Indian team announced for FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 European leg

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Hockey India on Thursday announced a 24-member Indian men's team for the European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League to be played in Amstelveen, Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium, from June 7.

India will begin their European leg with two matches each against the Netherlands on June 7 and 9, followed by a double header against Argentina on June 11 and 12 at the Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen.

They will then travel to Antwerp to face Australia on June 14 and 15 before ending their campaign against hosts Belgium on June 21 and 22.

India played the home leg of the Pro League in Bhubaneswar earlier this year where they secured 15 points with five wins in eight games and now stand third in the points table.

"We wanted a bit more experience in the squad this time around and I am really happy with the selection," chief coach Craig Fulton said.

"The team has been training well as we're looking to try and push as hard as possible and win the Pro League. Since there's qualification for the World Cup on the line, we want to try and get as many points to put ourselves in a good position for that," he added.

India have pruned down their squad from 32 to 24 members since their Bhubaneswar leg.

Those missing out include defender Varun Kumar, midfielder Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, and forwards Boby Singh DHami, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Angad Bir Singh and Arshdeep.

"We haven't drawn any games so far in the tournament and I believe we need to turn our losses into draws and then go for a shootout, so if we don't really get the desired results, we can still get points on the board," Fulton said.

"We also need to improve our penalty corner conversion rate so yes, we've got some good objectives to try and achieve this time around,” he concluded.

With the highest-placed team of the league securing a spot in the 2026 Men's FIH World Cup, India will be hoping to improve upon their performance and win maximum points in the remaining eight matches of the tournament.

Team: Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak,Suraj Karkera.

Defenders: Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay and Yashdeep Siwach Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh. PTI APA AH AH