Ace forward Rajpal axed from hockey squad for Olympic qualifiers
January 30th, 2012 - 10:15 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) As expected former captain Rajpal Singh was Monday dropped from the 18-member India squad for the 2012 London Olympic qualifiers to be held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium Feb 18-26.
India coach Michael Nobbs had indicated last week that Rajpal would need more time to recover for the appendicitis operation that he underwent three months back. Rajpal has been out of action for the past three months.
“Rajpal is going to need a lot of work. He has been out for nearly 12 weeks. He is going to take a few months before getting back into top shape. He probably won’t play (the Olympic qualifiers),” Nobbs had said.
Veteran midfielders Vikram Pillay and Arjun Halappa were also dropped. Halappa, however, was kept as a stand by along with Manjeet Kullu, V.S. Vinaya and Chinglensana Singh.
Bharat Chetri will be leading the side in the tournament, which will be participated by Canada, France, Italy, Poland and Singapore, besides India.
Veteran Ignace Tirkey, hwoever, found a place in the squad alsong with senior strikers Tushar Khandker and Shivendra Singh. The forward line will also see S.V. Sunil Sarvanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Danish Mujtaba and Yuvraj Walmiki in action.
Squad:
Goalkeepers - Bharat Chetri (Captain), PR Sreejesh. Defenders - Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh.
Midfielders - Sardar Singh (Vice- Captain), Manpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Kothajit Singh.
Forwards - S V Sunil, Sarvanjit Singh, Shivendra Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Tushar Khandker, Danish Mujtaba, Yuvraj Walmiki, S K Uthappa.
Standbys - Manjeet Kullu (Defender), VS Vinaya (Midfielder), Arjun Halappa (Midfielder), Chinglensana Singh (Forward).
- Rajpal retained among 32 hockey probables for Olympic qualifiers - Jan 23, 2012
- Rajpal, Halappa left out from Olympics hockey probables - Feb 27, 2012
- 32 hockey players named for central contracts - Jun 08, 2012
- Chetri to lead hockey team in Champions Challenge - Nov 18, 2011
- Asian Champions Trophy: Rajpal to lead men's team, Anjum women's - Aug 16, 2011
- 48 probables selected for national hockey camp - Jul 16, 2011
- Chettri to lead Indian hockey team in London - Apr 10, 2012
- 90 Indian players sign up for Hockey India league - Sep 12, 2012
- Chettri to lead Indian hockey team in Olympics - Jun 11, 2012
- Chettri to lead Indian hockey team in Olympics (Lead) - Jun 11, 2012
- Four from India's Europe tour to miss Olympic hockey - Jun 10, 2012
- Sandeep, Sardar recalled in national team for Australia tour - Sep 29, 2011
- India's men's and women's hockey teams chasing Olympic dream - Feb 17, 2012
- Indian hockey squad for Commonwealth Games announced - Aug 30, 2010
- Rajpal, Surinder Kaur to lead hockey teams in Guangzhou - Nov 03, 2010
Tags: alsong, arjun, bharat, canada france, chandi, dhyan chand, forward line, gurvinder singh, hockey squad, kullu, manpreet singh, midfielder, mujtaba, olympic qualifiers, pillay, raghunath, sardar singh, vice captain, vikram, vinaya