India Likely To Announce Hockey Squad For 2016 Rio Olympics On July 5

Rio de Janeiro: The Indian national men’s hockey squad for the 2016 Rio Olympics is likely to get announced on July 5, chief coach and country’s High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans said.

Oltmans said, “The national selectors are likely to meet on July 5 to pick the final squad for the Olympics. We will start the national camp on July 11 which will be a two-week camp. After that we leave for Madrid to play two friendly matches with Spain and then head to Rio and play a friendly with Spain and New Zealand. I believe we have entered a very exciting period in the lead up to the Olympics. ” He feels the one week break starting from Friday before the Champions Trophy will help rejuvenate the players ahead of the Olympics, the countdown for which has already begun.

The 29-member men’s hockey squad will be on a week’s break before they rejoin on May 29 and Oltmans said the idea, behind the move was to ensure the players are feeling fresh and hungry ahead of next month’s FIH Champions Trophy in London.

Oltmans further said, “Starting June 5, the team will be away for almost a month playing two different tournaments in two different countries. Everything we do in this period will be demanding not just physically but also mentally.”

After the Champions Trophy in London, the team will leave for Valencia, Spain to play a six-nation invitational tournament and will return only in the first week of July.

Meanwhile, the head of security for the state of Rio de Janeiro wants soldiers to start policing the city immediately, two-and-a-half months before the Rio Olympics are set to start.