Hockey India announces 16-member squad for Olympics

New Delhi: Harmanpreet Singh was on Wednesday named captain and Hardik Singh his deputy as Hockey India announced a 16-member squad for next month’s Paris Olympics, featuring five Games debutants and a handful of seniors from the previous edition.

India, who won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, are placed in Pool B alongside defending champions Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland.

Teams finishing in the top four in the pool’s points table will advance to the quarter-finals.

The Indian players are currently busy preparing for the Olympics in their national camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru. The venerable goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and midfielder Manpreet Singh are set for their fourth Olympic appearance while skipper Harmanpreet is bracing up for his third Games.