Suraj Lata Devi to lead

Suraj Lata Devi has been retained captain of the Indian women hockey team for the upcoming Afro-Asian Games and Asia Cup.

The Manipur girl had led India to the gold medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. India beat England 3-2 in the final.

Announcing a 22-member squad for the two international events, in Bangalore on Monday, Indian Women's Hockey Federation president Vidya Stokes said former India Olympian and men's team coach M K Kaushik will be the chief coach of the team while Manjit Kaur will be coach-cum-manager.

A three-member selection committee, headed by Stokes and comprising Olympian Jalaluddin Rizwan and treasurer of IWHF D D Singh, selected the team after assessing the performance of 36 probables undergoing training at the Sports Authority of India South Centre on the city's outskirts.

The probables have been at the coaching camp since September 8 and will train in Bangalore till October 8, Stokes said.

Stokes said efforts of the Federation to appoint a foreign coach for the team could not fructify as top coaches from Australia and the Netherlands did not show any interest in taking up the assignment.

The team:

Helen Mary, Deepika Murthy, Marite Tirkey (goalkeepers), Suman Bala, Kanti Baa, Pushpa Pradhan, Neelima Kujur (full-backs), Suraj Lata Devi, Subhadra Pradhan, Masira Sarin, Gurpreet Kaur, Sumari Tete, Fulmani Soy, Manju (half backs), Shanggai I Chanu, Adline Kerketta, Jasjeet Kaur, Annarita Kerketta, Surinder Kaur, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Deepika Thakur and Meenakshi (forwards).

Stokes said the team will move to Hyderabad on October 9 to prepare for the Afro- Asian Games, beginning October 22.