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.
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.
Besides Rani's exclusion, there are no further surprises as India went or a tried and tested squad, which has been playing together for a long time.
Hosts Germany overpowered India 2-0 in an action-packed encounter to end its campaign at the Three Nations Invitational hockey tournament on a winning note.
India grimly hung on to an early lead to prevail 1-0 over Belgium to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy at the State Hockey Centre in Melbourne on Thursday.
Lack of training is an obvious concern but India's hockey players are also feeling homesick and they made that known to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in an online interaction on Thursday while pleading for limited resumption of practice. The Indian men's and women's hockey teams told the minister that resumption of on-field training in small groups as soon as possible will give them an an upper-hand over other top nations as they gear up for Olympics next year.
India pumped in four goals in the second half to rout hosts Belgium 6-0 in the third and final hockey Test and clinch the series 2-0 at Wellington, Brussels.
India will play Germany on June 8 in their next match at the same venue.
As the much-awaited hockey men's World Cup is inching closer, music maestro AR Rahman has shared the glimpse of the much-anticipated official theme song and video of the hockey tournament, slated to be held from November 28 to December 16 in Bhubaneswar.
Defending champions India's dream of a second consecutive FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup title was shattered after a 2-4 defeat to six-time winners Germany in the semi-finals, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday. The Germans will take on Argentina in the final.
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.
India will seek to end 43 years of hurt when they begin the Hockey World Cup campaign against South Africa on Wednesday.
Argentina rallied from two goals down to beat Belgium in the final of the qualifying tournament in Quilmes.
On Saturday, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side defeated Malaysia 4-3 to lift the ACT title. They made an incredible comeback from 1-3 down.
India conceded a penultimate minute goal on a penalty corner to allow Belgium secure a 3-3 draw in their opening outing at the Champions Challenge hockey tournament in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Title hopes already shattered, defending champions India even failed to finish on the podium as they lost 1-3 to France in the bronze-medal play-off match of the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
India scored their second successive victory after two defeats to stay in the reckoning in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament.
Chief coach Craig Fulton said the tournament will provide younger players the opportunity to experience the pressure of facing some of the top sides in the world.
India made a shock exit from the FIH Men's World Cup after losing to New Zealand in sudden death in their must-win crossover match.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
"The Hockey India League made a big difference. It played an important role in the re-development of hockey in India," he said.
On-field achievements often jostled for space with off-field drama as Indian hockey endured a rollercoaster year during which the players scripted historical feats but coach Paul van Ass' acrimonious ouster and Gurbaj Singh's suspension created its share of storm.
Dominating the proceedings, Netherlands scored five field goals through Lars Balk (16th minute), Robert Kemperman (20th), Thijs van Dam (40th, 58th) and Thierry Brinkman (41st) to register the comfortable win at the Kalinga Stadium.
Eight-time hockey champions, India will open their campaign against The Netherlands on July 30 in the men's competition at the London Olympics.
Indian defence let in a goal just three minutes from the final hooter when Marta Segu scored from a rebound
Leaving behind their disappointing league campaign, India produced an inspired performance to upstage World No.4 Great Britain 2-1 and enter the semifinals of the Hockey World League (HWL) Final at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium in Raipur.
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.
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.
'The way we are playing now, if we continue to play the same hockey, no one can stop us from standing on the podium in Tokyo.'
Foreign teams that will land in India for next month's FIH Men's Junior Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar have been exempted from quarantine and will only be required to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms during the stay.
Three years ago, India returned from Tokyo with seven medals, and it is only natural that a double-digit performance is now desired in Paris.
In the FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final 2012-13, the Indian team outplayed the European team by 6-2 in which young Mandeep Singh scored two back-to-back goals. In the second season of FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final, India again met France in the semi-final round in Belgium and defeated them 3-2.
A pall of gloom shrouded the Pakistan hockey community after the national team failed to qualify for the Olympics.
Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey on Thursday confirmed the appointment of Indian former field hockey player Sardar Singh and Rani Rampal as the chief coach
Hosts India blew away a goal lead and conceded two late goals to go down 1-2 against Belgium to finish sixth in the Hero Hockey World League Final on a chilly evening at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, in New Delhi on Saturday.
Dragflicker Sandeep Singh made a return, while injured striker Shivendra Singh and midfielder Arjun Halappa have been rested from a 22-member Indian hockey squad for a tour of Europe, starting next month.
England shocked five-time reigning champions Australia 3-1, while Belgium defeated Pakistan 2-1 in their Pool A matches on the opening day of the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
A structured defence and clinical attack saw India beat hosts New Zealand 3-1 in the final round-robin match of the double-leg Four-Nation Invitational Hockey Tournament, at Blake Park in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Saturday.
The goal-keeper eyes coaching role post retirement.
The 2020 Olympics will be be held from July 24 to August 9 next year with the preliminary rounds of hockey for both men and women scheduled to start on July 25.
