India men's hockey team to play 4-nation tournament in South Africa

New Delhi: The Indian men's hockey team will take part in a four-nation tournament featuring France, and the Netherlands and host South Africa from January 14 as part of the side's preparations for the Paris Olympics.

Ahead of the tournament, a 39-member core group will train at the national coaching camp, beginning at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Hockey India said in a media release.

Following the 11-day camp, India, who have already qualified for the Paris Games, will head to Cape Town.

The test event in South Africa, which ends on January 28, will provide good exposure ahead of India's Pro League campaign opener in Odisha in February.

India is scheduled to take on Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland in double-header games in the Pro League.

"I believe the players are returning fresh from a good break with their families for the holiday season. We begin the hockey season for the year with the South Africa Tour and from here on it will only get busier with regular games leading up to the Paris Olympics.

"Our core group is quite solid with experienced players and some of them named in this group will also be playing the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman," Indian men's hockey team chief coach Craig Fulton said.

"As always, this camp too will be focused on getting better as a team and we are eager to get on with the season," he added.

The core group for the national coaching camp includes goalkeepers Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, Pawan Malik, and Prashant Kumar Chauhan.

Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Dipsan Tirkey, and Manjeet have been named as defenders.

While midfielders called up to the camp include Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Sumit, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mohd Raheel Mouseen and Maninder Singh.

The list of forwards includes S Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, and Pawan Rajbhar. Core-probable group ============= Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Suraj Karkera, Pawan, Prashant Kumar Chauhan.

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Dipsan Tirkey, Manjeet.

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Sumit, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Maninder Singh.

Forwards: S. Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Pawan Rajbhar.