Tirkey to lead India in World Cup hockey

Chennai, Aug 17 (UNI) Star full back Dilip Tirkey will lead an 18-member Indian Hockey team for the prestigious World Cup Championship to be held in Monchengladbach in Germany from September 6 to 17.

The team was announced by the Indian Hockey Federation(IHF) President and Chairman of the Selection Committee, K P S Gill here today.

Experienced midfielder Ignace Tirkey and Nitin Kumar, were recalled into the team.

However, nobody from the juniors was deemed good enough to be in the scheme of things.

Elaborating, Mr Gill said the selection committee did not have to pick anybody from the junior or the development team, as the senior squad had been performing well.

''This team was gelling very well,'' he said.

Asked about the prospects of the team for podium finish, Mr Gill said, ''it's very difficult to say, let us see, what they do. They are well prepared.'' The team: Goalkeepers: Adrien D'Souza, Bharat Kumar Chetri.

Full backs: Dilip Kumar Tirkey, Sandeep Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh.

Midfielders: V H Vinaya, Nitin Kumar, Vikram Pillai, Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha.

Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir Singh, Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Arjun Halappa and Hari Prasad.

Officials: V Baskaran - Chief Coach Harendra Singh - Coach avi Kanakamodala - Physio Derek Knox - Trainer S P Dass - Manager UNI VV KVV DH BST1809 .