A historic bronze-winning show by the men's team and an outstanding fourth place finish for the women's team infused fresh life into the game which was in danger of slipping into oblivion.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
Savita Punia and P R Sreejesh were named FIH Goalkeepers of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Harendra Singh has a penchant for delivering results whenever entrusted with an assignment and has now set his sights at bigger goals after guiding the Indian women's team to Asia Cup triumph
Harmanpreet was left speechless with the reception given to the players, saying the team gets the same affection every time it comes to Odisha.
An injury-struck India were beaten 1-2 by defending champions China in their last league match in the Asian Games women's hockey competitions on Monday and would now play Japan on November 24 in the bronze medal play-off at the Aoti Hockey Field in Guangzhou.
FIH president Tayyab Ikram asserted that the dynamics of the sport would not be compromised at any cost when they try out the proposed penalty corner rule.
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.
India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year award for men and women, respectively, at the Hockey India second annual awards, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
India defeated Russia by a solitary goal in their final round-robin match to top the standings in the women's competition and progress to the third round of Hero Hockey World League at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi.
Three years after he resigned as national women's hockey coach on charges of sexual harassment only to be absolved later, Maharaj Krishan Kaushik feels vindicated after Hockey India nominated him to assist Indian men's team coach Michael Nobbs till the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The view is that the attention on the national team is fleeting, incidental and dependent on the results they produce.
India's schedule on Day 7 of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Anelle van Deventer had to make three strong saves at the start of the second quarter to keep India away from stretching their lead in the match.
'We have chosen an experienced side for the Commonwealth Games and the players believe they have a good shot at a medal'
India rallied from a goal down to beat Malaysia 2-1 in their final league match and make it to the semi-finals in the sixth Junior Women's Asia Cup Hockey Championship in Bangkok on Tuesday. India finished second in Group A, behind China.
India have won eight Olympic gold medals in the past, but their last top finish came way back in 1980 Moscow Games.
Coach Harendra defends junior players' selection for World Cup
- 'I hope our training on creating early pressure will be evident when we go into the competition'
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.
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.
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.
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.
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
World Cup-winning junior coach Harendra Singh is set to apply for the vacant senior men's team coach and feels he is best suited for the role.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
A look at the historic achievements by India's athletes in 2022.
Harmanpreet Singh won the men's Player of the Year award and Gurjit Kaur was recognised as the best player in the women's section. Veteran P R Sreejesh and Savita Punia won the best goalkeeper awards in the men's and women's section, while young striker Sharmila Devi (women) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (men) were adjudged best rising stars.
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.
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.
Chopra expressed his disappointment a day after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha came down heavily on the wrestlers for hitting the streets to resume their protests instead of approaching its athletes' commission to lodge their complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
India's women's hockey team beat Belarus 3-1 to clinch their third successive win in the five-Test Series in Bhopal on Sunday.
India had topped the five-team league standings with three wins and one draw
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
The FIH Women's Nations Cup is an important fixture in the international calendar as the champions of this tournament will be promoted to the FIH Women's Pro League 2023-2024 season.
Two goals down, the Indian women's hockey team scored two minutes from time to snatch a 2-2 draw.
India's went down 0-1 to minnows China in their last league match to finish at the bottom of Pool A.
Indian men's hockey team slipped one place to occupy sixth in the FIH rankings after their lackluster show in Rio Olympics while their female counterparts surprisingly gained one position to be at 12th in the latest charts released on Tuesday. The Indian men's side crashed out of the Olympics in the quarterfinals by losing to eventual runners-up team Belgium 1-3 while the women's team failed to get past the group stage.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign at the Bilbao Final Masters with a crushing win over former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in Bilbao, Spain.
