News for 29 December 2019
All the news for Sunday 29 December 2019
Striker Dilpreet returns to senior fold, included in national hockey camp
A fine show at the Sultan of Johor Cup has earned Dilpreet Singh a spot in the 32-member probables list ahead of next month's FIH Hockey Pro League.
Dilpreet Singh was last part of the Indian senior hockey team at the 2018 men’s World Cup. - Biswarjan Rout
Young striker Dilpreet Singh was on Saturday included in a 32-member men’s core probables group for a two-week national coaching camp ahead of next month’s FIH Hockey Pro League, to be held in Bhubaneswar.
The 32 members, announced by Hockey India, will report to chief coach Graham Reid for the two-week camp ahead of their Pro League debut against the Netherlands on January 18 and 19.
Dilpreet, who was last part of the Indian senior team at the 2018 men’s World Cup, returned to the senior core group following his worthy performance at this year’s Sultan of Johor Cup, where the Indian colts won a silver medal.
Youngsters Shilanand Lakra, Rajkumar Pal, Nilam Sanjeep Xess and Dipsan Tirkey have also been included in the list for the national camp to be held at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium.
The core group, featuring a mix of experienced and young players, also has PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bhadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma and Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Experienced mid-fielder Chinglensana Singh, who was last seen in action during the 2018 men’s World Cup, also returns to the core group after nearly 10 months of injury break.
SV Sunil, who was named Player of the tournament at the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in November, is also part of the core group along with Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Shamsher Singh, Suraj Karkera, Jarmanpreet Singh,Jaskaran Singh, Gurjant Singh and Sumit.
“I believe all the players will return fresh for the camp after a good break for Christmas. The previous national coaching camp in Bhubaneswar was physically challenging where we expected the players to push their limits. It involved a lot of strength and conditioning work apart from hockey,” chief coach Reid said.
“The next two weeks will be focused on our preparations for the matches against the Netherlands and our real test begins now,” he added.
List of 32-member pobables for national coaching camp: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Simranjeet Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Shamsher Singh, Suraj Karkera, Jarmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jaskaran Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Gurjant Singh, Sumit, Shilanand Lakra, Chinglensana Singh.
Sportstar
Top keepers will keep Tenaga in contention for titles
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional will be led by the nation’s top two custodians in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), which begins on Jan 10.
They are seasoned campaigner S. Kumar, who turned 40 last month and 29-year-old Mohd Hairi Abdul Rahman.
The duo played in the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, last Decem-ber.
Kumar, who has represented Malaysia 310 times since 1999, was named Asia’s best player in 2011.
Johorean Hairi, who was out of action since his right knee surgery in June, is happy to be back in training with the national team last month.
“I have fully recovered from the injury and will play my first tournament since May in the MHL next month.
“This season I featured for TNB-Thunderbolt in the league but for the 2020 season, I will be playing for Tenaga Nasional.
“I have been playing in the MHL since 2011 and this is the first time I am in the same team with the vastly experienced Kumar.
“We are rated as the top two goalkeepers in the country and our goal is to help Tenaga win one of the two titles.
“In last year’s World Cup, Kumar played all three matches and I did not get a chance to play. But I was told by my coach Nor Saiful Zaini that in the MHL, I will get an equal chance to play.
“We will take turns to play matches and this will be good for us as we both want to be called up for national training in preparation for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (in Ipoh from April 11-18), ” said Hairi, who played in the tournament in March and the FIH World Series in Bukit Jalil in April before he got injured.
Hairi, who made his debut for the national team in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2016, wants to continue donning national colours.
“Although we failed to qualify for next year’s Tokyo Olympics, we want to qualify for the 2023 World Cup (in India), ” said Hairi, who made his debut for Sapura in 2011 before he joined TNB Thunderbolt in 2016.
The Star of Malaysia