look news india
Paris Olympics 2024: Hockey India on Wednesday announced a 16-member squad for the Paris Olympics to be held next month. Harmanpreet Singh has been named captain and Hardik Singh vice-captain. The Indian team will have 5 players making their Olympic debut, apart from this the team also includes some senior players who have participated in the final stages.
The Indian team, which won bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020, has been placed in Pool B along with defending champions Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. The top four teams in the pool points table will advance to the quarter-finals.
Indian athletes are currently busy preparing for the Olympics at the national camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru. Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and midfielder Manpreet Singh will be participating in the Olympics for the fourth time, while captain Harmanpreet will be participating in his third Olympics. 5 players will be making their Olympic debut for India including Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Raj Kumar Pal, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
Indian defenders Rupinderpal Singh and Birendra Lakra have retired after 41 years after their historic medal-winning performance in Tokyo. While Surendra Kumar has been dropped from the team. Neelkant Sharma, who was part of the main team in Tokyo, has been kept among the alternate players and Dilpreet Singh has not got a chance.
Goalkeeper Krishna Pathak will be the choice for the second consecutive Olympics. The defence comprises Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Sumit and Sanjay, while the midfield comprises Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Forwards include Abhishek, Sukhjeet, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh and Gurjant Singh. Apart from Pathak and Neelkant, defender Jugraj Singh is India's third option.
Head coach Craig Fulton said, “The selection process for the Paris Olympic team was very competitive due to the depth of talent among our players.” He added, “However, I am confident that each player selected will perform at their best in Paris. Each player selected has shown exceptional skill, dedication and resilience during the preparation phase. Our focus is on building a team that can adapt to different playing styles and conditions.” Fulton added, “I believe we have achieved this.”
The Indian team will start its campaign against New Zealand on 27 July. After which the team will face Argentina on 29 July. After this, India will face Ireland on 30 July, Belgium on 1 August and Australia on 2 August.
India has so far won a total of 12 Olympic medals including 8 gold, one silver and three bronze. Pool A includes Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Spain, South Africa and host country France.
The team is like this
Goalkeeper- P.R. Sreejesh.
Defenders- Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay.
Midfielders- Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Forwards- Abhishek, Sukhjit Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh.
Substitutes- Neelkant Sharma, Jugaraj Singh, Krishna Bahadur Pathak.