Hockey colts take part in six-week national camp

Ahead of next month's 7th Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia, a 37-member junior men's hockey team on Monday reported at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre to take part in the six-week national coaching camp here.

During the course of the camp, selection trials will be conducted under the purview of Hockey India's (HI) Director, High Performance, David John and junior men's team head coach Jude Felix, to pick the 18-member squad for the Sultan of Johor Cup, from October 22-29.

The group will work on important aspects of the game like their speed, agility, skill and understanding of the game along with team play, keeping in mind the 2020 junior World Cup where the team will be defending their coveted crown.

"We have worked very hard in identifying the junior men's core group in the past few months to carry on our development process which has given us a strong pool of players who can represent the country at the biggest stage," John said in a statement.

"We believe that these players have the attributes required to go on and compete in India in future international tournaments. Our main focus right now is to train them and select the best to play at the 7th Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia next month under the guidance of coach Jude Felix," he added.

Junior Men Core Probables:

Goalkeepers: Pankaj Kumar Rajak, Tanuj Gulia, Prashant Kumar Chauhan, A.S. Sentamizh Arasu.

Defenders: Suman Beck, Harmanjit Singh, Mandeep Mor, Mohd. Faraz, Prince, Pratap Lakra.

Midfielders: Varinder Singh, Sunny Malik, Vishal Antil, Yashdeep Siwach, Vishal Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akshay Avasthi, Sukhjeet Singh, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Dinachandra Singh Moirangthem.

Forwards: Shilanand Lakra, Jai Prakash Patel, Dilpreet Singh, Mohd. Saif Khan, Raushan Kumar, Abhishek, Shivam Anand, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Mohd. Alishan, Sanjay, Maninder Singh, Rahul, Anand Kumar Bara, Rahul Shinde, Venkatesh Kenche, Kishore Arya, Iktidar Ishrat.

--IANS

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