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 swept the International Hockey Federation's annual awards on Wednesday, claiming all the top honours, based on a voting system which was lambasted as a "failure" by men's Olympic champions Belgium, prompting the FIH to say that it would try to figure why some associations did not cast their ballot.
India will aim for their first podium finish in 48 years in the men's Hockey World Cup as they begin their campaign with a tricky match against Spain in Rourkela on Friday.
Rani Rampal led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Besides Rani's exclusion, there are no further surprises as India went or a tried and tested squad, which has been playing together for a long time.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
Two-wheeler manufacturing giant Hero Motocorp Limited announced its association with the Junior Hockey World Cup, to be held next month, as the title sponsor.
'I play in the present without thinking about the buzz in the background,' says Vivek Sagar Prasad, who has just won the FIH Rising Star of the Year award.
The airline demanded more than a thousand rupees for him to carry 41 inch hockey stick
The triumph also took Germany to the top of FIH world rankings from the pre-tournament fourth place.
'Right now hockey is totally changed and anyone can beat anyone depending on the day. It depends on how many chances you create.'
Aussie hockey star Jamie Dwyer feels Hockey India League (HIL) will work wonders for the Indian national team as it will provide the young players the chance to learn and mingle with the very best in the game.
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The Lal Bahadur Shastri four-nation women's hockey tournament starting in New Delhi is spiked before it could take-off.
India suffered an embarrassing 0-7 drubbing at the hands of defending champions Australia to settle for a silver medal
Indian men's hockey captain P R Sreejesh has been named as one of the candidates for 2016 Goalkeeper of the Year award of the FIH while Harmanpreet Singh made the grade as one of the 2016 Rising Men Star of the Year nominees. The nominees for the 2016 Hockey Stars Awards, the annual prizes recognising the best players, goalkeepers, rising stars, coaches and umpires in a given calendar year were announced during the Hockey Revolution Part 2 Conference of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) which is currently taking place in Dubai.
Star drag-flicket Gurjit Kaur made it 4-0 by converting a penalty corner in the 10th minute.
Sreejsh beat competition from sport climber Alberto Gins Lpez of Spain and Italy's wushu player Michele Giordano for the award.
Sreejesh was the cynosure of all eyes as he consistently denied Great Britain scoring opportunities
The two-time Olympian (2012 and 2016), from Somwarpet in Coorg, was a key player in the Indian forward line for over a decade with fine performances.
The Indians were undone by a horrendous stopwatch faux pas by technical officials in the shoot-out against Australia
The rising stars of Indian hockey will be under immense pressure but they would aim to rise above it and make a positive start in the Junior Men's World Cup when they take on a formidable Netherlands in their opening tie, in New Delhi on Friday.
Ace drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat struck a second-half hat-trick as Germany made a sensational comeback after being two goals down to beat Australia 4-3 and enter the men's hockey World Cup final for the fifth time, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
'The way we are playing now, if we continue to play the same hockey, no one can stop us from standing on the podium in Tokyo.'
The Hockey Junior World Cup Men is scheduled to take place from December 8 till December 18, in Lucknow, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Thursday confirmed.
Defender and dragflicker Varun Kumar who scored the maximum goals in India's successful campaign in Valencia will be joined by Vikramjit Singh and Gurinder Singh in the defence structure, while the midfield will be formed by Santa Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Manpreet, Sumit along with Harjeet Singh.
The Indian captain led from the front and pulled off as many as six saves in the shootout
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Cyclone 'Titli' did dampen the spirits of hockey fans to some extent but not veterans like Dilip Tirkey and Dhanraj Pillay who were excited about the exhibition match played, in Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
While players and teams from other participating nations can venture out as and when they wish, individual outings are a big 'No' for the Pakistani players. They are allowed to visit places in groups only and have to mandatorily inform the security a day in advance.
Bollywood heart-throb Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and renowned music composer A R Rahman dished out enthralling performances, in Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday.
There is yet another injury blow to India's prospect in the upcoming Asia Cup hockey tournament. The men in blue were dealt a severe blow after star forward S V Sunil had to be ruled out of August 24-September 1 event due to an elbow injury.
Former Pakistan captain Tahir Zaman believes the resumption of hockey ties between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will prove beneficial to both countries and will also be a big boost for revival of the sport.
A large contingent of officials and media were present at the airport to receive the team, which finished fifth in the just-concluded Hockey World League Semi-finals in Antwerp.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
He was a talismanic midfielder who played the game on his own terms with fitness being key to his success
India hockey star P R Sreejesh feels that goalkeepers are like wine which gets tastier if kept longer, reflecting on his illustrious career from warming the bench to becoming one of the best in the world.
With an impressive number of votes, 199,477, Rani Rampal was a clear winner of the Athlete of the Year race. Sports fans all over the world voted for their favourite during 20 days of polling in January. Over 705,610 votes were cast during the poll.
Five of the Australian goals were field efforts while three were from the penalty corners. Australia earned eight PCs as against five of the South Africans.
'We have chosen an experienced side for the Commonwealth Games and the players believe they have a good shot at a medal'
