Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has been named the captain of India's 16-member hockey squad for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, beginning August 5. The announcement was made on Tuesday in New Delhi by the president of Hockey India, Narinder Batra. Sreejesh, 28, will replace Sardar Singh as captain, even though the latter has been included in the squad. Forward SV Sunil has been named vice-captain.
The squad for the women's team, which have qualified for the event for the first time in 36 years, was also announced. The team will led by Sushila Chanu, who replaces Ritu Rani, and the vice-captain will be Deepika.
Here are the complete squads:
Men’s squad: PR Sreejesh (captain and GK), Harmanpreet Singh (defender), Rupinder Pal Singh (defender), Kothajit Singh (defender), Surendar Kumar (defender), Manpreet Singh (midfielder), Sardar Singh (midfielder), VR Raghunath (defender), SK Uthappa (midfielder), Danish Mujtaba (midfielder), Devender Walmiki (midfielder), SV Sunil (forward and vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh (forward), Chinglensana Singh (midfielder), Ramandeep Singh (forward), Nikkin Thimmaiah (forward).
Women's squad: Savita (GK), Navjot Kaur (midfielder), Deep Grace Ekka (defender), Monika (midfielder), Anuradha Devi (forward), Poonam Rani (forward), Vandana Kataria (forward), Deepika (vice-captain and defender), Namita Toppo (defender), Renuka Yadav (midfielder), Sunita Lakra (defender), Sushila Chanu (captain and defender), Rani Rampal (forward), Preeti Dubey (forward), Lilima Minz (midfielder), Nikki Pradhan (forward).
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