India Men’s Team To Resume International Hockey With Europe Tour

The Indian men’s hockey crew will ramp up its Olympic preparations with tours of Germany and Belgium this thirty day period, its initially international sojourn due to the fact the COVID-19 pandemic halted sporting pursuits across the globe final March. A core group of 22 gamers and 6 support employees will leave from Bengaluru for Krefeld, Germany on Sunday, wherever they will enjoy the home crew on February 28 and March two. The Indians will then journey to Antwerp, Belgium, wherever they are scheduled to enjoy in opposition to Fantastic Britain on March six and 8. 

The Indian crew will be captained by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, though drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh has been named as his deputy for the seventeen-day tour. 

The men’s crew final participated in an international competition in February final year when they played the FIH Hockey Professional League matches in opposition to Australia in Bhubaneswar. 

By advantage of its superior superior performances in opposition to Australia, the Indian crew experienced climbed to fourth in the FIH globe rankings, the country’s maximum till day. 

The crew has been tenting at Athletics Authority of India’s (SAI) campus in Bengaluru due to the fact the gamers joined back again coaching in January. 

The Indian women’s crew resumed international hockey when it toured Argentina final thirty day period. 

The junior women’s crew experienced also travelled to Chile as part of publicity tours ahead of crucial occasions these as the Olympic Game titles and Junior World Cup later this year. 

“We are really grateful for the chance to go to Europe, and we are looking ahead to having our initially aggressive matches in just in excess of twelve months,” Indian men’s crew main mentor Graham Reid said. 

“Actively playing in opposition to powerhouse groups like Germany and Fantastic Britain will deliver us with fantastic competition and enable immensely in our FIH Hockey Professional League and Olympic Game titles preparing. Actively playing any major 10 ranked crew is often a fantastic practical experience for the crew.” Reid thanked Hockey India and SAI for their endeavours in making certain the crew receives the suitable publicity ahead of key tournaments this year. 

“This tour will enable us set the yardstick to get ready for the forthcoming occasions and give us an understanding of wherever we stand with regard to the arduous coaching we have been undergoing for the final number of months in Bengaluru.” 

Harmanpreet is thrilled about the chance and said the matches will enable in understanding wherever the crew stands currently. 

“We are unquestionably thrilled to be travelling for the initially time in in excess of a year. Actively playing in opposition to Germany and Fantastic Britain will enable us set the parameters for planning ideal ahead of FIH Hockey Professional League which is our fast competition ahead of the Olympic Game titles. 

“We comprehend the weather conditions in Europe will be fairly chilly this time of the year, but we have virtually a week to acclimatise. We are looking ahead to this thrilling challenge, we can not wait around to get into competition mode,” he said. 

Hockey India and the host national associations have prepared to create a bio bubble in nations around the world the crew will be travelling for coaching and competition. 

The Indian men’s crew will be remaining in a lodge wherever provisions have been produced for individual rooms/halls for gamers, meals, crew conferences, sessions etcetera. 

The lodging will be on twin sharing basis and home companions will keep on being exact all over the tour. 

Other than, they will also stick to the exact seating arrangement in the crew mentor/bus. 

The crew members will not be transferring out of the bubble and assembly any third-occasion resource is not allowed. 

The nearby sources alongside with the crew like bus/mentor, drivers, support employees will all keep on being the exact all over the tour to keep away from any lapses. 

In accordance to a Hockey India statement, the overall contingent will undergo a COVID-19 RT-PCR Take a look at 48 hours prior to their departure. 

The statement further more stated that even though there is no prerequisite of quarantine on arrival in Germany, the crew will nonetheless be pursuing all safety and wellbeing measures as advised by the governments of India, Germany and Belgium. 

The 22-member squad will not characteristic standard skipper Manpreet Singh, Rupinderpal Singh, Varun Kumar and SV Sunil. 

Promoted

It has been learnt that Manpreet has opted out of the tour due to particular motives, though Rupinder and Varun are hurt. 

Indian Staff: Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (Captain), Krishan Bahadur Pathak. Defenders: Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Gurinder Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Surender Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra. Midfielders: Chinglensana Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rajkumar Pal, Simranjeet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh. Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.