New Delhi: Odisha player Shilanand Lakra has been named vice-captain of the 18-member junior men’s team for the upcoming Sultan of Johor Cup tournament to be played in Malaysia October 6-13. Defender Suman Beck is the second Odiya player in the team which was announced Wednesday by Hockey India (HI).
The Indian team have been grouped with Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Great Britain. The Boys in Blue will open their campaign October 6 against Malaysia.
The top two teams from each of the two groups will qualify for the finals October 13 whereas the remaining four teams will play classification matches.
The Indian team will be captained by Mandeep Mor. “We have selected the team keeping in mind the exposure that these young players will be getting at the tournament. We will be up against some of the best teams in the youth category, and we believe that this set of players can challenge the other teams for the title in Johor Bahru,” HI high performance director David John said.
Coach Jude Felix has tried different combinations during the tour of Belgium and during the National Camp in Bangalore, and these 18 players have shown great ability and desire to succeed.
The squad: (Goalkeepers) Kamalbir Singh, Pankaj Kumar Rajak; (Defenders) Suman Beck, Mohd Faraz, Somjeet, Mandeep Mor, Prince, Varinder Singh; (Midfielders) Yashdeep Siwach, Harmanjit Singh, Vishnu Kant Singh, Gopi Kumar Sonkar, Vishal Antil Haspreet Singh; (Forwards) Gursahabjit Singh, Abhishek, Prabhjot Singh and Shilanand Lakra.