The 27-member men’s national core-probable group for the senior coaching camp, starting June 21 and until July 8 at the SAI Centre, Bengaluru, has been announced by Hockey India. The coaching camp is of immense importance to the Indian team as it prepares itself by going through a series of strategic and key skill-developing sessions before the much-anticipated Paris 2024 Olympics.
Pool B is the set for the men’s Indian hockey team, which has long had a reputation for being a steely performer on the international stage. They will face strong opponents like Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland during the Olympic tournament. The Men in Blue are set to begin their Olympic campaign on July 27 with a match against New Zealand.
The development came just after their successful FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 stint. The Indian team stands at the fourth position in the league standings with 24 points earned from 16 matches. This will inject an element of confidence into the camp as it moves ahead in taking positive momentum into the Olympic preparations.
Indian men’s hockey team chief coach Craig Fulton termed the forthcoming camp as ‘important’. “We are looking to start an important block of training in this camp, and we need to make sure that we are in the best form ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics,” said Fulton. He said, “Players learn a lot from FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24. It helped us realize where we need to improve. We have lots of time to work on those areas; we have a strong mix of players who are capable of winning anything.”.
There are many experienced players in the core 27 and talented young players also who can adapt to the various match situations. Here is the list of players for the camp:
Goalkeepers:
- Krishan Bahadur Pathak
- PR Sreejesh
- Suraj Karkera
Defenders:
- Harmanpreet Singh
- Jarmanpreet Singh
- Amit Rohidas
- Jugraj Singh
- Sanjay
- Amir Ali
Midfielders:
- Manpreet Singh
- Hardik Singh
- Vivek Sagar Prasad
- Sumit
- Shamsher Singh
- Nilakanta Sharma
- Rajkumar Pal
- Vishnukant Singh
- Akashdeep Singh
- Mohammed Raheel Mouseen
Forwards:
- Mandeep Singh
- Lalit Kumar Upadhyay
- Abhishek
- Dilpreet Singh
- Sukhjeet Singh
- Gurjant Singh
- Boby Singh Dhami
- Araijeet Singh Hundal
This batch of athletes will fall into strict training regimens and planning so that the team will be prepared for every contingency when the time comes. It will work on developing the skill level of each player, the coordination among the players, and strategies in different game plans that would be able to wing-match that of their Olympic counterparts.
Apart from the preparatory camp, Hockey India has organized the player registration for the Hockey India League 2024-25, undoubtedly showing its seriousness regarding the development of emerging talents and popularizing the sport at all levels. The league is an outstanding platform for players to gain enough exposure to competitive skills and worthy match experience.
As the countdown for the Paris 2024 Olympics begins, the Men’s hockey team of India gets ready to put in their best performance. The team is balanced, and so are the coaches, so there expectations are riding high as to what the team is going to be, and the country awaits watching them in action at the world stage.
