Belgium and Australia are two world-class teams we saw in the final (in Tokyo). I think they are the benchmark and that's what we need to be aiming for, says India's chief coach Graham Reid.
Vijender Singh (75kg) made a return to the Indian boxing team along with Thokchom Nanao Singh (49kg) as the selectors picked the team for the World Championships after a two-day trial in Patiala, on Wednesday.
The age-old malady of inconsistency remained unaddressed but Indian hockey did take baby steps towards global success in 2017, a year which reaffirmed the nation's continental supremacy in the sport.
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.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Striker Gurwinder Singh Chandi failed to make the cut as Hockey India announced an 18-member squad, led by Sadar Singh, for the eight-nation Hero men's Champions Trophy, in Bhubaneswar, from December 6-14. Lalit Upadhyay, who was capped nine times earlier, has been drafted in place of Chandi in the squad, named by Hockey India selectors after trials at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi on November 18.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
Shreyas Iyer slammed 178, while captain Siddhesh Lad made a responsible 130, to power Mumbai to an imposing score of 439 for eight against Baroda, on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy match.
Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh will be among a host of former stars in the India Maharaja team which will take part in the inaugural edition of the Legends League Cricket (LLC), starting on January 20 in Oman.
The investigating officer of the Delhi police, in the remand application, had sought custodial interrogation of the accused saying it was required to identify the persons to whom the alleged siphoned off money was transferred and to ascertain the purpose of creating the shell companies.
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.
Indian men's hockey team would be eager to ensure that its far-from-convincing campaign finds some footing when it takes on lower-ranked Malaysia
It was a perfect display of attacking hockey as the Indian strikers toyed with the Malaysian defence with short passes, one-touch ball delivery to pump five beautiful field goals.
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.
Other decisions piled up include rationalisation of GST rate slabs, correction of inverted duty on certain items and inclusion of petroleum products.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
India produced an impressive display but wasted chances galore as they held defending champions and world number two Australia to a 1-1 draw in their opening pool match of the Hockey World League Final, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
Mandeep Singh struck twice as a below-par India struggled past minnows Russia 4-2 in the first-leg of the two-match hockey 2020 Olympic Qualifier, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
With the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games being postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sardar feels the Indian team will get some time to work on its grey areas and unearth new talent.
After remaining unbeaten in their first three matches of the tour, World No.5 India were handed a lesson in hockey by the Kookaburras with Blake Govers (15th, 60th minutes) and Jeremy Hayward (20th, 59th) finding the net twice each.
After having maximum possession till the 2nd quarter, India finally took the lead in the 19th minute as Akashdeep Singh scored on rebound of a penalty corner.
Vijender Singh (75kg) turned in a solid showing despite being down with viral fever to beat Sweden's Hampus Henriksson in his opening bout at the World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.
India will seek to end 43 years of hurt when they begin the Hockey World Cup campaign against South Africa on Wednesday.
Hockey legend Ashok Kumar reckons India would have won a medal had the Olympics been held this year but the break in momentum will make a big difference now that the Games are pushed to 2021.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
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.
Once implemented, customers making payments using Rupay card or BHIM UPI will get a cashback of 20 per cent of the total GST amount, subject to a maximum of Rs 100.
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
Defender Harmanpreet Singh converted two penalty corners as India stamped their authority over New Zealand with an assertive 3-0 victory in the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, on Sunday.
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.
England's Barry Middleton scored twice in the third quarter, to pilot Ranchi Rays to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Dabang Mumbai in their Hockey India League encounter at the Mahindra Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
India conceded a surprise early goal but made a fine comeback by pumping in four quick goals to beat minnows Scotland 4-1 in their opening match of Hockey World League semi-finals in London.
'It is just an excuse to say that the Centre has run out of money.' 'Pruning these schemes would mean hard time for the people of India.'
India has just 28 Olympic medals to its credit since making a debut back in 1900.
The three Indian boxers who alleged manipulation in the World Championships trials have submitted their response to the show cause notices issued to them by the national federation and a decision on their fate will be taken by September 20.
India entered the final of the men's hockey tournament at the Asian Games after a solitary goal victory over South Korea in the semi-finals, in Incheon, on Tuesday.
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.
'However, this time it looks like that is not working.'
Riding on impressive shows by Pardeep Narwal and Rohit Kumar, Patna Pirates' routed Puneri Paltan 40-21 to enter the finals of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League in New Delhi on Friday. Narwal and Kumar were the star raiders of the match but Patna Pirates' defence also joined the party to win a lop-sided match in the match. The Pune side was all-out on three occasions in the match. The first two came in the first 12 minutes of the match. The all-out assault launched by the Pirates was so severe that Puneri Paltan literally lost heart after they trailed 7-25 at the break. They did come back for a brief period in the second half to inflict an all-out on their rivals but that was all they could manage. It all started with Pardeep Narwal targeting rival skipper Manjeet Chhillar with his first raid with a touch. It was Pardeep Narwal's guile versus the Puneri Paltan defence and every time he came up trumps in the first 15 minutes. His 6-point super raid with four victims and two for the second all-out was the best show by a raider till date and more importantly it came at a crucial juncture.
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