New Delhi: Hockey India on Thursday announced the Indian Junior Men Team for the Volvo International U-21 Men Tournament 2015 to be played in the Netherlands from 18th July to 25th July 2015. The tournament featuring six teams to compete against each other in a Round-Robin format. The six teams eyeing for the title will be Host team Netherlands, India, Germany, England, Belgium and New Zealand. The Volvo International Tournament 2015 will provide a testing platform to the U-21 Men team, who are even gearing-up from the upcoming Men’s Junior Asian Cup 2015 in Malaysia and the FIH Junior World Cup 2016 (Men) 2016.
The 18-member squad was selected from the Preparatory Camp, held in New Delhi in June 2015, on the basis of their consistent performance and technical skills.
The Junior Men Team for the Volvo International U-21 Men Tournament 2015 will be captained by promising midfielder Harjeet Singh and supported by the skilful defender Dipsan Tirkey as Vice-Captain, under the Coach Harendra Singh. Most of the players have the experience of playing international tournaments and were part of the Champion team of the Sultan of Johor Cup 2014, where they beat Great Britain by 2-1 in the Final match.
Playing their first match on 18 July 2015, India is slotted against Germany in the opening match of the tournament.
Commenting on the upcoming tournament, Coach Harendra Singh stated, “This is a very energetic and talented team as most have the capability of implementing strategies on the field and experience of playing under tremendous pressure. The preparatory camp was very fruitful which helped enhance their skills as well as playing along with each other on the field. Most of the players in the squad have international experience and were part the champion team of the Sultan of Johor Cup 2014 and which I think will help in the upcoming tournament. Their exposure and learning will surely help the younger players and strengthen the team-combination.”
The Volvo International U-21 Men Tournament will be held in Breda, the Netherlands from 18-25 July 2015. The Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2015 will be played in Malaysia from 14 to 22 November 2015, followed by the FIH Junior World Cup 2016 (Men) from 01 to 11 December 2016.
The List of 18 Junior Men Players
GOALKEEPERS
1. Pankaj Kumar Rajak
2. Suraj Karkera
DEFENDERS
3. Vikramjit Singh
4. Dipsan Tirkey
5. Harmanpreet Singh
6. Varun Kumar
7. Baljit Singh
8. Anand Lakra
MIDFIELDERS
9. Santa Singh
10. Manpreet
11. Nilakanta Sharma
12. Harjeet Singh
13. Ajay Yadav
FORWARDS
14. Sumit Kumar
15. Armaan Qureshi
16. Parvinder Singh
17. Gurjant Singh
18. Simranjeet Singh
