The 22-man Indian men's hockey team core group will return to the national coaching camp in SAI, Bengaluru upon their arrival from Buenos Aires, Argentina on Tuesday.
The team led by captain Manpreet Singh had a successful outing against the Olympic Champions beating them 2-2 (3-2 shootout) and 3-0 in the FIH Hockey Pro League doubleheader. The squad registered a 4-3 win, 4-4 draw, 0-1 loss, and 4-2 win in the practice matches held as part of their preparations for the Olympic Games in July.
"I'd like to thank the efforts of Hockey India and SAI for ensuring a safe and smooth travel to Argentina and back. These matches in Argentina were extremely important for us to access the level we are at with lesser than 100 days to go for the Tokyo Olympic Games. We also managed to get a few practice sessions in Buenos Aires and we are really grateful to the CAH (Confederacion Argentina de Hockey) for their hospitality," stated head coach Graham Reid.
Following their mandatory quarantine, the 22-member squad will join the remaining 11 members in the core probable group who remained in SAI, Bengaluru while the Indian team toured Argentina.
"After all the necessary protocols after our arrival, we will continue with our training with a specific focus on the areas we feel can improve basis our performance in Argentina," Reid added.
The 33-member core probable group includes PR Sreejesh, Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Gurinder Singh.
Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Jaskaran Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra will join Kothajit Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh and Gurjant Singh who remained in SAI, Bengaluru.
( With inputs from ANI )
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