Uthra Ganesan
NEW DELHI
Indian hockey will see the return of prolific scorer and former star Deepak Thakur and legendary Sardar Singh in new roles with the duo named as coaches for the Indian males’s and girls’s ‘A’ groups respectively on Saturday.
Whereas there have been developmental sides in Indian hockey prior to now, that is maybe the primary time since lengthy that ‘A’ groups, with an eye fixed on increasing the expertise pool, have been named in a busy competitors yr.
It would even be a welcome return to energetic hockey for former captain Sardar since his retirement in 2018. Thakur, nonetheless, has been actively concerned in teaching roles along with his employer Indian Oil for home meets for the previous few years though he has stored his distance from the nationwide scene.
Coaching
The 33-member squads every for women and men will start coaching on the SAI Bengaluru Centre from March 7. The transfer comes following a gathering with Sports activities Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi to evaluation preparations for the Commonwealth Video games and Asian Video games.
New faces
Curiously, whereas the ladies’s squad consists of a number of youthful and new faces, the lads’s squad will see the return of veterans S.V. Sunil, Rupinderpal Singh and Birendra Lakra who, in a shock transfer, have made themselves obtainable for choice regardless of asserting retirement submit Tokyo Olympics final yr. Skilled ahead Ramandeep Singh has additionally been included within the squad.
The squads:
Males: Goalkeepers: Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Pawan, Pankaj Kumar Rajak, Sahil Kumar Nayak; Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manjeet, Yashdeep Siwach, Moirangthem Dinachandra Singh, Abhisek Lakra, Faraz Mohd, Akshay Avhad, Nabin Kujur, Abhishek Pratap Singh.
Midfielders: Mareeswaran Sakthivel, Sushil Dhanwar, Sheshe Gowda B.M., Bharath Ok.R., Gregory Xess, Darshan Vibhav Gawkar.
Forwards: Sandeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Maninder Singh, S. Karthi, Prabhjot Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Abharan Sudev, Pardeep Singh, Mohd. Umar, Harsahib Singh, S.V. Sunil, Sunit Lakra, Rahul Ekka.
Ladies: Goalkeepers: Rashanpreet Kaur, F. Ramenmawi, Sheweta; Defenders: Simran Singh, Gagandeep Kaur, Marina Lalramnghaki, Priyanka, Reet, Reema Baxla, Mudita, Sumita.
Midfielders: Khusbu Kujur, Rinki Kujur, Premanjali Toppo, Prabhleen Kaur, Ajmina Kujur, Sushma Kumari, Jyoti, Mary Kandulana, Amandeep Kaur, Kavita Bagdi, Kirandeep Kaur.
Forwards: Chetna, Yogita Bora, Jiwan Kishori Toppo, Lalrindiki, Sarabdeep Kaur, Raju Ranwa, Neeraj Rana, Kanchan Nidhi Kerketta, Anjali Gautam, Monika Dipi Toppo, Dipti Lakra.