Harcharan Singh appointed chief coach

It may be recalled that Pillay, Mukesh and four others were rested’ after he Indian team returned victorious from the 13th Bangkok Asian Games.

“If the coaches feel that these players are good and fit, they can be invited to the future national camps only after getting the feedback on the performance of the players in the present lot,” IHF secretary K Jothikumaran said.

Chief coach Harcharan Singh, who was summoned by the federation for the second phase of the camp which began on May 3, declined to comment on the weaknesses of the Indian team and his priorities.

“I am going to Bangalore tomorrow for the selection trials. After carefully and minutely analysing the things, I will chalk out my priorities and develop strategy accordingly in consultation with the coaches and IHF officials to improve the hockey standard. However, the results cannot be achieved overnight,” said Harcharan, who was a member of the Indian team which won the World Cup in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur.

Addressing newsmen at the CRPF Officers Mess here, the IHF president said the final 18 would be announced on May 24. The captain and the manager would also be announced on the same day. The IHF is preparing the team for the four-Test series each against Germany (June 8-13) and Belgium (June 15-20).

On the question of appointing a physical trainer, Gill said “Services Sports Control Board would provide the services of an expert who will take care of the overall physical fitness of the players.”

The 52 campers who failed to make the probables list will attend camps at Patiala and Amristar to maintain continuity in training schdules. Rajinder Singh and Satinder Singh will coach at the Patiala camp while Balwinder Singh and Sushil Sharma will be the coaches at Amritsar.

The IHF president disclosed that another Indian team would be sent to South Africa for a five-Test series from August 14 to 22. India will also compete in the four-nation international meet at Canberra and Sydney from September 16 to 26. Besides hosts Australia, India, Canada and Korea are the others expected to take part.

On the junior front, an under-21 team will take part in the eight-nation tournament in Poland from August 22 to 29. Besides, Chennai is organising the World Youth under-18 Festival from December 27 to Chennai 6.

Besides, for the first time. a sub-junior team will be sent to Australia for training-cum-competition in September. The Sports Ministry has already cleared the IHF proposal in this connection. The team will be selected during the Sub-Junior Nationals in Uttar Pradesh.

The IHF has also decided to introduce zonal level national competitions for juniors. The Indian probables for the World Youth Festival will be selected at the end of zonal tournaments.

On the question of appointing a physical trainer, Gill said “Services Sports Control Board would provide the services of an expert who will take care of the overall physical fitness of the players.”

The probables for the Chandigarh camp are:
V Ravindro (CRPF), Edward Aloysis (Punjab and Sind Bank), Dilip Tirkey (IA), Lazrus Barla (IA), Anurag Raghuvanshi (UP), Rajinder Singh (Customs), Navsher Singh (Railways), Baljit Saini (PSB), Anwar Khan (Rlys), SS Gill (Mumbai), Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Shamshul Juha (UP), Sandeep Singh (PSB), Sunil Yadav (UP), Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab), Daljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab), Gagan Ajit Singh (Air India), Samir Dad (Rlys), Ajinder Pal Singh (Rlys), K Horo (Services), Parminder Singh (PSB), Deepak Thakur (AI), Sarabjit Singh (Punjab), Ajitpal Singh (Universities), Amarjit Partap Singh (UP), Gursewak Singh (Punjab) and Harbhajan Singh (BSF).