Bangalore, Sept 22: Suraj Lata Devi has been retained the captain of the Indian women hockey team for the upcoming Afro Asian Games and Asia Cup. Announcing a 22-member squad for the two international events, Indian Women's Hockey Federation president Vidya Stokes said that M K Kaushik would be the chief coach of side while Manjit Kaur will be the coach-cum-manager.
A three-member selection committee headed by Stokes and comprising Olympian Jalaluddin Rizwan and treasurer of IWHF D D Singh selected the team after assessing the performance of 36 probables undergoing training at the Sports Authority of India, South centre, on the city outskirts.
The probables had been attending the coaching camp since September 8 and would train here till October 8, Stokes said. Stokes said efforts of the federation to appoint a foreign coach for the team could not fructify as top coaches from Australia and Netherlands did not show any interest in taking up the assignment.
Team:
Helen Mary, Deepika Murthy, Marite Tirkey (goal keepers), Suman Bala, Kanti Baa, Pushpa Pradhan, Neelima Kujur (full backs), Suraj Lata Devi, Subhadra Pradhan, Masira Sarin, Gurpreet Kaur, Sumari Tete, Fulmani Soy, Manju (half backs), Shanggai I Chanu, Adline Kerketta, Jasjeet Kaur, Annarita Kerketta, Surinder Kaur, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Deepika Thakur and Meenakshi (forwards). Stokes said the team would move to Hyderabad on October 9 to prepare for the Afro Asian Games beginning from October 22. Bureau Report