Two from Odisha in national hockey team for Japan test event

New Delhi: Two players from Odisha have been selected by Hockey India for 18-member Team India men’s squad for the Olympic Test event to be held in Japan next month.

Odisha hockey players, Ashis Topno and Nilam Sanjeep Xess have been named in the team. Midfielder Ashis will be making his debut in the series. Midfielder Sanjeep already has 10 international caps to his name.

The team management has decided to rest senior players such as Captain Manpreet Singh, PR Sreejesh and Surender Kumar. The Indian team Chief Coach Graham Reid said that the break will help the players shake off any niggling injuries and get fresh ahead of the Olympic qualifying matches in November.

Reid expressed that the Olympic Test Event to be played between Aug 17 and Aug 24 will give a few players a chance to show their mettle at the international stage.

“With no world ranking points at risk, the Tokyo test event gives us an ideal opportunity to not only get a first hand look at how Tokyo is shaping up for next year’s Olympics, we will also see some players who have not had a chance to show us what they can do on the international stage,” said Reid.

Indian Men’s Team List:

1. Krishan Bahadur Pathak

2. Gurinder Singh

3. Harmanpreet Singh (Captain)

4. Kothajit Singh Khadangbam

5. Hardik Singh

6. Nilakanta Sharma

7. Vivek Sagar Prasad

8. Jaskaran Singh

9. Mandeep Singh (Vice Captain)

10. Gursahibjit Singh

11. Nilam Sanjeep Xess

12. Jarmanpreet Singh

13. Varun Kumar

14. Ashis Topno

15. SV Sunil

16. Gurjant Singh

17. Shamsher Singh

18. Suraj Karkera

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