Drag-flicker
Sandeep Singh and defender Gurbaj Singh were amongst
the
33 core probables announced by Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday for the FIH Hockey
World Cup to be held in The Hague, Netherlands from 31st May.
The
players will undergo a preparatory camp from March 9 at Major Dhyan Chand
National Stadium in New Delhi.
India
are placed in Pool A of the FIH Hockey World Cup with Australia, England,
Belgium, Spain and Malaysia.
India
will open their campaign against Belgium on May 31 followed by matches against
England (June 2), Spain (June 5), Malaysia (June 7) and Australia (June 9).
Probables list:
Goalkeepers
- PR Sreejesh, Harjot Singh, Sushant Tirkey
Defenders
- Gurbaj Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, V R Raghunath, Birendra Lakra, Gurmail
Singh, Kothajit Singh, Khadangbam, Gurjinder Singh, Gurinder Singh, Sandeep Singh,
Vikram Kanth. Midfielders - S K Uthappa, Dharamvir Singh, Chinglensana Singh
Kangujam, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Satbir Singh, Devinder
Sunil Walmiki, Vikas Pillay, Jasjit Singh.
Forwards
- Nikkin Thimmaiah, Nithin Thimmaiah, S V Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep
Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Yuvraj Walmiki, Talwinder Singh, Lalit
Upadhyay.
The Hockey World Cup
The
Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the
International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971.
It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer
Olympics.
There
is also a Women's Hockey World Cup, which has been held since 1974
and was organised by the International Federation of Women's Hockey
Associations (IFWHA) until 1981, when the governing bodies merged into the
current International Hockey Federation in 1982.
Five
countries have dominated the event's history. Pakistan is the most
successful team, having won the tournament four times. The Netherlands
have won three titles, and Germany and Australia have each won two titles. India
won the tournament once. It was announced that the World Cup will expand to
16 teams for the 2018 editions, and that it will be evaluated the possibility
of increasing it to 24 in 2022.
The
2010 Hockey World Cup was held in India from February 28 to March 13 at New
Delhi's Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Australia defeated Germany 2–1 in the
final, to win their second World Cup title. The 2014 tournament will be held in
The Hague, Netherlands from June 2–14, 2014.
The
2014 Men's Hockey World Cup will be the 13th edition of the Hockey World Cup.
It will be held from 31 May to 15 June 2014 at the Kyocera Stadion in The
Hague, Netherlands. It will be held simultaneously with the women's tournament.
It will be the third time that the Netherlands hosts the World Cup after 1973
and 1998.