US Field Hockey News

US Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Men's National Team to Host Olympic-Bound India

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The USA Field Hockey men's national team will get a taste of Olympic competition when the USA hosts Olympic-bound India in a two-game series, June 19-20 at Moorpark, Calif.

Game times are scheduled for 5 P.M. on Saturday and 2:30 P.M. on Sunday at Moorpark College.

Although the USA men did not qualify for the Olympic Games, the young USA team will get a glimpse of the Athens competition from an India team with a long history of Olympic success. India's Olympic tradition includes a record 8 Olympic gold medals and a streak of 30 straight Olympic victories from 1928-1960. The team placed 7^th at the 2000 Olympic Games and earned its spot in Athens by virtue of a 4^th place finish at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament held earlier this year.

The games at Moorpark conclude a three-week USA-based training camp for the India squad at the Athletes’ Performance Center in Tempe, Ariz. An approved Olympic Training Site, the Athletes’ Performance Center is an independent facility serving professional and amateur athletes.

Against India, the USA and head coach Shiv Jagday will field a team featuring a combination of veteran talent and promising young stars. Pan American Games and Pan Am Cup team members Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.), Shawn Hindy (Westlake Village, Calif.), Rinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.), Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Patrick Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) and Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) head the USA team after helping lead the team to a fifth place finish at last summer’s Pan American Games. The USA roster also includes promising young players from the USA junior team including Chris Niles (Camarillo, Calif.), Emaad Farooqui (Canoga Park, Calif.), Zafar Jadwet (Simi Valley, Calif.), Jonathan Ginolfi (Moorpark, Calif.), Ryan Sherburne (Greenfield, Mass.), Malachi Mahan (Camarillo, Calif.), Pan Am Cup team member Danny Jordan (Camarillo, Calif.) and Ritchie Jordan (Camarillo, Calif.). The games will be part of the younger USA team members’ preparations for next year’s Junior Pan American Championships.

The India team for the USA series features 16 players from the 26-member Indian training squad looking to earn a spot on the Olympic team. India’s roster for the USA games includes Gagan Ajit Singh, one of the tournament’s top goal scorers at the Olympic Qualifier,ญญญ and often controversial Indian star, Dhanraj Pillay, who will be looking to earn his fourth Olympic appearance for the Indian team.

Following the games with the USA, India’s Olympic preparations are expected to continue in Amsterdam with the Rabobank Trophy Championship four-nation tournament with Olympic entries The Netherlands, Germany and Pakistan, June 25-July 4 . The team is then expected to train in Germany before competing in a four nation tournament, July 16-18 with Germany, Great Britain and France.

The India/USA games mark the first meeting between the two teams since the 1996 Olympic Games when India earned a 4-0 win over the USA in Atlanta.

The following athletes are expected to compete in the series:

India
Kamaldeep Singh, Adrian D’Souza, Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Sandeep Singh, William Xalxo, Vikram Pillay, Viren Rasquinha, Bimal Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Sunil Yadav, Gagan Ajit Singh, Baljeet Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Arjun Halappa, Inderjeet Singh, Rajinder Singh (Coach), Harendra Singh (Staff), Moro Negi (Staff), Oliver Kurtz (Staff)

USA
Shawn Nakamura, Shawn Hindy, Rinku Bhamber, Ian Scally, Patrick Harris, Jeb Saez<Chris Niles, Emaad Farooqui, Zafar Jadwet, Jonathan Ginolfi, Ryan Sherbourne, Malachi Mahan, Danny Jordan, Ritchie Jordan, Shiv Jagday (Coach), Shellie Onstead (Assistant Coach), Dave Harris (Assistant Coach), Kari Robertson (Trainer), Dean Nakamura (Manager)