Halappa, Rajpal omitted from Olympics probables

With India qualifying for the London Games after an 8-1 victory over France in the final of the qualifying tournament in Delhi on Sunday, Hockey India named 48 probables for the quadrennial event, starting July 27.

Chief coach Michael Nobbs and Hockey India selectors Col. Balbir Singh, BP Govinda and Syed Ali along with the government observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey held a selection meeting and unanimously decided upon the shortlist.

- Photos from the Olympics qualifier final

Notable omissions from the shortlist are Arjun Halappa, former captain Rajpal Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Vikram Pillay and goalkeeper Adrain D'Souza, who all were not picked for the Olympic qualifier.

The players selected will attend a series of coaching camps at SAI Centre Bangalore from March 5.

In the run-up to the Olympics, the Indian team will play various tournaments overseas. It has already received invitations for two four-nations tournaments, at Lahore and Santandar, Spain, besides Olympic Test events at London and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The probables:

Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri, PR Sreejesh, Naveen Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Nanak Singh.

Defenders: Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath, Rupinder Singh, Manjit Kullu, Gurjinder Singh, Harbir Singh, Amit Rohidas, Rahul Shilpkar.

Midfielders: Ignace Tirkey, Kothajit Singh, Sardar Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manpreet Singh, Vikas Sharma, Gurbaj Singh, VS Vinaya, Bharat, Pardeep Mor, SK Uthappa.

Forwards: Yuvraj Walmiki, Tushar Khandeker, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Sarvanjit Singh, SV Sunil, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Pradhan Sommanna, Roshan Minz, Malak Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Ramandeep Singh, Nithin Timmaiah, Dharamvir Singh, Mandip Antil, MB Aiyappa, Gurmail Singh, Arjun Antil, Damandeep Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Ranjit Singh, Mandip Singh, MG Poonacha.