Hockey | Akashdeep, Jugraj and Selvam Karthi miss the bus for Asian Games
The Hindu
Hockey India announced Indian men's and women's teams for Asian Games, with Harmanpreet Singh and Savita Punia as captains. Akashdeep Singh, Jugraj Singh and Selvam Karthi were left out. A send-off ceremony was held to felicitate the players and their families. Men's team will open vs Uzbekistan (Sept 24) and women's vs Singapore (Sept 27).
Forward Akashdeep Singh, who scored four goals in the recent Asian Champions Trophy, was left out of the Indian men’s hockey squad for the Asian Games. Jugraj Singh and Selvam Karthi also missed the cut.
Harmanpreet Singh will helm the team while Savita Punia will continue to lead the women’s team.
The teams were announced at a send-off ceremony hosted by Hockey India here on Thursday. The players and their family members were felicitated on the occasion.
Odisha Minister for Electronics and IT, Sports And Youth Services And Home, Tusharkanti Behera, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey, Hockey India secretary General Bhola Nath Singh, and former hockey internationals A.B. Subbaiah and Sabu Varkey were some of the dignitaries present at the event.
The men’s team will open its Hangzhou Asian Games campaign against Uzbekistan on September 24. The women’s team takes on Singapore on September 27.
The squads: Men: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), P.R. Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh (vice captain), Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Abhishek, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.