The team, led by Prabodh Tirkey, won its opening match in the Junior Challenger in Poland 10-0.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
The 11th place finish at the World Cup saw India drop a notch to seventh in the rankings, headed by World champions Germany.
India went down 2-5 to World champions Belgium in the semi-finals of the Olympics men's hockey tournament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The Netherlands beat New Zealand in a Pool A match to register their second straight win in the men's hockey World Cup, at the Dhyan Chand National stadium in Delhi, on Wednesday.
Des Abbot scored in the 60th minute as Australia beat England 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten run and a three-point lead at the top in the men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday. In another close match of the day, striker Matthias Witthaus struck a last-minute winner to help Germany squeeze past Spain 5-4. Later, South Korea beat the Netherlands 2-1 in another close contest.
An uphill task awaits India in this year's women's hockey World Cup in Argentina where they have been clubbed alongside reigning World and Olympic champions the Netherlands and formidable teams like Germany and Australia.
The Indian women's hockey team ended a three-match losing streak by upstaging Japan 2-0 in its penultimate pool match at the FIH World Cup at the Jockey Club in Rosario, Argentina, on Sunday. The team -- which was convincingly beaten in their first three matches by the Netherlands, Australia and Germany -- led 1-0 at half-time, with Rani Rampal scoring in the 14th minute.
Spain's hockey coach Maurits Hendriks said the domestic level should be of high standard in order to help a country achieve podium finishes.
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.
After two straight defeats the Indian team is looking to pick full points against a depleted German side.
Having failed to adapt to the blue turf during the Olympic hockey test event in London recently, India hockey team is keen to play more on the surface to get adjusted to it ahead of the Games, says ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh.
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.
India conceded a golden goal to allow Spain notch up a 2-1 vicotry in the bronze medal match.
A win away from rewriting history after a long gap of 15 years, Indian colts would look to showcase their best and leave nothing to chance when they take on Belgium in the summit showdown of the men's Junior Hockey World Cup in Lucknow on Saturday. The wintry Sunday could turn out to be the biggest day for these Under-21 Indian hockey players as they chase a dream of winning the mega event for the second time. India had earlier won the trophy way back in 2001 in Hobart, Australia. This is India's third entry into the final of the Junior World Cup after having finished runners-up in 1997. Assured of the silver medal, the Indians would now eye nothing less than the yellow metal.
Pakistan's hopes of a triumphant return to Champions Trophy hockey were dashed after 4-2 defeat to Spain, in Auckland, on Monday. In other matches, defending champions and Pool A leaders Australia proved too good for Great Britain, winning 4-1, while The Netherlands prevailed over perennial rivals Germany 2-1 to top Pool B.
The Indian hockey team will kick-start its campaign in the Four Nation London Olympics Test event with a match against Australia at the Riverbank Arena on Wednesday.
The constant change of captain in the Indian hockey team is in bad taste and defies logic, feels Olympian and former India captain Gurbux Singh.
Striker Gurwinder Singh Chandi failed to make the cut as Hockey India announced an 18-member squad, led by Sadar Singh, for the eight-nation Hero men's Champions Trophy, in Bhubaneswar, from December 6-14. Lalit Upadhyay, who was capped nine times earlier, has been drafted in place of Chandi in the squad, named by Hockey India selectors after trials at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi on November 18.
'They're a great team. You can't give away opportunities like that to a fantastic team like that.'
The Indian women's hockey team pumped in three goals in the second half to hold World No 4 and hosts Germany to a 3-3 draw in the opening match of a four-nation tournament in Essen.
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.
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.
'Coaching centres across the world will make everyone watch this game, the quality of the match was top-notch'
The two sides have shared the spoils since 2013. India and Netherlands have faced each other nine times since 2013, winning four apiece while one game finished in a draw.
'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.'
High on confidence, but ravaged by injuries, the Indian hockey team faces a stiff challenge from reigning Olympic champions Germany in their third preliminary league match in the FIH Champions Trophy, in Melbourne, on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet Singh got his mojo back as he scored a hat-trick to lead India to a rare 5-4 win over Australia
Hockey greats Vasudevan Baskaran, M M Somaya and Mervyn Fernandis relive India's gold medal-winning campaign at the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
India's hopes of making it to the quarter-finals of the Junior Hockey World Cup were dashed after they were held 3-3 by Korea in their must-win third and final Group C match, at the Dhyan Chand stadium, in Delhi, on Tuesday. A brilliant hat-trick by Seungju You saw the Koreans rally from 1-3 down and snatch a place in the last eight stage.
"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.
Germany might be the twice Olympic champions defending their title in men's field hockey but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat at next month's Rio Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
Britain beat defending champions the Netherlands on Friday to take home their first Olympic gold medal in women's hockey, winning 2-0 in a tense shootout following a hardfought 3-3 draw.
While players and teams from other participating nations can venture out as and when they wish, individual outings are a big 'No' for the Pakistani players. They are allowed to visit places in groups only and have to mandatorily inform the security a day in advance.
A summary of the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Games on Thursday.
Young shooting sensation Manu Bhaker became the second Indian after judoka Tababi Devi to win two medals at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) after winning a silver while the men's hockey team moved to the semi-finals with a 4-2 win over Poland, in Buenos Aires, on Friday.
Veteran midfielder Sardar Singh was on Friday dropped from India's 18-member squad for next month's Hockey World League Final, while the fit-again Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra made comebacks.
With less than 10 days to go for their opening match in the FIH Champions Trophy in London, Indian men's hockey team chief coach Roelant Oltmans said he is eyeing a top three finish in the high-profile tournament. Oltmans believes if things go according to plans, the team will stand a good chance to win a medal in the Champions Trophy. "Everybody knows we are good in the knockout stage. But Champions Trophy this year will be slightly different and we need to finish top two to play the final and be top four to play for bronze. "It will be interesting to see how our players will cope to this situation and face the challenge. Our realistic expectation is to finish in the top three," he said about his expectations from the event.
