Paris Olympics 2024: Hockey India selects 27 players for pre-Olympic camp

Hockey India on Thursday announced a 27-member Indian Men's Hockey team for the pre-Olympic national camp to be held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus here from June 21 to July 8 ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.

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India to start it's Olympic campaign against New Zealand

India has been placed in Pool B at the Paris Olympics 2024 where it will face Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Indian team will start its Olympic campaign against New Zealand on July 27.

The Indian Men's Hockey team will return to the camp after performing well in the FIH Hockey Pro League. India is currently in fourth place in the Pro League with 24 points in 16 matches.

Striker Dilpreet Singh has not got a place in the team

The core group includes goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, and defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, and Amir Ali. Meanwhile, striker Dilpreet Singh has not got a place in the team selected for the camp.

Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Vishnukant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, and Mohammed Raheel Mouseen have been included as midfielders. Whereas, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Boby Singh Dhami, and Araijeet Singh Hundal are the forwards who have been included.

Pro League matches against top teams was a great experience

Indian men's hockey team head coach Craig Fulton believes that playing Pro League matches against the world's top teams has been a great experience for his team.

“We are looking to start an important block of training in this camp, and we need to make sure that we are in the best form ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The players have learned a lot from their matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24. It has helped us in realising where we need to improve. We have a lot of time to work on those areas. We have a strong mix of players who are capable of winning anything.” Fulton said.

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27-member Core Group for Paris Olympics 2024

Goalkeepers:

Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera

Defenders:

Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Amir Ali

Midfielders:

Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Vishnukant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen

Forwards:

Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Boby Singh Dhami, Araijeet Singh Hundal