Gearing up for the all-important Hangzhou Asian Games, Hockey India on Sunday named a 39-member core men's probable group for the national coaching camp beginning in Bengaluru on Monday.
The camp, which will serve as an opportunity for the players to fine-tune their skills, is scheduled to be held at SAI Centre from August 21 to September 18.
The Asian Games is scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 8 in China. The Indian men's team, which lifted the Asian Champions Trophy title for a record fourth time in Chennai early this month, will begin their campaign at the Asian Games against Uzbekistan on September 24.
India are placed in Pool A along with Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. "Over the past few months, we have shown that we are growing as a team and learning constantly," India chief coach Craig Fulton said in a release issued by HI. "The camp is an important one for us as we are spearheading our preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games which could be our road to securing a spot for the Paris Olympics 2024. "In the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, we played really good hockey and given the fact that we remained unbeaten in the tournament shows that we are heading in the right direction and we want to keep that going in upcoming tournaments." India captain Harmanpreet Singh said, "The camp will be an opportunity for us to work in certain areas and to work together as a unit. "We displayed solid team performance in the Asian Champions Trophy and it is important for us to keep the same momentum going." List of players in India's 39-member core-probable group: Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, Pawan, Prashant Kumar Chauhan. Defenders: Jarmanpreet