Junior men's hockey core probables' camp from June 11

A preparatory camp for the Indian junior men's hockey core probables will commence at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here from June 11.

The camp is the groundwork for the Junior Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia from November 14 to 22 and the Junior World Cup 2016 to be held here from December 1 to 11. A total of 48 players have been selected for the camp, Hockey India (HI) announced on Wednesday.

HI had earlier in the day said that the camp will start from June 8 but it issued a new release later, saying that the probables will train from June 11.

All the probables will be part of the camp for a week before top 33 players are selected to continue training under chief coach Harendra Singh.

Fifteen new players were identified from the recently concluded fifth National Championship on the basis of their consistent performance and technical skills.

Midfielders Imran Khan, Vikramjit Singh, Vivek Sagar and Somaiah Kuppanda will feature in the camp solely on the basis of their past performances. Among the forwards, names like Dharamvir Yadav, Gurjant Singh, Ajmer Singh and Nitesh Kiro will get a chance to impress the coach Harendra.

"The young boys showed talent and capability of playing under tough competition during the recently culminated National Championship," high performance director Roelant Oltmans said in a release.

"The tournament was very fruitful for the players as they experienced a high-intense atmosphere during the tournament and various strategies against different teams," the Dutchman added.

"We kept a close eye on each of the player and monitored their development. We picked the best among them who have the skills to participate at international level competition.

"The preparatory camp will be another opportunity for these young players where they will work under national coaches. They will leave new skills and enhance their capabilities of adapting better strategies. We are looking forward to working with these young generation of players."