Sardar Singh to lead Indian hockey team for World League Round 3

New Delhi, May 29, 2013: Hockey India announced its senior men team for the FIH Men's World League Round 3 (semifinals) to be played at Rotterdam, The Netherlands from June 13-23.

Hockey India selectors Col. Balbir Singh, B P Govinda, director High Performance Roelant Oltmans and chief coach Michael Nobbs along with government observer Harbinder Singh selected the list of 18 players during the meeting held on May 17.

The 18-member squad will be captained by midfielder Sardar Singh (167 caps) while defender VR Raghunath (137 caps) will be the vice-captain.

The senior men team camp is currently underway and commenced at Netaji Subhas Southern Centre (NSSC), Bangalore on May 16 as final preparations for this tournament. The team will depart for Rotterdam on June 5, with their opening match scheduled against Ireland on June 13.

The Indian team qualified for the FIH Men World League Round 3 (semifinals) in February this year by winning the World League Round 2 tournament in Delhi. The FIH World League is a qualification tournament for the FIH Men’s World Cup 2014 to be played in The Hague, The Netherlands from May 31-June 15, 2014.

India is placed in Pool B with hosts The Netherlands, New Zealand and Ireland while Australia, Spain, Belgium and fourth team (to be known after the conclusion of the final tournament of FIH World League Round 2 on 2 June 2013) are placed in Pool A.

Team:

Goalkeepers

1. P R Sreejesh

2. P T Rao

Defenders

3. VR Raghunath (Vice-Captain)

4. Sandeep Singh

5. Rupinder Pal Singh

6. Harbir Singh Sandhu

Midfielders

7.  Birendra Lakra

8.  Sardar Singh (Captain)

9.  Manpreet Singh

10. Kothajit Singh

11. Gurmail Singh

Forwards

12. SV Sunil

13. Shivendra Singh

14. Chinglensana Singh

15. Nithin Thimmaiah

16. Dharamvir Singh

17. Akashdeep Singh

18. Mandeep Singh

Hockey India Press release