Hockey India appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men's national team on Wednesday and he will work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh.
India's star hockey player Rani Rampal has become the first woman in the sport to have a stadium named after her, in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
India clubbed with Egypt, Switzerland, Jamaica in inaugural Men's Hockey5s World Cup
Cyclone 'Titli' did dampen the spirits of hockey fans to some extent but not veterans like Dilip Tirkey and Dhanraj Pillay who were excited about the exhibition match played, in Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
India's chief coach Graham Reid says his players ticked most of the boxes in the 2-0 victory over a tricky Spain in their FIH men's hockey World Cup opener in Rourkela on Friday.
England pulled out of the FIH Men's Junior World Cup, to be held in Bhubaneswar next month, on Monday, citing a number of COVID-related concerns and taking "note" of the Indian government's mandatory 10-day quarantine protocol for all UK nationals.
They looked on course to clinch all three points on offer but Govers Blake scored in the dying minutes for Australia as the two sides split points.
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.
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.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday placed Hockey India under a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run its day-to-day affairs
Former Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) lashed out at India's boycotting players, saying they got their priorities all wrong. FIH vice-president Antonio von Ondarza, also the world body's observer for Hockey India's elections, said staying away from a training camp before an important event like the World Cup was unheard of in the game's history.
Terry Walsh, an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master Coach, has 175 international caps and represented Australia in four World Cup campaigns and three Olympic Games including a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Toppo is a product of the Sports Hostel, Panposh, Rourkela. She first represented her state team in 2007 and her performances in domestic competitions saw her getting selected for U-18 Girls Asia Cup in Bangkok, Thailand in 2011 where India won a bronze medal. She was first selected to represent the senior national team in 2012 in the FIH Champions Challenge I in Dublin.
There is yet another injury blow to India's prospect in the upcoming Asia Cup hockey tournament. The men in blue were dealt a severe blow after star forward S V Sunil had to be ruled out of August 24-September 1 event due to an elbow injury.
Six Olympians have accused the International Hockey Federation of taking away all the profits generated at the World Cup in Delhi and written a letter to the government to stop the world body from repeating the act during the Champions Trophy allotted to India this year.
Akashdeep Singh will lead an 18-member Indian squad in the seventh Junior Asia Cup hockey, scheduled to be held at Malacca, Malaysia, from May 3 to 13. Defender Amit Rohidas is the vice-captain. The nine-nation tournament features Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has threatened to pull out of next year's World Cup in India unless assured of "easy procurement" of visas and "top security" for its players at the event.
The World Cup will begin in Bhubaneswar from November 28 and Rizwan said his team is well prepared to handle the pressures during the prestigious tournament.
In the men's category, Netherlands (2465.707) replaced India (2366.990) in the third place based on their impressive results in the FIH Pro League.
Hockey India reasoned that there is only a 32-day window available between the Birmingham Games (July 28-August 8) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 10-25) and it can't risk sending its players to the UK which has been one of the worst affected countries by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ritu Rani has been named captain of the 8-member Indian women's hockey team that will play the semifinals of the World League Round 3 at Rotterdam, The Netherlands from June 13.
India continued their goal-scoring spree and thrashed Belgium 4-0 in their second Group G play-off match for 9 to 16 positions in the FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup in Singapore on Monday. Captain Diwakar Ram (25 minute), Mohammad Amir Khan (27th), Victo Singh (40th) and Jay Karan (59th) scored a goal each to ensure the facile win for India at the Seng Kang Sports Complex.
Star drag-flicket Gurjit Kaur made it 4-0 by converting a penalty corner in the 10th minute.
For Indian hockey, 2016 was a year in which much was promised and achieved as well. It was also a year where India made significant and visible advancements but deep down somewhere the pain of missing out on an Olympic medal will remain for four more years.
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.
India go down to Germany 1-7 in Four-Nation junior hockey
A round-up of Sunday's action in the men's hockey World Cup, in Rourkela.
In his communication, Batra also pointed fingers towards the team management without specifying anything.
Harendra said a medal will be fitting farewell gift for long-serving goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will quit the sport after the Paris Games.
International Hockey Federation president Leandro Negre on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the two-match suspension of Indian striker Shivendra Singh for injuring a Pakistani player in the ongoing World Cup was a reflection of FIH's bias against the Asian players.
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.
The FIH is planning an exhibition tournament of Hockey 5s next year but has ruled out the possibility of the format replacing the traditional 11-a-side contest in the Olympics.
The lowest ranked team in the World Cup won 4-3 for their first victory in Pool A.
India swept the International Hockey Federation's annual awards on Wednesday, claiming all the top honours, based on a voting system which was lambasted as a "failure" by men's Olympic champions Belgium, prompting the FIH to say that it would try to figure why some associations did not cast their ballot.
"The start has been good. In the tournament, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Argentina and Australia are some of the best teams. We have started off well and need to keep the momentum going and continue with same energy," Sardar said on Thursday.
Defending champions Germany toyed with Canada before subjecting them to a 6-0 thrashing in their second Pool A match of the hockey World Cup in Delhi on Wednesday. Playing fast, one-touch hockey, the reigning Olympic champions and world No 1-ranked side dictated terms right through and led 4-0 at the breather.
- 'I hope our training on creating early pressure will be evident when we go into the competition'
The Asian Games normally serves as the Olympic qualifiers but there was some confusion after the Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed from last year to this year due to the COVID-19 situation in China.
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.
