Vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh slammed a hat-trick as the Indian men's hockey team beat Wales 4-1 in its final Pool B match to qualify for the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
India would look to address their attacking woes against a plucky New Zealand for a place in the last-eight stage of the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
The team has only one goalkeeper in Sreejesh, which means promising Krishan Bahadur Pathak missed out on an Olympic berth
India dominated all throughout but their goal-scoring woes continued for the second match in a row.
Eight-time champions India defeated Germany 5-4 in a thrilling men's hockey bronze medal play-off to win an Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games after 41 years, on Thursday.
While India were on the offensive, England were content on defending deep.
India will aim for their first podium finish in 48 years in the men's Hockey World Cup as they begin their campaign with a tricky match against Spain in Rourkela on Friday.
India have won eight gold medals in the past, but their last top finish came way back in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Olympic bronze medallist India began their FIH Pro League Hockey campaign with a bang as they thrashed France 5-0 in a thoroughly dominant display in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Tuesday.
India ensured they stayed in the lead and didn't allow New Zealand to break through their defense throughout the match.
Eager to change the shade of the Tokyo bronze, the Indian men's hockey team is now focussing on directly qualifying for the Paris Olympics by winning next year's Asian Games, says young midfielder Hardik Singh.
The Indian men's hockey wound up its league stage engagements at the Olympics with a 4-2 victory over Japan and consolidated second place in Group A, behind Australia, on Friday.
Olympic bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was on Tuesday added to the list of Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardees, taking the total number of this year's winners to an unparalleled 12.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The eight-time Olympic champions, who will play in the last four stage at the Games after 49 years, will take on Belgium, who beat Spain 3-1 in another quarter-final earlier.
Striker Mandeep Singh struck a fine hat-trick to help the Indian men's hockey team beat hosts Japan 6-3 and book a summit clash berth in the Olympic Test Event, in Tokyo.
Veteran striker Sunil's participation in the mega event was always in doubt ever since he picked up a knee injury during the national camp in the lead up to the Asian Champions Trophy held in Muscat last month.
Striker Mandeep Singh scored a brilliant hat-trick as India outclassed Canada 7-3 to put one foot in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Mandeep struck back-to-back goals in the 50th and 51st minutes to take his goal tally to seven in the tournament. The 24-year-old striker had scored a hat-trick in India's 7-3 win over Canada on Wednesday.
India midfielder Manpreet Singh will take over the captaincy from PR Sreejesh in the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat next month, marking the hockey team's first major tournament after the retirement of Sardar Singh.
Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh could feature in his first competitive event in eight months after being named in India's 20-member squad for a four-nation tournament in New Zealand. India will compete with Belgium, Japan and hosts New Zealand at Tauranga and Hamilton in the tournament, beginning January 17.
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
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.
Defending champions India were held to a goalless draw by Malaysia but managed to maintain their pole position in the points table in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Muscat.
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.
India's junior men's hockey team came back strongly in the ongoing 5th Sultan of Johor Cup as they defeated Argentina 3-2 in the third league match in Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
'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 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.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
The mega event begins November 28 and will conclude on December 16 at the city's Kalinga Stadium.
The Indian men, ranked fifth in the world, had earlier defeated world number 22 Russia 4-2 in the first-leg on Friday.
A magnificent 60th-minute goal by Dabang Mumbai's Robbert Kemperman snatched victory from defending Champions Jaypee Punjab Warriors by a narrow 2-1 margin in the Hockey India League, in Chandigarh, on Saturday.
Young striker Dilpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as India crushed Oman 11-0.
Down to ten men for the entire second half, a struggling Dabang Mumbai secured their first victory in the Hockey India League with a thrilling 7-5 win over table toppers and defending champions Ranchi Rays.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is planning to have India and Pakistan play their home and away matches in Europe if the arch-rivals face off in the Olympic qualifying tournament for a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Captain Manpreet Singh and goalkeeper P R Sreejesh are among a few senior India players rested for next month's Olympic hockey test event in Tokyo. Besides Manpreet and Sreejesh, defender Surender Kumar was also rested.
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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
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