Hockey India names 40 players for national camps

Hockey India on Tuesday announced the names of 20 campers each for the junior men's and junior women's national camps to be conducted here for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games Qualifier.

The five-day Qualifier will be held in Bangkok, Thailand starting from April 25.

The campers will be working hard on their technique, fitness, speed, agility, and skills in order to be ready for the qualifiers.

The vision behind organising the National Camp for the junior teams is to develop the players for the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2018.

"After having analysed all the players from various states in the country at the eighth Hockey India Sub Junior National Championship (Men and Women), the Selection Committee has formed a group of 20 Junior Men's and 20 Junior Women's campers who will train at the specialised 5-a-side venue in Agra to prepare for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers," said David John, Director High Performance, Hockey India.

"One of the main criteria for their selection was also their age as the ones who are born between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2003 have only been selected which is in accordance to the guidelines prescribed by FIH and Youth Olympic Games," he addedf.

Junior Men:

Goalkeepers: Sabyasachi Minz (Hockey Odisha), Tanuj Gulia (Hockey Haryana), Prashant Kumar Chauhan (Uttar Pradesh Hockey)

Defenders: Sukhjeet Singh (Hockey Chandigarh), Dinachandra Singh Moirangthem (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Akshay Avasthi (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Sanjay (Hockey Chandigarh)

Midfielders: Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem (Manipur Hockey), Yashdeep Siwach (Hockey Haryana), Maninder Singh (Hockey Chandigarh), Neeraj Kumar Waribam (Manipur Hockey), Bharat Thakur (Hockey Punjab)

Forwards: Sunny Malik (Hockey Haryana), Jai Prakash Patel (Steel Plant Sports Board), Mohd. Saif Khan (Sports Authority of India), Mohd. Alishan (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Shivam Anand (Uttar Pradesh Hockey), Rahul Kumar Rajbhar (Uttar Pradesh Hockey), Sudeep Chirmako (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha), Simranjot Singh (Hockey Punjab)

Junior Women:

Goalkeepers: Khushboo (Hockey Bhopal), Bichu Devi Kharibam (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy)

Defenders: Priyanka (Hockey Haryana), Salima Tete (Hokcey Jharkhand), Ishika Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Neelam (Hockey Haryana)

Midfielders: Baljeet Kaur (Hockey Punjab), Jiwan Kishori Toppo (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha), Chetna Rathi (National Hockey Academy), Preeti (National Hockey Academy), Mitali (Hockey Punjab), Philicia Toppo (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha)

Forwards: Sangita Kumari (Hockey Jharkhand), Deepika Soreng (Hockey Jharkhand), Mumtaz Khan (Uttar Pradesh Hockey), Lal Rindiki (Hockey Mizoram), Reet (Hockey Haryana), Deepika (Hockey Haryana), Rutuja Pisal (Hockey Maharashtra), Rojita Kujur (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha).