New Delhi: With focus firmly on the FIH Junior Men's World Cup in Delhi, Hockey India (HI) on Monday included as many 13 players from the Sultan of Johor Cup-winning junior squad to be part of the 18-man touring party announced for the third Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Kakamigahara, Japan.
Manpreet, who captained the junior team during the Johor Cup, has been given the honours to lead the senior team that will be without regulars Sardar Singh, VR Raghunath, PR Sreejesh and Rupinderpal Singh, who have been rested to allow juniors a chance to prepare for the mega event in Delhi. Kothajit Singh has been named Manpreet's deputy.
Defender Gurjinder Singh will also mark his international return after a long hand-injury layoff. However, Affan Yousuf, who was the vice captain of the Johor Cup-winning squad, has been put among six standbys that also include Jarmanpreet Singh and Amon Mirash Tirkey.
Also present at the high-profile selection meeting were High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans, chief junior team coach Gregg Clark and junior team coach Baljeet Singh Saini. The selection trials were conducted at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on October 9-10.
"With the Indian junior team preparing for the forthcoming Junior Men Hockey World Cup to be held in New Delhi. The Asian Champions Trophy gives us an opportunity to allow our junior players to showcase their skills and gain experience in the international environment. Out of the 18 players selected for the third Asian Champions Trophy, 13 were part of the Indian junior Team that won the title of recently concluded third Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia," said HI Secretary General, Narinder Batra.
India won the first edition of the ACT in 2011, but failed to defend their title last year, losing to archrivals Pakistan 4-5. The other participating teams in the tournament this year are China, Japan, Malaysia, Oman and Pakistan - with Malaysia and Pakistan also expected to field mostly juniors in preparation for the Junior World Cup.
India will open their campaign against China on 2 November followed by matches against Japan (Nov 3), Oman (Nov 5), Pakistan (Nov 7) and Malaysia (Nov 8).
Goalkeepers: Sushant Tirkey, Harjot Singh
Defendeers: Gurjinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Sukhmanjit Singh, Pardeep Mor,
Midfielders: Prabhdeep Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Satbir Singh, Harjeet Singh, Imran Khan, Kothajit Singh (vice-captain)
Forwards: Malak Singh, Mandeep Singh, Talwinder Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh
Standbys: Jagdeep Dayal (goalkeeper), Gagandeep Singh (defender), Jarmanpreet Singh (defender), Lalit Upadhyay (midfielder), Affan Yousuf (forward), Amon Mirash Tirkey (forward)
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