By IANS,
New Delhi : Rajpal Singh will lead the Indian hockey team in the Champions Challenge at Salta, Argentina, Dec 6-13.
The Indian team will leave for Madrid, Spain, for a week’s training cum competition en route to Salta on Nov 23 for the eight-nation tournament, Hockey India said in a statement Friday.
India have been drawn in Pool A with Belgium, China and New Zealand, while Pool B consists of hosts Argentina, Canada, Pakistan and South Africa.
India will take on New Zealand on Dec 6, followed by China on Dec 8 and Belgium on Dec 10.
The winner of the tournament shall be promoted to the elite six-nation Champions Trophy next year.
India had won the inaugural Champions Challenge Tournament at Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and had thus played the Champions Trophy at Cologne in 2003. India last played the Champions Challenge at Boom, Belgium in 2007 where they finished fourth.
The squad.
Goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Bharat, Ajitesh Roy, Dhananjay Mahadik, V. Raghunath
Midfielders: Tushar Khandker, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Roshan Minz, Danish Mujtaba, Vikas Sharma
Forwards: Rajpal Singh (captain), Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh
Deepak Thakur, Sarwanjit Singh, Mandeep Antil, Prabhjot Singh
Chief coach: Jose Brasa