A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Young striker Dilpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as India crushed Oman 11-0.
Harmanpreet Singh struck twice as India edged past hosts Malaysia 2-1 in their fourth league match of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup, Junior Hockey tournament in Johor Bahru on Thursday.
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.
Manpreet (30th minute, 44th) was the star for sixth- ranked India, while Varun Kumar (17th) and Harjeet Singh (49th) also sounded the board.
At a felicitation function, in Bhubaneswar, to honour the men's and women's Olympics hockey teams, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, an ardent supporter of the game in the country, announced that the state will continue to sponsor the national hockey teams for another 10 years.
'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.'
India have won eight gold medals in the past, but their last top finish came way back in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The Indian men, ranked fifth in the world, had earlier defeated world number 22 Russia 4-2 in the first-leg on Friday.
