Tirkey, Saini among World Cup probables

Experienced Olympians Dilip Tirkey and Baljit Singh Saini, out of the national squad due to injuries, are among 26 probables shortlisted by the Indian Hockey Federation for a three-week coaching camp, to be held in Chennai in preparation for the 10th World Cup, in Kuala Lumpur, from February 24 to March 9, 2002..

The camp will be held from January 4 to 25.

The probables list, which is a judicious mix of juniors and seniors, also includes versatile forward Dhanraj Pillay, who played in the last three editions of the World Cup.

Half-back Saini and full-back Tirkey were not in the team for the Champions Challenge, which India won, at Kuala Lumpur, to qualify for the next year's Champions Trophy.

The probables:
Goalkeepers: Jude Menezes (Bharat Petroleum), Devesh Chauhan (Indian Oil), Kamaldeep Singh (Air India).

Full-backs: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla (Indian Airlines), Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh (Punjab Police), Dinesh Nayak (Tamil Nadu).

Halves: Baljit Singh Saini (Punjab and Sind Bank), Arjun Halappa (Karnataka), Bimal Lakra (Indian Airlines), Ignace Tirkey (Services), S S Gill, Bipin Fernandez (Bharat Petroleum), Vikram Pillai, Viren Rasquinha (Air India), S Thirumalvalavan (Tamil Nadu).

Forwards: Ggagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sabu Verkey (Bharat Petroleum), Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh, Inderjit Singh (Indian Oil), Daljit Dhillon, Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab Police) and Dhanraj Pillay (Mumbai)..

Chief coach: Cedric D'Souza; Asst. coach: C R Kumar.

Psychologist: J P S Sidhu; Trainer-cum-video technician: Saju Joseph.

Physio-cum-doctor: Dr B M Parathasarthy.