Indian Olympic hockey team on expected lines

The Indian Hockey Federation Tuesday announced a 16-member team for the Sydney Olympic Games on expected lines with Ramandeep Singh as captain of the squad.

The Asian Games gold medallists are currently in Western Australian suburb of Murwillinbah near Brisbane for a 20-day training-cum-practice camp.

IHF President K P S Gill, who is in Murwillinbah for the team selection meeting with chief coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran and manager K Jyotikumaran, made the announcement after overseeing the performance of 22 players there.

Mid-fielder Ramandeep, widely regarded as the best strategist, will be assisted by veterans Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar.

Indian Olympic Association had asked for the pruned list of 16 players and four officials as the August 25 deadline of sending entries to the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee (SOCOG), neared.

Team: Jude Menezes, Devesh Singh Chauhan (goalkeepers); Dilip Kumar Tirkey, Lazarus Balra, Dinesh Nayak (defenders); Baljeet Singh Saini, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Mohd Riaz, Salvaraj Tirumalvalavan, Ramandeep Singh (mid-fielders); Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Dad, Deepak Solanki, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dhanraj Pillay, Gangan Ajit Singh (forwards).

Officials: K Jyothikumaran (manager), V Baskaran (chief coach), Harendra Singh (assistant coach), P K Ramesh (doctor).

PTI