Hockey India named an 18- member junior men’s team for the Sultan of Johor Cup, which is slated to be held in Malaysia from October 6-13, reported PTI on Wednesday.
India will play five round-robin matches against Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Great Britain. Their campaign begins against hosts Malaysia in Johor Bahru on October 6.
Mandeep Mor has been appointed the captain of the Indian team, while Shilanand Lakra will work as his deputy for the tournament.
“We have selected the team keeping in mind the exposure that these young players will be getting at the tournament. We will be up against some of the best teams in the youth category, and we believe that this set of players can challenge the other teams for the title in Johor Bahru,” HI High-Performance Director David John was quoted as saying by the news agency.
“Coach Jude Felix has tried different combinations during the tour of Belgium and during the National Camp in Bengaluru, and these 18 players have shown great ability and desire to succeed. It will be a crucial tournament for some of them as this will be their first major assignment with the Indian junior team.”
Top two teams at the end of the round-robin matches will qualify for the final on October 13.
The 18-member squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Kamalbir Singh and Pankaj Kumar Rajak
Defenders: Suman Beck, Mohd. Faraz, Somjeet, Mandeep Mor, Prince and Varinder Singh,
Midfielders: Yashdeep Siwach, Harmanjit Singh, Vishnu Kant Singh, Gopi Kumar Sonkar, Vishal Antil and Haspreet Singh.
Forwards: Gursahabjit Singh, Abhishek, Prabhjot Singh and Shilanand Lakra.
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