Former skipper Rajpal ignored for Olympic qualifiers

NEW DELHI: Striker Rajpal Singh was ignored while veteran Arjun Halappa was picked as a standby as Hockey India on Monday announced a 18-member team under the captaincy of goalkeeper Bharat Chetri for the men’s Olympic qualifiers to be held from February 18.

The team, which will face Canada, France, Italy, Poland and Singapore for a place in the London Olympics, was picked based on the performance of the core group of probables during the recent India versus South Africa series, HI said in a statement.

Rajpal’s omission did not come as a surprise since the coach, Michael Nobbs, had suggested during the South Africa series that the striker was unlikely to get a place in the qualifiers as he was not in his best physical condition. Rajpal, was however, part of the 32-member probables list that HI had named after that series. Senior-most probable, Vikram Pillay also failed to find a place in the team.

The team, which has PR Sreejesh as the second goalkeeper, features three defenders, five mid-fielders including vice-captain Sardar Singh and eight strikers – an indication that the team will count on their strike force to win matches.

The recent experiments with the team’s combination must have given Nobbs enough confidence to go to the all-important tournament with just three defenders as medio Igance Tirkey could be fielded in the deep defence, if needed – something which he did in the South Africa series.

The SA series gave forward Gurvinder Singh Chandi the opportunity to serve his five-match ban and his eligibility to play came as a boost for the Indians. Chandi was banned for five games for his role during an ill-tempered match against Pakistan in Australia in October.

India will open their campaign in the qualifiers against Singapore on February 18 followed by Italy (Feb 19), France (Feb 21), Canada (Feb 22) and Poland (Feb 24). All India matches will be played at 8 pm at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium.

Team

Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri (captain), PR Sreejesh;

Defenders: Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh;

Midfielders: Sardar Singh (vice-captain), Manpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Kothajit Singh

Forwards: SV Sunil, Sarvanjit Singh, Shivendra Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Tushar Khandker, Danish Mujtaba, Yuvraj Walmiki, SK Uthappa.

Standbys: Manjeet Kullu (defender), VS Vinaya (midfielder), Arjun Halappa (midfielder), Chinglensana Singh (forward)