India would look to seal a direct quarterfinal berth with a win against Canada in their final Pool C match of the men's hockey World Cup on Saturday.
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.
After football and cricket, hockey is the latest sport which is set to introduce a world championship of clubs with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) mulling a Club World Cup to be held in India from next year.
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
The Indian men's hockey team jumped two places to occupy sixth place in the latest International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings on the back of its good showing in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals.
With their eyes firmly focused on 2016 Olympics, Indian men hockey team's chief coach Roelant Oltmans feels the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will be an ideal preparation for his boys ahead of the Rio Games. The team, currently training at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, will face New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, Japan, Canada and hosts Malaysia in the 25th edition of the Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia starting April 6. With a good mix of youth and experience players up his ranks, the Dutchman feels the squad has what it takes to go all the way. Oltmans has been laying emphasis on having specialists in the team and the implementation of the same has paid rich dividends in the previous season. "We have specialists in each department now and that is helping the boys understand their role better. Hockey India League has definitely helped us tap some good talent but now it's all about showcasing their mettle in the international stage," Oltmans told reporters here.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh (7th and 19th minute; both PCs), Karthi Selvam (17th and 38th), Raj Kumar Pal (31st), Sukhjeet Singh (50th) and Jugraj Singh (53rd) scored for India.
Pargat Singh played a key role in Michael Nobbs' appointment as India's chief hockey coach but the former captain now says it is high time the under-performing Australian is given the "marching orders".
Punjab and Sind Bank will take on Services in the first Super League match of the 62nd Senior\nNational Hockey Championship at the Surjit hockey stadium in Jalandhar on Saturday.
'Our preparations for the Commonwealth Games are going on very well. We are working on specific aspects of our game during our training sessions and we are focusing on the learnings from the FIH Hockey Pro League.'
Former national hockey coach Cedric D'Souza has been roped in by Delhi Waveriders as their new coach for the second edition of the Hockey India League which starts next month.
But at the end of the day, the Indians came out superior and continued their recent domination over Pakistan that includes back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London earlier this year.
Determined to defend the title, a confident Indian hockey team under Sardar Singh left for Doha to participate in the second edition of the Asian Champions Trophy to be held from December 20-27.
While the 54-year-old Van Ass, who was at the helm of affairs of the Dutch team from 2010 to 2014, will take charge of the men's team, New Zealand's Anthony Thornton, 47, will replace Neil Hawgood as coach of the women's senior team.
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.
Six Indian men's team players -- skipper Manpreet Singh, striker Mandeep Singh, defenders SurenderKumar, Jaskaran Singh, drag-flicker Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak -- have tested positive after reaching Bengaluru for the national camp, scheduled to start on August 20.
The teams and players coming to India for any sporting event in the future will be subjected to proper scrutiny, the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday as Hockey India League's Pakistani signings headed home due to simmering tension on the Indo-Pak border.
Indian women are in danger of missing out on a quarter-final berth after Ireland pulled off a 1-0 victory in a hockey World Cup group league match, in London on Thursday.
'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'
The 27-year-old said the Indian team's immediate focus is the FIH Hockey Pro League beginning next month.
The police would soon be approaching the 28-year-old to join the probe
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
Germany's junior hockey team coach Valentin Altenburg believes hosts India will be one of the contenders to win the FIH Junior World Cup, which will begin in Lucknow, on December 8.
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.
Indian men's hockey team on Sunday officially qualified for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The Hague (NED), according to the latest release issued by the FIH.
Former captain Sardar Singh has been included in a 13-member Hockey India selection committee, to be headed by B P Govinda, a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team.
Having made the cut for the 18-member squad for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, the Indian men's hockey team forward Gurjant Singh is looking to make an impact with his skills.
Spin bowling and its "dynamic" batting line-up will be key to India's success in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, while a top-two finish is highly unlikely for struggling Australia, feels former Oz leg-spinner Stuart MacGill.
India were made to toil hard by the world No 2 Australia before eventually losing the match in a close encounter.
Men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh on Saturday admitted India will have to focus on conceding fewer goals from the touchline and create more scoring opportunities.
Rising political tension has adversely affected the bilateral sporting ties between India and Pakistan but newly-elected FIH chief Narinder Batra on Saturday said the two nations will have to honour their international commitments. The tension at the border has cast a shadow over Pakistan's participation in the next month's FIH Junior World Cup in Lucknow but Batra's comments make it clear that the two neighbours are set to clash against each other on Indian soil.
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.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and renowned media personality Rajat Sharma have been named as board members of the high-profile Hockey India League (HIL), which will be held across the country early next year.
India's defence held its ground against desperate Great Britain as they clinched a 2-1 victory in the 36th Champions Trophy in London on Saturday. The victory puts India at the top of the league standings with four points. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh stood his ground against a number of shots at the goal, four of them on penalty corners, as India made use of a breakaway opportunity created by right winger SV Sunil and their defenders covered the angles well to emerge victorious. Playing deep inside their own territory in the first quarter against early British raids, India scored through Mandeep Singh on their first raid by Sunil in the 17th minute.
India's men's hockey team slumped to its second defeat in the FIH Pro League, beaten 3-5 by Spain in the second match of their two-legged tie, at the Kalinga stadium, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
Hosts Karnataka and Jharkhand entered into the quarter-finals of second Hockey India Senior Men National Championship with emphatic victories in their respective last league matches in Bangalore on Saturday.
India finished third in the 100th anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation international tournament in Terrassa. The team beat reigning FIH Pro League champions Netherlands 2-1 in the third-fourth play-off match on Sunday.
Marinje also said the Indian women's team need more competitions to improve levels and win an Olympic medal.
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.
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.
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