Dilip Tirkey. — FILE PHOTO: Mohammed Yousuf

Chennai: Dilip Tirkey will lead India in the hockey World Cup scheduled to be held in the German city of Monchengladbach from September 6 to 17. This will be Tirkey's third World championship, the first being in Utrecht in 1998.

Announcing the team for the World Cup and the South Asian Games in Colombo, K.P.S. Gill, President, Indian Hockey Federation, said that the squad was well prepared and well knit to meet the challenges. He added that the team now enjoyed the privilege of software assistance such as video analysis and technical inputs from Meru Sports Technology Services. A team from this unit would be with the squad in Germany to help the coaches and players.

Two changes

There are two changes in the Senior team from the one that played at the Azlan Shah tournament. Nitin Kumar, a junior star, comes in place of Bimal Lakra, who opted out of the training camp in Bangalore, while Ignace Tirkey stages a comeback in place of Ajmere Singh. Ignace, who led India at the Commonwealth Games, missed the selection for the Azlan Shah event due to a knee injury.

Apart from Dilip Tirkey, only three players figured in the last World Cup at Kuala Lumpur in 2002. They are — Kanwalpreet Singh, Ignace Tirkey and Arjun Halappa. Interestingly, this will be the first World Cup appearance for Gagan Ajit Singh.

Explaining the programme devised to help hockey players, P. Sankaran, CEO, Meru Consultants and Technologies, said the software would help players study the videos and movements and provide adequate inputs for strategy analysis. He was optimistic that the players would grasp the nuances involved in a couple of weeks. He felt the time available was adequate. The programme is named "hockeymate".

Centre of excellence

The IHF President said that the federation was focussing on junior talent and contemplating setting up a centre of excellence with best of talent from various academies in the country. On the work of the new Australian trainer, Derek Knox, Mr. Gill said that it was too early to make an assessment. He however said that the "players responded well to the new techniques of Knox.''

To a question on the suggestions to effect changes in the role of goalkeepers by the Rules Board, Mr. Gill said that the coaches were the best judges to study the impact. However, he added that the IHF would experiment such formulations during the PHL league next year.

Mr. K. Jothikumaran, Secretary, IHF, said the seniors would assemble after a short break in New Delhi and leave for Germany on August 24. He added that the team would figure in a few matches against Belgium and train in Cologne before reaching Monchengladbach. The SA Games squad would leave for Colombo on Saturday.

The teams:

World Cup: Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza and Bharat Chetri; Full backs: Dilip Tirkey (captain), Sandeep Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh; Mid-fielders: V.S. Vinaya, Nitin Kumar, Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey, Prabhodh Tirkey and Viren Resquinha; Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir Singh, Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Arjun Halappa and Hariprasad. Officials: V. Baskaran (Chief Coach); Harendra Singh (Coach), Ravi Kanakamedala (Physio), Derek Knox (Trainer) and S.P. Dass (Manager).

SA Games: Goalkeepers: Sreejesh and Gurpreet Singh; Full backs: William Xalco, Raghunath, Muthuselvan; Mid-fielders: Ajmere Singh, Sunil Ekka, Senthil, Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Dhananjaya Mahadik, and Sardar Singh; Forwards: Sandeep Micheal, Vickram Kanth, Roshan Minz, Adam Sinclair, V. Raja (captain) and Gurvinder Chandi. Officials: Clarance Lobo (Chief Coach), Mohammad Riaz (Coach), Gunasekaran (Trainer), Ravindra Kumar (Doctor) and Gyanendro Ningomabam (Manager).

Hockey programme at SA Games: Aug. 21: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (2 p.m.); India v Pakistan (4.15 p.m.); Aug. 22: Bangladesh v Pakistan (2 p.m.); Sri Lanka v India (4.15 p.m.); Aug. 23: Sri Lanka v Pakistan (2 p.m.); India v Bangladesh (4.15 p.m.); Aug. 24: Rest Day. Aug. 25: 3-4 places (2 p.m.) and Final (4 p.m.).

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