The Asian Games normally serves as the Olympic qualifiers but there was some confusion after the Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed from last year to this year due to the COVID-19 situation in China.
A dominant India scored twice in the first and fourth quarters to beat South Africa 5-2 in a classification match and finish joint ninth in the FIH Men's World Cup.
They looked on course to clinch all three points on offer but Govers Blake scored in the dying minutes for Australia as the two sides split points.
'I feel so fortunate to be part of this incredible group and yes, I do believe I have been lucky to have had such a great start to my international career.'
The Indian men's hockey team produced a lion hearted performance before going down 1-4 to leaders the Netherlands in the penalty shoot-out
A round-up of matches from the Hockey World Cup played on Saturday.
Images from the opening day's action in the FIH men's Hockey World Cup in Odisha.
The general impression that the Indian hockey team concedes late goals has changed with its second successive Olympic bronze medal and the Harmanpreet Singh-led side is one of the best in the world in all aspects, feels the legendary Zafar Iqbal.
India now have registered four wins out of five outings in the FIH Pro League.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) dealt a major blow to Sports Ministry's effort of reconciliation between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation by rejecting the interim "working relationship" between the two warring bodies.
After Sunday's win, India remained at second spot in the league standings with 16 points from eight matches, behind Netherlands. Argentina also remained at fourth spot with 11 points from six matches.
Harendra said a medal will be fitting farewell gift for long-serving goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will quit the sport after the Paris Games.
After a dismal eighth place finish in Rio Games, much is expected from the Manpreet-led side.
He expects the players to maintain intensity throughout a match and not just in patches.
Asked about the lack of goals as India have scored just two in as many matches, Reid said, "There is no specific reason for that. I would have been worried if we were not creating opportunities."
Senior drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and forward Shivendra Singh today returned to the Indian men's hockey team for the FIH World League Round 3 (semi-finals) to be held at Rotterdam, The Netherlands from June 13-23.
HI Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh suggested that if the Pakistan hockey team can come to India, then the Men in Blue should also tour their neighbouring country.
In the shoot-out, the hosts won 3-2 to pocket two points (including a bonus) as against England's one.
Going by the hockey parent body's new data collection, India and Pakistan have met in only 47 head-to-head internationals and many more fails. Read on to find out how the history of this famed rivalry is being binned
The Netherlands Robert Van der Horst and Lidewij Welten won the men's and women's International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year awards, respectively, for their performances in 2015.
Reid submitted his resignation to Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey, a day after the conclusion of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar
'Right now hockey is totally changed and anyone can beat anyone depending on the day. It depends on how many chances you create.'
It was India who had the first opportunity to open the scoring but both the short corners went abegging as the home goalie foiled those attempts with his rock solid defence.
Indian men's hockey team leaves for Mike Horn's base in Switzerland ahead of Paris Olympics
Australia's Jamie Dwyer and Argentina's Augustina Garcia were named young men's and women's players respectively in the list of awardees, announced by the FIH on Thursday.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) signed a major sponsorship deal with two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp for all events of the world body to be held in India in the next four years.
The lowest ranked team in the World Cup won 4-3 for their first victory in Pool A.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh wants the young Indian hockey players to get familiar with the playing styles of the best teams in the world during the FIH Pro League, and hoped the country would seal a direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a title-winning run in Bhubaneswar.
As if the failure to make it to the Beijing Olympics was not bad enough, India could miss out on hosting the 2010 men's hockey World Cup as well if the FIH is not satisfied with the steps taken to revive the game in the country.
Under Manpreet's captaincy, the Indian team has achieved important milestones,
The other teams in India's pool are Spain, New Zealand and hosts Japan. The Pool B is made up of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa in the groupings announced by world governing body FIH on Saturday.
Sreejesh was the cynosure of all eyes as he consistently denied Great Britain scoring opportunities
The FIH too a dig at Hockey India for expressing its inability to conduct the much-awaited elections before May 31 and said FIH cannot grant any further extension as requested by the Indian body.
12 Japanese players were seen on the field towards the end of their World Cup match against South Korea in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, prompting the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to investigate the matter.
FIH president Tayyab Ikram asserted that the dynamics of the sport would not be compromised at any cost when they try out the proposed penalty corner rule.
Pakistan hockey chief coach Shahnaz Shaikh has claimed that there was a conspiracy plotted against his team following the suspension of Mohammad Tousiq and Amjad Ali meted out in the recently held Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar.
Taking strong exception to FIH's "weak" censure to Pakistani players for their obscene behaviour after beating India in the Champions Trophy semi-final, Hockey India decided that it would not host any event sanctioned by the world body until strong punishment is handed out to the offenders.
The men's team last participated in an international competition in February last year when they played the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Australia in Bhubaneswar.
Veteran captain Lee Nam Yong, 39, was also among the scorers as he struck the equalising goal in the 56th minute while Kim Sunghyun (18th) and Jeong Junwoo (20th) scored the other goals for the South Koreans in the regulation time.
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.
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