The 16-member squads for the men's and women’s hockey team were officially announced in a high-profile function attended by BJP President Amit Shah and BCCI President Anurag Thakur in Delhi today.
The team that is going to Rio Olympics 2016 will be captained by PR Sreejesh besides having star players like Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, and VR Raghunath. The forward line consists of well-known players such as SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, and Nikkin Thimmaiah.
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Harmanpreet Singh, a consistent performer in the past few months found his place in the squad along with Surender Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Danish Mujtaba and SK Uthappa. This bunch appears to be a good mix of young and experienced players who have acquitted themselves well in recent times.
Although Ramandeep Singh missed a few sitters in the Six Nations Champions Trophy, he made the cut for the Summer Games. Birendra Lakra, the 26-year-old Odisha fullback who returned to competitive action last month missed out due to fitness issues. Pardeep Mor and Vikas Dahiya have been kept as reserve players
On the other hand, the women's team will be captained by Sushila Chanu after Ritu Rani was excluded for behavioral issues from the national camp. Rani Rampal along with Vandana Kataria, Lilima Minz, and Poonam Rani will spearhead the forward line. The defence line will have Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu and Deep Grace Ekka. As far as the midfield is concerned, Navjot Kaur, Renuka Yadav, Anuradha Devi, and Nikki Pradhan. The experienced campaigner Deepika Thakur will be the vice-captain of this team.
Rajani Etimarpu & H. Lalruat Feli have been selected as the standby players in the squad.
Full Squad: PR Sreejesh (GK), Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, VR Raghunath, SK Uthappa, Devinder Walmiki, Manpreet Singh Chinglansana Singh, Sardar Singh, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Nikkin Thimmaiah and Ramandeep Singh.
Full Squad: Savita Punia (GK) , Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu (C) , Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Deepika Thakur, Monika, Navjot Kaur, Renuka Yadav, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Nikki Pradhan, Poonam Rani, Vandana Kataria, Rani Rampal, Preeti Dubey, Lilima Minz.
