Sandeep, Shivendra dropped from Asia Cup probables

India's hockey selectors have dropped senior players Sandip Singh and Shivendra Singh from the 48 core probables for the Asia Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia, from Aug 24 to Sep 1.

The two seniors were dropped after India finished a disppointing sixth in the World League and failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Their only chance to qualify for the next year's World Cup, to be held in The Hague, the Netherlands, from May 31-June is by winning the Asia Cup. India are two-time champions in the Asian Cup, having won it in 2003 (Kuala Lumpur) and 2007 (Chennai).

The training camp of the senior men core probables will be conducted at SAI Centre, Bangalore, from July 16 to August 16.

Hockey India selectors B.P Govinda, Savitri Purty, chief coach Michael Nobbs and scientific advisor Jason Konrath alongwith government observer Harbinder Singh selected the 48 senior men core probables for the preparatory camp.

India are in Pool B with defending champions South Korea, Bangladesh and Oman while Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and Chinese-Taipei are in Pool A.

The list of 48 senior men core probables includes seven goalkeepers, nine defenders, 12 midfielders and 20 forwards.

Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh, P.T. Rao, Sreenivasa Rao Katharu, Nanak Singh, Naveen Kumar, Jagdeep Dayal, Abhinay Kumar Pandey.

Defenders: V.R. Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu, Amit Rohidas, Sampath Kumar Maylaram, Gagandeep Singh, Dayananda Chanamthabam, Narinder Pal Singh, Gurmail Singh.

Midfielders: Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, M.B. Aiyappa, Kothajit Singh, Pardeep Mor, Vivek Dhar, Birendra Lakra, Jaspreet Singh, Simranjit Singh, Manjit Kullu, Vikas Pillay, Sumit.

Forwards: S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Chinglensana Singh, Danish Mujtaba, S.K. Uthappa, Pradhan Sommanna, Nithin Thimmaiah, Dharamvir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, M.G. Poonacha, Prabhdeep Singh, P.L. Thimmanna, Sukhdev Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Jasjeet Singh, Nikin Thimmaiah, Harman Preet Singh, Manjinder Singh, M.K. Muddappa, Gagandeep Singh.