Ramandeep named captain

BANGALORE, FEB. 5. The Indian Hockey Federation today named teams for the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia from February 16 to 26 and the seven-nation event at Egypt from February 13 to 19.

Bimal Lakra of the Indian Airlines will lead the junior team for Egypt, while Ramandeep Singh of Punjab, who led the Indian team in four- nation tournament held in Barcelona recently, will skipper the squad for Azlan Shah Trophy.

The teams were named by the selection panel which included the IHF president, Mr. K.P.S. Gill, IHF secretary, Mr. K. Jothikumaran and the chief coach, V. Baskaran, after the trials at the Karnataka State Hockey Association stadium here today.

Mr. Gill said: ``We are fielding well balanced and fit teams. In terms of skills, I rate our players among the best, but lack of peak physical fitness has often affected their performances. I am grateful to SAI and its physical trainers, who have worked on this aspect. lThe teams:

Azlan Shah Trophy: Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Jude Menezes (Mumbai), R.V.S. Prasad (Services), Dilip Tirkey, Lazrus Barla (Both Indian Airlines), Dinesh Nayak (Tamil Nadu), S.S. Gill (Punjab), Thirumalvalavan (Tamil Nadu), Baljit Singh Chandi (Punjab & Sind Bank), Mukesh Kumar (Indian Airlines), Md. Riaz (Indian Airlines), Dhanraj Pillai (Mumbai), Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab), Samir Dad (Indian Airlines), Senthil (Tamil Nadu), Gagan Ajit Singh (Air India) and K. Deepak Thakur (Air India).

Seven-nation tournament in Egypt: Goal-keepers: Devesh Chauhan (Air India), Natarajan (Tamil Nadu). Full backs: Len Aiyappa (Centre of Excellence), Bikramjit Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh (PSB). Half-backs: Bimal Lakra (Indian Airlines, captain), Prabodh Tirkey (Indian Airlines), Paramjeet Singh (Services), Radhakrishnan (Tamil Nadu), Viren Rasquinha (Mumbai), Samsuz Zoha (U.P.). Forwards: Inderjit Singh (Chandigarh), Gurjant Singh (Indian Airlines), Tajbir Singh, Sonu, Probjoth Singh (Air India), Bipin Fernandez, Arjun Halappa (Centre of Excellence).

Officials: Chief coach: C.R. Kumar; Asst. coach: Harinder Singh; Physical trainer: Saju Joseph; Team doctor: Dr. Ramesh. - Our Special Correspondent

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