FIH Hockey5s World Cup: Simranjeet to lead India men; Rajni to captain women's side
New Delhi (PTI): Simranjeet Singh and Rajni Etimarpu will lead the men's and women's sides respectively as Hockey India on Sunday named the Indian teams for the upcoming FIH Hockey5s World Cup to be held in Muscat, Oman.
While the Hockey5s Women's World Cup will be held between January 24 and 27, the men's event is slated from January 28 to January 31.
Experienced goalkeeper Rajni will have defender Mahima Chaudhary as her deputy, while Mandeep Mor will be the vice-captain of the men's team.
The women's team also comprises Bansari Solanki as the second goalkeeper, with Akshata Abaso Dhekale and Jyoti Chhatri as defenders.
Among midfielders, Mariana Kujur and Mumtaz Khan have been named while Ajmina Kujur, Rutaja Dadaso Pisal and Deepika Soreng have been named as forwards.
The Indian Women are grouped in Pool C along with Namibia, Poland and the United States.
A total of 16 teams will participate in the Hockey5s Women's World Cup which includes Fiji, Malaysia, the Netherlands and hosts Oman in Pool A, while Australia, South Africa, Ukraine and Zambia are in Pool B and Pool D features New Zealand, Paraguay, Thailand and Uruguay.
"The team comprises young players with enough international experience and understanding of the challenges of playing a prestigious event such as the Hockey 5's World Cup," coach Soundarya said in a HI release.
"We are well prepared and are upbeat ahead of the tournament."
The Indian men's team, led by Olympic bronze medallist Simranjeet, includes goalkeepers Suraj Karkera and Prashant Kumar Chauhan.
Mandeep Mor will be joined by Manjeet in defence, while midfield features Mohd Raheel Mouseen and Maninder Singh and forward-line comprises Pawan Rajbhar, Gurjot Singh and Uttam Singh along with captain Simranjeet.
Grouped in Pool B, India will play against Egypt, Jamaica and Switzerland to make the knockout rounds.
The other teams in the fray include the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan and Poland in Pool A and Pool C features Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago while Pool D includes Fiji, Malaysia, Oman and the United States.
"We have chosen a very balanced team with youth and experience for this exciting format of hockey," coach Sardar Singh said.
"Several players in this squad already have the experience of playing this format and are eager to perform well. We have worked hard for this tournament and look forward to finishing on the podium."
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
