Chettri to Lead Indian Hockey Team in Olympics

Goalkeeper Bharat Chettri was named captain of the Indian hockey team in the London Olympics.

The 16-member squad and two stand-bys were announced by Hockey India (HI) after trails at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune conducted from June 6–7, 2012.

Sarvanjit Singh and Kothajit Singh are the two stand bys while Sardar Singh has been named as the vice-captain.

Eight-time champions India have been clubbed with Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, New Zealand and Belgium in Group B. Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Pakistan, Argentina and South Africa are in Group A.

India start their campaign against the Netherlands on July 30 at the Riverbank Arena. They next face New Zealand on August 1, Olympic champions Germany (August 3), South Korea (August 4) and Belgium (August 7).

All the matches will be played on blue artificial turf with yellow kookaburra balls. The pitch has pink runways.

The Indian team will reach London on July 19 after its Europe tour of France and Spain.

India, who missed the 2008 Beijing Games for the first time in 80 years, qualified for the 2012 London Games beating France 8-1 in the final match of the qualifier in New Delhi earlier this year.

The squad for the Europe tour:

Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri (captain) and PR Sreejesh

Defenders: V.R.Raghunath, Ignace Tirkey, Sandeep Singh

Midfielders: Sardar Singh (vice captain), Kothajit Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manpreet Singh

Forwards: SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Sarvanjit Singh, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Tushar Khandker, Dharamvir Singh, SK Uthappa

Team officials: Michael Nobbs (chief coach), Mohammed Riaz (coach), Clarence Lobo (coach), David John (physiotherapist), Shrikant Iyengar (manager), Hari Shanker Narayanan (video analyst).