New Delhi, 28 December 2019: As we march into the Olympic year, all eyes will be on the Indian Men's Hockey Team who will begin the season with their maiden campaign at the most-awaited FIH Hockey Pro League. In pursuit of making a winning start to the year 2020, Hockey India on Saturday named 32 members in the Core Probable Group who will report to Chief Coach Graham Reid for a two-week National Coaching Camp ahead of their tie against the Netherlands on 18th & 19th January 2020.

Young Striker Dilpreet Singh who was last seen in the Indian Team at the 2018 Men's World Cup returns to the core group following his worthy performance at the Sultan of Johor Cup 2019 for the Indian Colts who won a Silver Medal in the prestigious tournament. Youngsters Shilanand Lakra, Rajkumar Pal, Nilam Sanjeep Xess and Dipsan Tirkey have also received a call-up for the National Coaching Camp to be held at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar which will host the FIH Hockey Pro League matches in India.

The Core Group featuring a mix of experienced and young players includes PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bhadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma and Vivek Sagar Prasad.

Experienced midfielder Chinglensana Singh, who was last seen in action during the 2018 Men's World Cup, also returns to the Core Group after nearly 10 months of injury break.

SV Sunil, who was named Player of the tournament at the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in November, is also part of the Core Group along with Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Shamsher Singh, Suraj Karkera, Jarmanpreet Singh,Jaskaran Singh, Gurjant Singh and Sumit.

"I believe all the players will return fresh for the Camp after a good break for Christmas. The previous National Coaching Camp in Bhubaneswar was physically challenging where we expected the players to push their limits. It involved a lot of strength and conditioning work apart from hockey. The next two weeks will be focused on our preparations for the matches against the Netherlands and our real test begins now," stated Chief Coach Graham Reid.