Hockey India name probables

In its pursuit to improve the standard of women's hockey, Hockey India on Tuesday named 33 core probables for the junior women's national camp to be held at Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru.

The core probables were picked after an intense selection trials conducted under the watchful eyes Hockey India High Performance Director, David John.

The core group will be trained by Indian junior women's team coach Baljeet Singh Saini.

Saini, who represented India at two successive Olympic Games - 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney, has previously worked with the junior women's squad in 2016 and under his tutelage the U-18 Indian women's team had won a bronze medal at the U-18 Asia Cup held in December last

year.

The core group has been selected on the basis of speed, agility, skill and basic understanding of the game.

The vision behind organising the national camp, which will continue till July 3, is to develop a core group of players who will aim to qualify for the prestigious 2020 junior women's World Cup.

"We have analysed all the 38

players who were at the national Camp since May 24, and Hockey India's selection committee has further pruned down the core probables to 33 who will carry on their training. This core group will be provided with a support staff including scientific advisor, video analyst, physiotherapist and a masseuse just like we have for our senior team programs," said John.