Halappa to lead India at Azlan Shah Cup

NEW DELHI: Arjun Halappa was appointed captain of the Indian hockey team for the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament to be held at Ipoh, Malaysia from May 5 to 15.

The Hockey India selection committee announced 45 probables for final selection to be made on April 18 and 19.

The list of probables includes Vikram Kant and William Xalxo. Kant returns after a gap of two years on the strength of his showing in the domestic circuit while Xalxo has recovered from an injury. Utility player Bharat Chikara was not considered on account of injury.

Prominent names missing are Sandeep Singh and Sardar Singh, who missed the camp without permission to fulfil their league engagements in Belgium. According to Hockey India Secretary N.K. Batra, a three-member committee headed by Pargat Singh would decide on the course of action against the two senior players. “No one is above the game and this kind of indiscipline will not be tolerated,” Mr. Batra said.

The selection trials were held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on April 4 and 5 to shortlist the probables. HI selectors Col. Balbir Singh, B.P. Govinda, Syed Ali, Thoiba Singh and A.B. Subbaiah, apart from Government observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey, picked the probables from a group of 61. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) pays for 45 players but HI had invited the rest on its cost.

The probables: Goalkeepers: Bharat Kumar Chetri, Adrian D’Souza, P.R. Sreejesh, Gurpreet Singh and P. Naveen Kumar. Defenders: Diwakar Ram, Dhananjay Mahadik, Rupinderpal Singh, William Xalxo, V. Raghunath, Amit Prabhakar, Gurjinder Singh and Sunil Yadav. Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh, Vikram Pillay, Ravi Pal, Vikas Pillay, Varinderjit Singh, Birendra Lakra (Jr.), V.S. Vinaya, Preetinder Singh, Vikram Kant, Ajitesh Roy, Vikas Sharma, Kothajit Singh, Amardeep Ekka, Rajesh Kumar and Vikas Choudhary. Forwards: Tushar Khandker, Shivendra Singh, Rajpal Singh, Arjun Halappa, Roshan Minz, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Mohd. Amir Khan, S.V. Sunil, Mandeep Antil, Danish Mujtaba, Sarvanjeet Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Shashi Topno, Chinglensana, Hari Prasad, Bikas Toppo and S. Arumugam .