Commonwealth Games: Sardar Singh dropped from India side, Manpreet Singh to lead
New Delhi: Hockey India named midfielder Manpreet Singh as the skipper for the 18-member Indian men’s hockey team for the upcoming 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth games from April 4-15.
Defender Chinglensana Singh will be Manpreet’s deputy. Experienced midfielder Sardar Singh and forward Ramandeep have been dropped from the side.
The Indian team is grouped in Pool B along with Pakistan, Malaysia, Wales, England and will begin their campaign on April 7 against Pakistan.
Manpreet Singh led the Indian team to the coveted Asia Cup 2017 followed by a bronze medal finish at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017.
The Indian defense will be lead by drag-flick expert Rupinder Pal Singh alongside Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh and Amit Rohidas,
India’s experienced goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will be teams No1 between the goal, while 22-year-old talent Suraj Karkera will be his counterpart
“This squad has been picked keeping in mind the performance in the previous tournaments since the Asia Cup 2017. We have tried out different combinations in the past events and we believe this will be the most effective combination for the Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne.
He further stated that the team has a winning mindset and will look to aim for the best in the quadrennial event. “This team has been improving with every match and while we could not produce a podium finish at the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2018, it will have no influence on how we are going to play in Australia and we will be going there with a mindset to win," said the 43-year-old Dutch Coach.
Skipper Manpreet Singh, however, is confident of turning the tables this time. “Our first aim is to do well in the group stage because we have some strong teams in our Pool. It's extremely crucial to top our table and make the semi-final but if we do meet Australia in the knockouts, I believe we will be up for a strong challenge.” said the 25-year-old Manpreet.
