New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Hockey India on Thursday announced the 24-member Indian men’s team for the European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25, which is scheduled to take place in Amstelveen, the Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium from June 7 to 22.

Experienced dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh will continue to lead the side as with midfield maestro Hardik Singh joining him as vice-captain. India will begin their European leg with two matches each against the Netherlands on June 7 and 9, followed by the double header against Argentina on June 11 and 12 at the Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen.

The team will then travel to Antwerp to face Australia on June 14 and 15 before they end their campaign against hosts Belgium on June 21 and 22.

The squad includes Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera as the goalkeepers. Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, captain Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay and Yashdeep Siwach will occupy the team’s defence.

In midfield, the team features Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, vice-captain Hardik Singh, young prodigy Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Shamsher Singh while Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh will be the attackers for team India.

India played the home leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 in Bhubaneswar earlier this year, where they secured fifteen points with five wins in eight games and now stand third in the points table. With the highest-placed team of the league securing a spot in the 2026 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup, India will be hoping to improve upon their performance and win maximum points in the remaining eight matches of the tournament.

Speaking on the squad selection, chief coach Craig Fulton stated, “We wanted a bit more experience in the squad this time around and I am really happy with the selection. The team has been training well as we’re looking to try and push as hard as possible and win the Pro League. Since there’s qualification for the World Cup on the line, we want to try and get as many points to put ourselves in a good position for that.”

Reflecting on the Bhubaneswar leg and the way ahead, Fulton added, “We haven’t drawn any games so far in the tournament and I believe we need to turn our losses into draws and then go for a shootout, so if we don’t really get the desired results, we can still get points on the board. We also need to improve our penalty corner conversion rate so yes, we’ve got some good objectives to try and achieve this time around.”

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera

Defenders: Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach.

Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh (VC), Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, and Shamsher Singh

Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh.

–IANS

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