4 UP players in Asia Cup hockey squad

Lucknow: Four players from Uttar Pradesh – Raj Kumar Pal, Uttam Singh, Pawan Rajbhar and

Vishnukant

Singh – have made it to the Indian hockey squad for Hero Men’s Asia Cup to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from May 23 to June 1.India, Japan, Pakistan and hosts Indonesia have been placed in Pool A, while Malaysia, Korea, Oman and Bangladesh are in Pool B.All the four players belong to Ghazipur district of east UP, and except Vishnukant, the remaining three started their training at Meghbaran Singh Stadium in Karampur village.“It is a matter of pride for us that three of our players will represent India in the Asia Cup. Our village, Karampur, is known for hockey. The day is not far when 50% of the players in the national team will be from here,” manager of Meghbaran Singh Stadium, Aniket Singh, said.“Three of our players are in UP’s junior team while six others are in the state’s sub-junior team. Seven children from our stadium have been selected for the Dadra & Nagar Haveli team,” he added.Congratulating the four players, former Olympian Sujit Kumar said, “Hockey players from Uttar Pradesh, especially Purvanchal, have been representing India in international events. When I came to know about the news, the memory of 1989 Asia Cup became fresh in my mind when Vivek Singh, RP Singh, Jagbir Singh and I were selected from Uttar Pradesh.” Hockey coach at the Sports Authority of India’s Lucknow centre, Rashid Aziz Khan, said: “Uttam Singh and Raj Kumar Pal got training at SAI, Lucknow. They are currently being trained in Bengaluru. Vishnukant also got training here in the past.”“I have also groomed these children in the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Society. They are very talented and hardworking,” he added.