India once again paid the price of some sloppy defending and conceded a late goal to lose 2-3 to lower-ranked Malaysia and crash out of the title race of the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh.
Acknowledging the supreme sacrifice made by Indian soldiers at the borders, national hockey captain P R Sreejesh, on Wednesday, vowed that his team will give its all to beat Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy in Malaysia next month.
India are now atop the leaderboard with five points from two games, but the Manpreet Singh-led side conceded a point to the Netherlands after drawing (during the regulation time) the second match of the contest on Sunday.
Ace midfielder Sardar Singh will lead a full strength Indian men's hockey team in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 5 to 12.
India conceded a soft goal in the fifth minute of the second semi-final encounter when Cedric Charlier scored from a field strike for Belgium, which eventually separated both the teams at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel stadium.
The huge gulf between the two sides was evident as India bettered its 86-year-old record when it defeated USA with a 24-1 margin in Olympics.
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.
In the first such incident reported in Punjab, drones were used to drop weapons and communication devices, among others, from across the border, an official said, adding that a half-burnt drone used in the operation was recovered from Tarn Taran.
Australia's Jason Wilson scored a brace as last year's runners-up Delhi Waveriders defeated hosts Punjab Warriors 3-1 in the opening contest of the second edition of the Hero Hockey India League in Mohali.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Uttar Pradesh Wizards eked out a dramatic 8-6 victory over Kalinga Lancers in a high-scoring thriller with two goals coming in the final minute as the fourth edition of Hockey India League made a sensational start under new field goal rules in Bhubaneswar.
India reclaimed the bronze medal at the Hockey World League (HWL) Final after eking out a close 2-1 win over a depleted but spirited Germany in the third-fourth place classification match in Bhubaneswar.
India will seek to end 43 years of hurt when they begin the Hockey World Cup campaign against South Africa on Wednesday.
Unbeaten India looked the most convincing team in the tournament so far but the dangerous and defensive Koreans came tantalisingly close to register a stunning win over the Manpreet Singh-led side.
A 21-member Indian men's hockey team will embark on a 15-day tour of Europe, starting July 31. High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans will take over as the chief coach of the side following the unceremonious ouster of Paul Van Ass.
India's hockey coach Roelant Oltmans expressed his displeasure following the team's sloppy performance in the 2-2 draw against Canada at the Rio Olympics. Canada, ranked 15th in the world, rallied twice to earn a draw as the fifth ranked India finished the group phase with seven points from five matches.
India crashed to their second defeat in the men's hockey World Cup by conceding a late goal yet again to go down 1-2 against England at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague on Monday.
Ace drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh continued to stamp his authority in the ongoing 4th Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament as he converted two penalty corners to clinch India a 2-1 victory over hosts Malaysia in Kauntan, Malaysia on Wednesday.
Indian men's hockey team fired in a goal two minutes from the final hooter through Ramandeep Singh to pull off a 3-2 win over France and begin their FIH World League semi-finals campaign on a winning note in Antwerp.
India captain Sardar Singh fetched a poor return of US $58,000 while Germany's Moritz Fuerste drew the highest ever bid in the history of the Hockey India League auction, bought by Kalinga Lancers for a whopping US $1,05,000 in Delhi on Thursday.
The Indian men's hockey team will have to guard against complacency when it takes on lower-ranked Russia, while a tricky contest awaits their female counterparts against United States in the two-legged Olympic qualifiers.
Title holders Delhi Waveriders register their first victory of the season, following a 3-1 win over debutants Dabang Mumbai in a league match of the third edition of the Hero Hockey India League.
India kept themselves in the hunt for the knock-out stage after eking out a hard-fought 3-2 win over Canada in a Pool C match of the Hero FIH Junior Men's hockey World Cup in New Delhi.
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani packs in abundant entertainment and hat tips to the KJo brand, observes Sukanya Verma.
In other India-related news, Manish Kaurav (KL3 men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 men 200m) made it to the finals of their respective events for the first time in the history of the tournament.
An inspired India registered their first win over the Netherlands in 18 years when they stunned the World Cup and Olympic silver medallists 3-2 in a high-voltage encounter to finish third in Pool B at the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
This year a whopping 74 winners were picked for the national honours, including an unprecedented five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnas and 27 Arjuna awardees.
Indian hockey team's captain PR Sreejesh has apologised for letting the nation down after his team's 1-3 loss to Belgium in the quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics on Sunday.
An impressive India thrashed Canada 5-1 to top Pool C and seal a direct berth in the quarter-finals of the men's hockey World Cup.
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.
The Indians will have to be at their best in all departments to get the better of the ever-improving Red Lions, who will be out to prove a point after a not-so-impressive opener.
The two sides have shared the spoils since 2013. India and Netherlands have faced each other nine times since 2013, winning four apiece while one game finished in a draw.
Alexander Hendrickx struck a brace as Belgium notched up a thrilling 3-2 victory over India in the second match of the two-leg FIH Pro Hockey League tournament in Antwerp on Sunday.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
India's report card on the seventh day of the 2016 Olympics.
India put up a gallant fight before going down 2-3 to the Netherlands in their opening match of the Hero FIH Junior hockey World Cup, in Delhi, on Friday.
Boman Irani makes his OTT debut with Masoom, and it was good to see the actor on screen after a long time, observes Deepa Gahlot.
India missed chances aplenty in their opening two games of the ongoing 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament and national captain Sardar Singh minced no words when he said that the team's forwardline will have to play more responsibly to give themselves any chance of reaching the final.
Malayalam cinema isn't the same as Telugu or Tamil, but Bollywood's blanket approach fails to see the distinction in Selfiee, observes Sukanya Verma.
India produced a spirited performance to beat Korea 4-1 in the penalty shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2.
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