Despite drag-flick specialist V R Raghunath scoring just once from ten penalty-corners, and Rupinderpal Singh sustaining a serious thigh injury, India trounced minnows Oman 7-0 in men's hockey at the Asian Games, in Incheon, on Tuesday.
It was a celebration of woman power in sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar were on Monday conferred India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with shooter Jitu Rai in a gleaming awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
India's third-place finish at the Hockey World League Finals is a timely reminder of the improvement the team has made under Oltmans. But one must not get carried away.
India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year award for men and women, respectively, at the Hockey India second annual awards, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
India eked out a hard-fought 2-0 win over lower-ranked China to progress to the semi-finals of the men's hockey competition at the 17th Asian Games on Saturday.
India may be enjoying a winning run in the ongoing Hockey World League semi-finals in Antwerp, but coach Paul van Ass admits that the team has penalty-corner issues in the absence of injured drag flicker Rupinder Pal Singh.
India made a spirited fightback in the second half but failed to earn a direct berth in next year's hockey World Cup as they lost the high-scoring summit clash 3-4 to defending champions South Korea, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Monday.
Indian hockey captain PR Sreejesh, who played a pivotal role in his side's 2-1 win over Argentina at the Rio Olympics, said it's his job to "give life" to the team in the dying moments of a match. Leading 2-0 with Chinglensana Singh and Kothajit Singh's strikes in the first three quarters, India survived a final-quarter onslaught from Argentina for a nail-biting win to virtually secure a quarterfinal berth at the men's hockey competition.
India entered the final of the men's hockey tournament at the Asian Games after a solitary goal victory over South Korea in the semi-finals, in Incheon, on Tuesday.
PR Sreejesh says his dual role as India hockey captain and goalkeeper is to allow his team mates the freedom to express themselves in Rio but knows he must keep them focused on the medal hunt in the "magic world" of the Olympics. The 30-year-old was second choice at London 2012 behind then captain Bharat Chetri but has since established himself as the clear number one. He was named captain for the recent Champions Trophy in London where India rested some seniors, including regular captain Sardar Singh, ahead of the Rio Games.
India wasted chances galore in their 1-2 defeat against arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in a keenly-contested Pool B match of the men's hockey competition at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Thursday.
The hosts will face arch-rivals Pakistan for a place in the final, the latter scoring 4-2 upset win over eight-time champions The Netherlands earlier in the day.
Roelant Oltmans, the Indian men's hockey team's chief coach, says the new competition format of having quarter-finals in place of direct semi-finals at the upcoming Rio Olympics is not only beneficial for the Men in Blue but all small teams too.
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The Queen's Baton of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games was taken at the historic India Gate by the country's top sportspersons in a low-key event on the first day of its India stop on Saturday.
With all hopes of making it to the final erased, a misfiring India had to toil to get the better of lowly Canada 5-3 and register their first victory in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh Wizards and Jaypee Punjab Warriors finished 2-2 to register the first draw of the second edition of Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) at the Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flew back to Delhi on Monday night after 12 days of naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru for chronic cough and diabetes, raring to resume work in the government and in Aam Aadmi Party which is grappling with growing internal rift.
P R Sreejesh produced a brilliant display under the bar as two-time champions India stunned title holders South Korea 2-0 in a Pool B match to breeze into the semi-finals of the Asia Cup hockey tournament.
Akashdeep Singh scored two goals in the space of three minutes to set up India's 3-2 victory over Malaysia in the men's hockey World Cup in the Hague on Saturday.
On-field achievements often jostled for space with off-field drama as Indian hockey endured a rollercoaster year during which the players scripted historical feats but coach Paul van Ass' acrimonious ouster and Gurbaj Singh's suspension created its share of storm.
Drag-flickers Rupinderpal Singh and V R Raghunath scored hat-tricks as India extended their winning run in the Asia Cup hockey tournament, trouncing Bangladesh 9-1 in their concluding Pool B match at the Sultan Azlan Shah stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Belgium are on red hot form and have stunned strong gold medal contenders and world champions Australia.
India wasted as many as five penalty-corners seconds from the final hooter and went down 1-2 to reigning silver medallists the Netherlands in the Rio Olympics' hockey tournament on Thursday. The defeat saw the eight-time Olympic gold medallists slump to their second defeat in the competition.
India squandered a two-goal lead to suffer a 2-7 hammering at the hands of world champions Australia and crash out of the Hero Hockey World League Final in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Paris Masters ahead of the tournament's start on Monday for "personal reasons", the French Tennis Federation announced on Friday.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
Away from the cricket field, it was a year in which Sania Mirza was unarguably the biggest success story with her staggering 10 titles on the Tour -- two of them Grand Slams.
