The Indian Weekender, 24 June 2022

14
SPORTS
Manpreet Singh to lead
Indian men's hockey team for
Commonwealth Games 2022
Friday, June 24, 2022
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
Indian football
moving in right
direction with
longer calendar:
Phil Brown
Hockey India on Monday named the
18-member Indian Men's Hockey Team
for the prestigious Commonwealth Games
scheduled to begin on 29 July in Birmingham. India
grouped in Pool B along with England, Canada,
Wales and Ghana will begin their campaign on 31
July against Ghana.
The team will be captained by Manpreet Singh,
who led the Indian team to a historic Bronze
medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year.
Dragflick specialist Harmanpreet Singh, the
highest goal scorer of the FIH Hockey Pro League,
has been named as the Vice-Captain of the team.
The squad includes the experienced goalkeeper
PR Sreejesh and Krishan B Pathak, who returns
to the team after a brief injury break. Defenders
Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet
Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet
Singh have been named to the team. The midfield
includes the experience of Manpreet Singh, Hardik
Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh,
Akashdeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma. While
experienced strikers Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar
Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek will lead
the charge in attack.
In their previous outing at the Commonwealth
Games in Gold Coast, India suffered disappointment
Indian women's hockey team
looks to end their debut
FIH Hockey Pro League
campaign on high
The Indian women's hockey team will be
looking to end their debut FIH Hockey Pro
League campaign on a high note when
they take on the USA in their last double-header
matches on June 21 and 22 in Rotterdam.
The Indian team led by Savita registered a 2-2
(2-1 SO) shootout win and a narrow 2-3 loss in
their previous Pro League matches against the
current Champions Argentina on weekend. They
are currently placed at the third position in the
league table with 24 points in 12 matches.
Speaking ahead of the two-legged tie against
the USA, Savita said, "For us, the most important
thing is that we could execute our plans and put
up an improved performance on weekend against
Argentina. However, we could have done better,
but I feel these matches are confidence boosters
for us ahead of the World Cup."
"There is still room for improvement for us
and we look forward to plugging the loopholes
in the matches against the USA. We've gained
good momentum and hopefully, we will finish our
debut Pro League campaign with good results,"
she added.
Vice-Captain Depp Grace Ekka stated, "The
matches were really tough against Argentina,
but we are glad that we stuck to the plans and
finishing fourth. However, after an impressive
outing in the FIH Pro League this year, the Indian
team is poised to achieve success in Birmingham.
Speaking about the team selection, Chief Coach
Graham Reid said, "We have gone with a triedand-tested
team for the Commonwealth Games.
These players have the experience of playing
top teams in high-pressure games in the FIH Pro
League which was good exposure for us ahead of
the prestigious quadrennial event."
"After a brief break when we return home from
the Netherlands, we will resume camp in SAI,
Bengaluru where we will analyze our performance
against Belgium and Netherlands. While there
are many takeaways from this outing in FIH Pro
League, there surely are a few areas that we
can improve upon ahead of the Commonwealth
Games," asserted Reid.
Indian Men's Team for CWG: Manpreet Singh
(Captain), Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain),
Sreejesh PR (GK), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (GK),
Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas,
Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Hardik Singh,
Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep
Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant
Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Abhishek.
did really well against a strong team. We are
looking forward to the last set of matches of
our memorable Pro League campaign. We are
confident of getting positive results against the
USA."
With the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup 2022
just around the corner, Savita said that the team
is shaping up really well for the marquee event.
"We are glad that we have got a good
opportunity of playing in Europe just a few days
ahead of the World Cup, so the build-up towards
the big event has been really great. The team
is shaping up really well for the World Cup," the
Indian captain said.
Former Premier League
manager Phil Brown
believes the 2022-23
season will be a gamechanger
in Indian football with the
re-introduction of the cup
competitions along with
the league, which will aid in
developing the sport in the
country.
The increase in the number
of matches will also provide
youngsters with a pathway into
the national team in time for
the AFC Asian Cup, the former
Hyderabad FC head coach feels.
"For me, as far as coaches in
India are concerned, it is manna
from heaven. It is a fantastic
move forward for Indian
football. As a foreign coach
coming to India, all we want to
do is train with the players. We
call it contact time. The more
contact time you have with the
players, the better chance the
player has of improving. It is
the most important part in my
opinion for the improvement of
individuals," said Brown.
"The elongation of the
season, taking it into nine
months takes contact time
to another level. It helps the
game to expand and improve
but it also helps the coaches
in knowing the players better
from a psychological point of
view. The whole package is now
nothing but a positive for an
Indian player," he added.
The domestic football season
is set to being in August with
the Durand Cup. The ISL and
I-League begin in October while
the season ends with the Super
Cup in May 2023, completing
close to nine months of football.
Brown thinks the increased
number of matches will open
the doors for many youngsters
wanting to press their case for
the Indian national team. India
qualified for the AFC Asian Cup
for a second straight time.
The continental competition is
scheduled for June next year.
"The first XI of the national
team takes care of itself but the
next XI or the one after that,
you are talking about U23, U21
players in the national team.
Through this calendar, these
younger players now have a
pathway to the national team.
Ishan Pandita scored for the
national team. In his first season
at FC Goa, he was only used as a
substitute, second season (with
Jamshedpur FC), he came in
and got a few games and goals,
and look now, he is pushing his
case for a spot in the India first
XI. The results are there in front
of you. Another example is
Suresh (Singh Wangjam). Two
years ago he was blossoming
as another talent in ISL, now he
started these games for India.
These are the pathways that
younger players can now look
up to," said Brown.
"With the number of matches
and the number of Indians in the
squads going up, accounting for
injury and rotation, every Indian
player in the squad is going
to be used. That in itself can
only aid development. Some
players who will not feature
at the start of the season will
get their chance in the middle
and suddenly you get a run of
3-4 games. That exposure for
players, for me, is moving Indian
football in the right direction
where it should be going," the
63-year-old added.
The ISL is set to move to a
weekend-centric schedule this
season with matches being
played between Thursdays and
Sundays. "Playing weekend to
weekend gives players adequate
rest, coaches the time to
prepare better on the training
fields and with the fans coming
in, it provides for a better
quality of product, which will
then open the turnstiles. Fans
will want to come in because
the product becomes more
established. Indian football is
moving in the right direction
with that decision," the former
Hull City manager concluded.