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Rajpal retains place after patch-up
with Carvalho
WSN Network
 NEW DELHI:
Sikh winger Rajpal Singh retained his place after his patch-up
with coach Joaquim Carvalho while young drag-flicker Diwakar Ram was
the lone new face in India’s hockey squad for the Olympic qualifiers
in Chile
next month. The WSN had earlier highlighted various differences that
had cropped up between Rajpal and the team management on matters of
principle. There were not many surprises in the side as performers
with proven track record were given preference keeping in mind the
necessity to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Striker Ajitesh
Rai is the other youngster who has got into the squad on the
strength of his good showing in the Premier Hockey League and
various international assignments at the junior level. Diwakar Ram
was rewarded with a berth in the squad for his consistent good
performance in junior level tournaments.
 Laying stress on
penalty corner conversion, two drag-flickers have been drafted into
the side. In the absence of Sandeep Singh, who opted out of the
preparatory camp on health grounds, V R Raghunath was the automatic
choice.
Diwakar snatched
the other spot with his ability to rattle experienced goalkeepers
in addition to his excellent defensive skills. Old warhorse Dilip
Tirkey and his understudy William Xalxo will be in charge of the
defence.
The experienced
duo of Bimal Lakra and Ignace Tirkey will be the main playmakers and
the skilful quartet of captain Prabodh Tirkey, Sardara Singh, Vikram
Kanth and Gurbaj Singh will man the midfield.
The onus of the
attack will be on the lethal combination of Rajpal, the highest
goal-scorer in Asia Cup Prabhjot Singh, Tushar Khandekar and
Shivendra Singh with young blood Bharat Chikara and Ajitesh
providing the back-up.
As Adrian
D’Souza is not fully fit, Bharat Chetri and Baljit Singh, who
coincidentally were rival goalkeepers in the PHL finals this year,
have been picked for guarding the Indian post.
 Coach Joaquim
Carvalho said that it was a balanced side. “This is the best
possible team that I expected to be given to me. The juniors in the
standbye list are not lagging far behind. It is a well-balanced
team. It has been picked on the basis of performances against
Belgium and matches played in Perth, where each player was tried out
in various positions,” he said.
While nominating
England
as the main threat in the Santiago tournament, to be played from
March 1 to 9, Carvalho said his team would not take the other sides
lightly. “It is not going to be easy. We will take it match by
match. I am sure my boys will bring their best.
England
is the main team that we focus on since it is going to be tough”, he
said.
“At the same
time, we will not take chances against lowly teams since you never
know who is going to create an upset,” he added. Austria, Mexico,
hosts Chile and Russia are the other teams in the fray in the
tournament.
27
February 2008
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