Rupinder, Uthappa to miss Hockey World League semis

Indian drag flicker and defender Rupinder Pal Singh and midfielder SK Uthappa have been ruled out of the Hockey World League Semi Final, which is slated to be held from June 15 in London.

While Singh will be unavailable for the tournament due to a hamstring injury, Uthappa had to return home to attend to a family emergency.

Rupinder will be replaced by defender Jasjit Singh Kular, who also doubles up as a drag-flicker for the team.

Kular has played 46 international matches for India with five international goals against his name. He was part of the 33-member core group that trained in SAI, Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, Sumit, who made his senior team debut at the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament after a successful 2016 with the junior men's team where they won the Junior Men World Cup, has been called up in place of Uthappa.

"With a strong core group who have been working together since February this year, we have several options and I don't see this as a setback for us at all," stated coach Roelant Oltmans ahead of their first encounter scheduled tomorrow.

India will take on Scotland in their first match.

-ANI