Hockey India has named 18 players from the 33 probables in Junior Men’s National Coaching Camp for the 8-nation U-21 tournament in Spain on Tuesday.
The tournament will start on 10th June in Madrid, Spain. The European nation will host Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Argentina, Austria, the Netherlands, and India, all viewing for the top honours.
Mandeep Mor has been chosen as the captain of the squad while Suman Beck will be his deputy.
Complete Squad :
Goalkeepers: Prashant Kumar Chauhan and Pawan.
Defenders: Mandeep Mor (captain), Suman Beck (vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh Junior, Pratap Lakra, Sanjay, and Parampreet Singh.
Midfielders: Vishnu Kant Singh, Maninder Singh, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Vishal Antil, and Yashdeep Siwach.
Forwards: Amandeep Singh, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Shivam Anand, Sudeep Chirmako, and Prabhjot Singh.
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When asked about the team selection, David John, Director, High Performance said,
“Some of the players have had good international exposure and I am hopeful that the eight Nations U-21 Tournament will further their experience of playing quality teams at high intensity. This will be quite a challenging tournament given the teams participating in it and I believe the tournament will give us an understanding of where we stand in terms of our preparations for the Junior World Cup in 2021.”
Although the Indian team was the champion in Jr. Hockey World Cup 2016, they couldn’t qualify for the semi-finals in Hockey World Cup 2018. This clearly depicted the lack of attention towards the talented World Champion Jr. team players. This resulted in the 43rd consecutive World Cup exit for India before Semi-Finals (this time on the home turf).
After the disappointing and controversial season, Hockey India would be surely focusing on better grooming and development of their young guns for the 2022 World Cup.
Hockey India announced an 18-member Indian Junior Men's Team for the 8 Nations Under-21 Tournament which will begin on 10 June 2019 in Spain. The team will be Captained by Mandeep Mor and will see Suman Beck in the role of the Vice Captain. https://t.co/yjZVfBATDg#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/5qyrgMm7tt
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 15, 2019
