Hockey India has selected 48 probables for the junior men’s hockey camp in preparation for the 7th Junior Men Asia Cup to be held at Malacca, Malaysia, from May 3 to 13. The camp started in Bangalore today. Nine teams will be competing in the Junior Men Asia Cup, including India, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, China, Bangladesh, Iran and Srilanka.
The probables are: Goalkeepers: Ponnanna PE, Keshav Dutt, Mahan Gowda, Bhisham Singh Phairembam, Subodh Tirkey, Sushant Tirkey. Defenders:Chandan Singh, Rakesh R. Gokak, Narenderpal Singh, Gaganpreet Singh, Harvir Singh, Sumit Topno, Sukhmanjit Singh, Vikramjit Singh, Ravi Xess, Hans Raj. Midfielders: Gurpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Jatinder Singh, Manish Bishnoi, Jarmanpreet Singh, Saroj Barla, Dilip Toppo, Baljit Singh, Surender Kumar, Nilakanta Sharma, Harjit Singh, Amit Kumar, Naresh Kumar Singh, Amir Sohail. Forwards: Naveen Antil, Harsahib Singh, Kiran Kumar Thockchom, Talwinder Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Siddharth Shankar, Munish Rana, Tarandeep Singh, Vijay Thapa Amon, Mirash Tirkey, Parvinder Singh, Inderyas Kalyan, Lowrance, K.D. Bidappa, Vinit Kamble, Arvind Kujur, Naveen, Suresh Toppo and Mikhal Barla.
Other news (TOI, HT, Indian Express, The Hindu, Th Tribune)
Hungary-bound shuttlers return from airport!: In a major disappointment for the country’s best young shuttlers, the nine-member Indian squad, which was scheduled to participate in the a Hungarian event from March 15-18, could not board their flight in New Delhi because of visa problem. The entire Indian squad was in a state of shock when they were told by the Hungarian embassy that they cannot fly as there was no visa clearance for the tour. The team was scheduled to leave for Hungary late on Tuesday night. BAI officials again applied for the visa and requested the Hungarian Embassy for clearance so that they can catch a late evening flight on Wednesday but the effort went in vain.
Sandhu tied fourth; Kapur misses cut: Siem Reap (Cambodia): A flawless four-under 68 with three birdies in last six holes saw Ajeetesh Sandhu move up to tied fourth at the halfway stage on an otherwise disappointing day for Indians at the inaugural Handa Faldo Cambodian Classic here on Thursday. Sandhu is now seven-under 137 and four behind joint leaders, Thailand's Chinnarat Phadungsil (64) and Korean Kim Hyungsung (65).
Pistol shooter Bhanwar Lal Dhaka passes away: Bhanwar Lal Dhaka, one of India's most successful rapidfire pistol shooters, passed away following a heart attack in Jodhpur. He was 47. Dhaka, one of Army's early shooting stars, had dominated the event for more than a decade at the Nationals. He won gold in the rapidfire pistol pairs at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Shooting Squad for London WC: The 11 Indian shooters who have qualified for the Olympics in London will compete in the World Cup to be staged at the same venue from April 17 to 28. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had selected the shotgun team earlier, as the team had to first compete in the shotgun World Cup in Tucson, USA, from March 25 to 31. The NRAI announced the list of shooters for the rifle and pistol events on Thursday, following the selection committee meeting on March 14. In fact, with the cancellation of the Beijing World Cup, all the Indian shooters preparing for the Olympics have opted to compete in the other two World Cups, for rifle and pistol, in Milan and Munich. Air pistol shooter Heena Sidhu will be the lone exception as she has planned to skip the Milan World Cup.
East Bengal look to swell IFA Shield tally: A record 27-time winners East Bengal would look to swell their tally when they take on United SC in the 116th IFA Shield final at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here tomorrow. The tournament lacked some sheen this year after heavyweights like Mohun Bagan and Goan teams including last year's champions Churchill Brothers pulled out because of a poor timing. Botafogo though added the Brazilian flavour this season, they failed to make much of an impact, having lost to United SC in the semifinals yesterday.