Jamshedpur,: Two cadets of Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA), Ashish Tani Purti and Premchand Soy, secured their place in the national squad of 18-member Indian Men’s Hockey Team for the upcoming Men’s U-18 Asia Cup 2026 to be held at Kakamigahara (Japan).
The prestigious tournament is scheduled to take place from May 29 to June 6.
This final selection comes after recent India vs. Australia U-18 bilateral series held in Bhopal from May 15 to May 20 where three NTHA cadets, including Jaysan Kandulna, originally made the transitionary 24-member roster. It was the exceptional, high-intensity performances of Ashish in defence and Premchand in the midfield during those matches that solidified their position.
Expressing immense pride in this landmark achievement, Gurmeet Singh Rao, Project Director NTHA said, “We are immensely proud of Ashish and Premchand for making it to the final 18-member Indian squad for the Asia Cup. Their selection is a direct result of their tactical adaptability during the recent gruelling series against Australia. Both being the representatives from our Academy and the state of Jharkhand have highlighted their exceptional talent and the quality of elite training provided here at NTHA. We are confident they will play a pivotal role in India’s quest for gold in Japan.”
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Based in Jamshedpur, NTHA operates as a state-of-the-art hockey high-performance facility committed to identifying and nurturing hockey talent. By blending professional coaching with holistic sports science and world-class infrastructure, the academy continues to build a robust pipeline of future international champions for Indian hockey.
