INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sreejesh to steerage the men's group, Sushila Chanu gets the honor of driving the ladies. 

At last, there were few astonishments as the last 16 men and ladies to speak to Indian hockey at the Rio Olympics were named on Tuesday. The men's group would be driven by goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh while Sushila Chanu has been named captain of the ladies' squad. 

While most group declarations are staid issues, Hockey India has confidence in magnificence. 

The capacity had BJP president Amit Shah as boss visitor and Sports Minister Vijay Goel as the visitor of honor other than SAI chief general Injeti Srinivas, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta, and a few previous Olympians. 

Be that as it may, for once, the top dogs took backstage as the spotlight remained solidly on the players, gave with extraordinary formal attire to the event. 

Sreejesh, who turned into the principal hockey player from Kerala to lead at the late Champions Trophy, would now be the second goalkeeper to get that honor at the Olympics. 

Bharat Chhetri had driven in 2012. In any case, while there was a buzz around expelling long-lasting chief Sardar Singh from the post, the man himself made light of it. 

"For me, the country starts things out. Our exclusive target is to put forth a strong effort and we have been planning hard for it. For me everyone is a pioneer in the group," Sardar said even as Sreejesh and mentor Roelant Otlmans concurred. "Captaincy resemble a fantasy. Be that as it may, as at the Champions Trophy, there is an administration bunch in the group. 

"We will turn the armband which partitions obligation and when every one of the seniors share the weight, the youngsters likewise understand the significance of their part in the group. 

"Sardar is one of the best players on the planet and unquestionably part of the administration bunch," Sreejesh said. 

It was a greater accomplishment for Sushila, who not just recuperated from a genuine knee harm endured a couple of months back additionally ventured into the shoes of Ritu Rani, the prepared previous commander who was dropped from Rio squad for absence of core interest. 

"When she was at first harmed, I believed she's gone," mentor Neil Hawgood conceded, including that he invested a ton of energy conversing with specialists and sportspersons back home in Australia including a couple who played at the Olympics without the ACL — the muscle that Sushila harmed — before choosing not to go for surgery. 

"The emphasis was on creating quality and at last she returned without a moment to spare for the Australia visit and conforming to this weight of driving the side while returning from damage, it regarded watch," Hawgood said. 

"Her determination to prepare and inspire herself and her flexibility through this harm demonstrated these are the general population you require in extreme times," he included. 

While the ladies go into unfamiliar domain — the main time Indian ladies' hockey group played at the Olympics was on welcome in 1980 — the men are quick to delete the mortification of completing most recent four years prior. 

Seven of the 16 were at London and Sreejesh conceded that wiping off that hurt was the greatest inspiration for the young men. 

"We need to change what happened in 2012. We additionally need to re-make history and the players are savvy enough to work for it," he said. 

Dhanraj Pillay had guidance for the ladies. "You may see a Martina Hingis or Usain Bolt strolling around at Olympics and you can meet and converse with them. Be that as it may, you are additionally glad agents of your nation and are there on legitimacy, much the same as them. So don't make a big deal about the stars and focus on your diversion. In the event that you do well, you will be stars as well," he told Rani Rampal. 

While the men come back to Bengaluru for a week prior to traveling to Madrid for a five-day visit on July 23, the ladies leave on Thursday for USA where they would play a progression of practice matches against the host and Canada before moving to Rio. 

The squad: 

Men: Goalkeeper: P.R. Sreejesh (c); Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinderpal Singh, V.R. Raghunath, Surender Kumar, Kothajit Singh; Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, S.K. Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba, Devinder Walmiki, Chinglensana Singh; Forwards: S.V. Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah. 

Stand-byes: Pradeep Mor, Vikas Dahiya. 

Ladies: Goalkeeper: Savita Punia; Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika Thakur, Namita Toppo, Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu (c); Midfielders: Lilima Minz, Renuka Yadav, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Navjot Kaur; Forwards: Anuradha Devi, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Preeti Dubey, Rani Rampal. 

Stand-byes: Hnialum Lalruatfeli, Rajani Etimarpu.