The team in the last couple of weeks has worked on team coordination and passes. The idea is to convert when in the D and not lose out on those moments”.

All games will be LIVE streamed. More details about the live stream will be published on www.hockeynz.co.nz before the start of the series.

The 21-member squad was selected post a rigorous Preparatory Camp under Director High Performance & Chief Coach (Men) Roelant Oltmans, held in Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi.

List of players-

Goalkeepers
1. PR Sreejesh (Vice-Captain)
2. Harjot Singh

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

Midfielders
9. Sardar Singh (Captain)
10. Chinglensana Singh
11. SK Uthappa
12. Satbir Singh
13. Devinder Walmiki
14. Manpreet Singh
15. Dharamvir Singh

Forwards
16. SV Sunil
17. Ramandeep Singh
18. Akashdeep Singh
19. Mandeep Singh
20. Lalit Upadhyay
21. Nikkin Thimmaiah

Schedule

Date    Local Time     Indian Time   Team     vs   Team      City

2 Oct. 2015     13:00     06:30     India     vs   New Zealand A     Auckland
3 Oct. 2015     13:00     06:30     India     vs   New Zealand A     Auckland
6 Oct. 2015     19:00     11:30     India     vs   New Zealand       Nelson
7 Oct. 2015     19:00     11:30     India     vs   New Zealand       Nelson
9 Oct. 2015     20:00     12:30     India     vs   New Zealand       Christchurch
11 Oct. 2015   13:00     05:30     India     vs   New Zealand       Christchurch