Indian squad named for Punjab Gold Cup

New Delhi, Dec 26: The ad-hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association today announced the senior national hockey squad for next year`s four-nation double-leg Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament. The squad was picked following trials held in Bhopal. India will take on Germany, the Netherlands and another team from abroad in the Punjab Gold Cup to be held in Chandigarh and Jalandhar from January 31 to February 9. Prior to that, the team could also play an away series. Efforts are on to line up Argentina as preparation for the Punjab Gold Cup tournament, but in case they back out, South Africa and Malaysia are the other options being looked into by the ad-hoc committee. A series against New Zealand is also on the pipeline after the Gold Cup following which the the performance of the present squad would be reviewed. Squad: Goalkeepers: Baljit Singh, Adrian D`Souza. Fullbacks: Dilip Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, V Raghunath. Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh, VS Vinaya, Sardara Singh, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Vikas Pillay. Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Bharat Chhikara, Arjun Halappa, Shivendra Singh, SV Sunil, Ravi Pal Singh, Sarwanjit Singh, Hari Prasad. Standbyes: PR Sreejesh, Bharat Chetri, William Xalxo, Samir Baxla, Ajitesh Rai, Ignace Tirkey, Senthil Kumar, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Birender Lakra, Bikas Toppo, Roshan Minz, Osaf ur Rehman. Officials: Harendra Singh (coach in charge); Ramandeep Singh (coach); Romeo James (coach); Srikant Iyengar (physiotherapist); MV Mathai (trainer). Bureau Report