New Delhi: Mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay's hopes of playing in the Olympic hockey qualifiers were dashed today (Feb 23, 2004) when he was left out of the 18-member squad named for the March 2-13 event at Madrid.

Pillay, who missed this month's Test series against the Netherlands due to a knee injury, was overlooked for selection despite being declared fit by the doctor treating him.

Dilip Tirkey, who led the side in the absence of Pillay in the Test series, was retained the captain.

The team, pitted in Pool B alongwith Pakistan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Belgium and Canada, would leave for Madrid tomorrow night.

Defending Olympic champions the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Japan, South Africa and Poland are placed in Pool A.

Team:

Dilip Tirkey (captain), Devesh Chauhan, Bharat Chetri, Kanwalpreet Singh, William Xalco, Ignace Tirkey, Vikram Pillay, Len Aiyyapa, Viren Rasquinha, Bimal Lakra, Gagan Ajit Singh, Sandeep Michael, Prabhjot Singh, Arjun Halappa, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Sani, Tejbir Singh, Deepak Thakur.