Bengaluru: The 24-member Indian men's hockey team have left for Spain for the 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation - International Tournament to be held in Terrasa, Spain from July 25 to July 30. India will compete against England, Netherlands and the hosts Spain in the four-nation tournament. The team left on Wednesday.
The Indian Men's Hockey Team, led by Captain Harmanpreet Singh and Vice-Captain Hardik Singh, will begin their campaign against Spain on July 25, and then will compete against the Netherlands on July 26th. India will face off against England on July 28 in their final match of the round-robin stage. The Final of the tournament will be played on July 30.
The tournament will serve as the preparatory event for the Indian Men's Hockey Team ahead of the highly-anticipated Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, which will be followed by the crucial Hangzhou Asian Games 2023.
Speaking ahead of the Indian Team's departure, Captain Harmanpreet Singh said, "The four-nation tour is a chance for our team to test ourselves against top nations in the world. Spain, the Netherlands and England have been in good form this past year and we will look to get favourable results on the tour to ensure our team can have momentum going into the all-important Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023. We have trained well and are confident of a solid performance in Spain."
The Indian squad had been training at the National Coaching Camp at SAI Centre in Bengaluru.
Speaking on the upcoming competition, Indian Men's Hockey Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton said, "We are looking forward to implementing our plans and structure in the upcoming matches in Spain. This is an important year for us with the prestigious Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, and the crucial Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, coming up. We have worked on the areas in the camp where we needed to improve upon, and we will focus on our strengths on the Spain tour to get positive results."
Indian Men's Hockey Team:
Goalkeepers: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran and Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Varun Kumar and Sanjay
Midfielders: Hardik Singh (VC), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Rajkumar Pal
Forwards: Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Pawan, Dilpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Karthi Selvam
Schedule for 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation - International Tournament and broadcast details:
On 25th July 2023, India vs Spain at 2330 hrs IST
On 26th July 2023, India vs Netherlands at 2130 hrs IST
On 28th July 2023, India vs England at 1630 hrs IST. (ANI)
