With the 18-member squad returning home from its tour of Australia that ended on Friday, the Indian men’s hockey team joined the preparatory national camp for the upcoming Men’s Series Finals, which will begin on Monday, at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
The Indian team, led by midfielder Manpreet Singh, won its first two matches against Australian club WA Thundersticks and Australia A 3-0 before settling for a 1-1 draw against Australia. However, the two Tests against World No. 2 Australia resulted in heavy defeats for the Men in Blue .
Reserve goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who was a part of the 60-man camp at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, in April has been retained alongside defenders Jarmanpreet Singh and Nilam Sanjeep Xess. World Cupper Sumit, who was dropped for the tour of Australia, received a call-up alongside Ashis Kumar Topno, Sayyad Niyaz Rahim and newcomer Rajkumar Pal. In the forwards department, Shilanand Lakra, Shamsher Singh, Sumit Kumar join the camp alongside senior strikers Simranjeet Singh, S. V. Sunil and Gurjant Singh.
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Apart from the 32 core probables, four players — Dipsan Tirkey, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Ramandeep Singh — are undergoing rehabilitation at SAI.
The Men’s Hockey Series Finals, which will be played from June 6-15 at the Kalinga Stadium, will serve as the first step for India’s Olympic qualification process, where it has been placed with Poland, Russia and Uzbekistan in Group A, while South Africa, Japan, the U.S. and Mexico are in Group B.
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