Title hopes already shattered, defending champions India even failed to finish on the podium as they lost 1-3 to France in the bronze-medal play-off match of the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
India's chief coach Harendra Singh blamed poor umpiring for his team's early ouster from the ongoing men's hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
In a strongly-worded message, the International Hockey Federation on Monday warned India that it may lose the right to host the 2010 World Cup for men if satisfactory progress is not made in FIH-backed developmental project and preparations for the mega event.
Belgium won a tense penalty shootout 3-2 against three-times champions Netherlands to win their first men's hockey World Cup title.
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
The Azlan Shah Cup is the latest sporting event to be hit by the deadly coronavirus, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives and infected 86,000 people across the world.
India's Olympic qualifier hockey tournament for men will feature a team less, as Egypt has pulled out of the event due to financial problems caused by political strife in the county.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Indian two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp Limited (HMCL) was on Monday named the title sponsor for the men's and women's hockey London Olympic qualification tournament, the first of which will be held in Delhi from February 18 to 26. The qualifiers, titled 'Hero FIH Road to London', will be played at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey National Stadium.
Hockey India appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men's national team on Wednesday and he will work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh.
Eight-time Olympic champions India find itself in a lowly ninth position among men's teams in the recently-released FIH World Hockey Rankings.
Indian women's team did not find a place in the top 10.
Reigning silver medallists India will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in a mouth-watering men's hockey contest of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The Government of India is set to appoint Hockey India's Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey.
As stalwart midfielder Sardar Singh called time on his illustrious International career, Hockey India on Friday congratulated the 32-year-old Khel Ratna awardee on his long-serving career that spanned over 12 years.
Hockey India Secretary General Narinder Batra on Wednesday took moral 'responsibility' for the country's early ouster from the Hero FIH Junior Men's World Cup and apologised to the fans for letting them down.
India captain Sardar Singh has been nominated by the Hockey India for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
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 FIH has responded by introducing a number of changes to the way hockey will be played and broadcast at the Rio Games. Those include a move to 15-minute quarters and scheduling more time for television replays and analysis to showcase players' virtuoso skills with a ball moving at more than 160 kilometres an hour, Fairweather said. For the first time in Olympic competition, the Rio hockey tournament will also feature quarter-finals, making it the last team sport to adopt the format at the Games.
Defending champions India's dream of a second consecutive FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup title was shattered after a 2-4 defeat to six-time winners Germany in the semi-finals, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday. The Germans will take on Argentina in the final.
It was touted as the year which could herald a change in the fortunes Indian hockey, but 2018 turned out to be yet another saga of missed opportunities for the sport.
India has been named as one of five confirmed teams for the men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne later this year, thereby ending the nation's six-year wait for a comeback to the prestigious event.
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.
With an eye on the future, Hockey India's selectors made as many as seven changes from the squad that finished a disappointing 12th and last at the London Olympics.
Eight-time hockey champions, India will open their campaign against The Netherlands on July 30 in the men's competition at the London Olympics.
Akashdeep Singh will lead an 18-member Indian squad in the seventh Junior Asia Cup hockey, scheduled to be held at Malacca, Malaysia, from May 3 to 13. Defender Amit Rohidas is the vice-captain. The nine-nation tournament features Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Eight-time Olympic gold medallists India, who failed to qualify for the Beijing Games, will play lower-ranked teams Canada, France, Poland, Egypt and the United States in the first qualifying event in Delhi from February 15-26.
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.
Asian champions India have been clubbed along side arch-rivals Pakistan in the same pool in the men's Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final 2017 to be held in London.
Former India captain Viren Rasquinha on Tuesday gave a clarion call for all concerned in running the sport to bury their egos and stop politicking for the future of national game.
Keen to start their Rio Olympic Games campaign on a winning note, Indian hockey men's captain PR Sreejesh said that his team would not be taking unpredictable Ireland lightly when they face-off on Saturday.
Sports of Authority of India (SAI) has decided to go for a performance review of all its regional centres after national hockey chief coach Harendra Singh complained about sub-standard food and hygiene in the Bengaluru facility.
India's captain Dilip Tirkey has been selected in the World hockey All-Star team 2006.
For Indian hockey, 2016 was a year in which much was promised and achieved as well. It was also a year where India made significant and visible advancements but deep down somewhere the pain of missing out on an Olympic medal will remain for four more years.
Taking a cue from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Hockey India advertised for the position for the first time on its website http://hockeyindia.org.
With an increased seating capacity and re-laid new turf, the Stadium is all set to host the 14th edition of the quadrennial showpiece.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Hockey India League (HIL), on Wednesday, appointed Todd Faulds as its Director Competitions for the second edition of the League, which is scheduled to be held from January 23 to February 23 next year.
Entrusted the task of reviving Indian hockey, Jose Brasa, the newly-appointed coach of the men's hockey team, on Tuesday said his immediate target is the gold medal at next year's Guangzhou Asian Games. 'My realistic goal is the gold in Asiad, because it will ensure India's place in 2012 London Olympics. Moreover, I love the colour yellow very much,' the Spanish coach said.
Going by the teams' past 4-4 win-loss record in World Cups, there is little to separate the two hockey powerhouses. But a win on Thursday will not only earn one of them a spot in the title clash, but also give them the edge when it boils down to rivalry between the two countries in the tournament.
