Indian probables for World Cup qualifiers

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, MAY 4. A packed international schedule awaits Indian hockey. And the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is busy with multiple probables list.

The tour of Australia and New Zealand from June 5 to 25, World Cup qualifiers at Edinburgh (Scotland) from July 4 to 29, the Azlan Shah Trophy at Malaysia from July 30 to August 13 and a hectic junior program has forced the IHF to bolster its existing list of probables with an additional list of 20 players.

In a media conference here on Friday evening, IHF president K.P.S. Gill said, ``our aim is to select the best team for each of these tournaments.''

And in pursuit of this objective, the IHF committee besides pruning the current 38-member probables camp to 26, has also selected a 20-player list which will aid the selection of the team for the Azlan Shah tournament at Malaysia.

The probables for the Azlan Shah tournament will have a three- week camp commencing on July 5. The venue will be specified later.

``There is not much gap between the World Cup qualifiers and the Azlan Shah tournament. Besides 13 players in the 26-member list belong to the junior camp and they have to participate in the junior tournaments immediately after the World Cup qualifiers. So we selected an additional list,'' said Mr. Gill.

Around eleven players from the probables-list for Azlan Shah tournament will join the remaining players of the team for World Cup qualifiers after eight juniors fly back to India for their junior program.

Dhanraj Pillai, an absentee in the World Cup qualifiers probables list, figures in the list of the Azlan Shah probables.

``He had been injured and unless he is in a camp, his fitness will always be in doubt. We have given him a longer rest and will be considered for the Azlan Shah tournament,'' Mr. Gill said. Mukesh Kumar, Sabu Varkey and Sameer Dad are the other players who find a berth in the Azlan Shah probables list while missing from the World Cup qualifiers probables list.

The current training camp at Bangalore will continue till May 10. The 26 players will attend the next camp again at Bangalore and a 21-member team will be selected for the tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The tour includes three matches against the Australian Institute of Sports team and five matches against New Zealand National team.

An 18-member team will then leave for England on July 4. A training camp and matches against Spain, England and France are part of the schedule.

The team will then leave for Scotland on July 12 and will have practise games against Canada (July 13) and Poland (July 14). The World Cup qualifiers will commence on July 17.

The Junior schedule

The Indian junior team will compete in the Junior World Cup at Hobart (Australia) in October. The under-21 team will compete in the eight Nation tournament at Poznan, Poland from August 9 to 19, the Test series against Netherlands from August 20 to 24 and the five Nation tournament at Malaysia from August 25 to September 1. The under-18 team will participate in the Asia Cup at Ipoh, Malaysia from June 1 to 10. The camp for the junior India team will commence at Bangalore on May 11. The coaches-in- charge are Messrs Rajender Singh, Narender Singh Sodhi and Edward Brient.

The probables list for World Cup qualifiers training camp: Goal- keepers: Jude Menezes (BPCL), Devesh Chauhan (IOC) and Bharat Chetri (COE); Deep defenders: Dilip Tirkey (Indian Airlines), Dinesh Naik (TN), Lazarus Barla (Indian Airlines), Jugraj Singh (Punjab), Kanwalpreet Singh (Punjab Police); Mid fielders: Baljit Singh Saini (PSB), S. Thirumalvalavan (TN), Radhakrishnan (TN), Arjun Halappa (Kar), SS Gill (BPCL), Inderjeet Singh (IOC), Bipin Fernandez (BPCL), M.K. Prakash (BPCL), Bimal Lakra (Indian Airlines) and Paramjeet Singh (Services); Forwards: Deepak Thakur (IOC), Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab Police), Daljit Singh (Punjab Police), Tejbir Singh (Punjab Police), Prabjoth Singh (IOC), Gagan Ajith Singh (BPCL), Baljeet Singh Chandi (PSB) and Jegan Senthil (TN). Coach: Cedric D'Souza.

The probables list for Azlan Shah tournament training camp: Goal- keepers: Jagadish Ponnappa (Indian Airlines), Kamaldeep Singh (Air India Academy); Defenders: Anurag Raghuvanshi (Indian Airlines), Len Aiyappa (Indian Airlines), Ajay Kumar (BPCL); Mid- fielders: Sabu Varkey (BPCL), Gurjeet Singh (J & K), Sandeep Singh (PSB), Harmik Singh (Punjab Police), Prabhat Saini (CRPF); Forwards: Dhanraj Pillai (Mumbai), Mukesh Kumar (Indian Airlines), Sameer Dad (Indian Airlines), Ravinder Singh (Indian Airlines), Brojen Singh (Indian Airlines), Altafur Rehman (Indian Airlines), Chanderpal (Railways), Anoop Anthony (Karnataka) and Cyril Ekka (CISF). Coaches: Diwnain Singh (Bengal) and Ripudaman Singh (PSB).

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