The 1-4 defeat put India out of the reckoning for a place in the knock-out stage at the Tokyo Olympics.
Two FIH Pro League ties involving the senior men's team, junior men's Asia Cup and senior women's Asian Champions Trophy are among a host of international hockey events, where India was scheduled to take part, that have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
'Right now hockey is totally changed and anyone can beat anyone depending on the day. It depends on how many chances you create.'
It is important that these events do not remain one-offs. It is crucial that India sets long-term targets, and not solely depend on foreign coaches from regions that continue to produce some of the finest talents in the world, asserts Arindam Roy.
France and Germany will clash in the final of the Junior Men's Hockey World Cup. The French made history when they beat Malaysia via the penalty shoot-out in the first semi-final to make their maiden appearance in the final while the defending champions Germans got the better of the Netherlands 5-3.
India's men's hockey coach Graham Reid hailed his players after the come from behind victory over Germany in the Olympics men's hockey play-off on Thursday.
The event was distinguished by the presence of hockey legends, including former captains Sardar Singh, Dillip Tirkey and Mir Ranjan Negi, former coach Harendra Singh, and the entire bronze winning Indian team.
India will play Germany on June 8 in their next match at the same venue.
The Netherlands won their fourth Olympics women's hockey title, beating Argentina 3-1 in the final at the Tokyo Games on Friday.
The Indian team will begin its campaign in Pool D against Wales on Saturday before taking on formidable Germany on Sunday following the final tie against Malaysia.
The Indian men's hockey team, which ended a 41-year medal drought by clinching a bronze medal in Tokyo, rose to 3rd in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Rankings, behind Belgium and Australia, respectively.
Following is India's schedule on Thursday, Day 13 of competition at the Paris Games:
India beat Germany 3-0 in a dramatic shoot-out to avenge their first leg defeat and share the honours in the two-legged tie of the FIH women's Pro League, at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
India came up with a spirited performance to draw with Olympic champions Germany 3-3 and register their first win at the Hero Hockey World League Finals in New Delhi.
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.
The Indian women's team has made rapid strides at the world level with significant performances in major tournaments
Pakistan avenged their Asian Games final loss when they beat India 4-3 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday to enter the Champions Trophy hockey final.
Desperately needing full points from the match, after losing 1-5 to World No.1 Netherlands, 0-2 to Germany and 1-4 to defending champions Great Britain, the Rani Pal-led team scored in the 57 minute through Navneet Kaur to stay in contention for a quarter-final berth.
The 32-year-old also lauded the mental fortitude of the side as it defended with 10 players for close to 42 minutes against Britain in the quarter-final after Amit Rohidas was shown a contentious red card.
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.
The Indian men's hockey team brought glory to the country when they ended a 41-year Olympic medal drought after defeating Germany 5-4 at the Tokyo Olympics to win the bronze medal in August.
India men's hockey team striker Lalit Upadhyay has worked hard to rebuild his career and considers all the setbacks as blessings in disguise.
Just when you think you have seen enough of him, the genial goalkeeper from Kerala conjures up something special and leaves you pleasantly surprised.
Germany's squad for the 12th hockey World Cup in New Delhi.
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.
India's goalkeeper P R Sreejesh praised his teammates for the spirited fight they put up in the 2-3 defeat to Germany in the men's hockey semi-final in Paris on Tuesday.
Belgium won their first Olympic men's hockey title, beating Australia 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the final finished in a 1-1 draw, in Tokyo, 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.
Eight-time champions India have been clubbed alongside title holders Germany and World No 2 Netherlands in Pool B at the men's hockey competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Hockey India said it has drawn up a list of competitions both for the senior men and women's teams in the run-up to next year's Tokyo Olympics. The detailed plan involves playing a number of matches against top teams in the world.
A heart-wrenching defeat in the semi-finals notwithstanding, a demoralised Indian men's hockey team will have to regroup quickly and aim for a second consecutive podium finish at the Olympics when it takes on Spain in the bronze medal play-off in Paris on Thursday.
India suffered a humiliating 1-7 thrashing at the hands of Germany to end their pool engagements on a disappointing note in the women's competition of the FIH World League Round 3 in Rotterdam, on Sunday.
India's women's hockey team fought valiantly in the first two quarters before losing steam and went down 1-5 to world No. 1 the Netherlands in their opening pool match at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
Indian women's hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne was livid after the 1-4 defeat to Great Britain at the Olympics, saying 'individual performances just weren't good enough'.
Germany led 2-0 and 5-1, but a four-goal burst by penalty-corner specialist Zulfikil Mohd Rejab saw the Malaysians go down fighting 5-7 in the Men's Junior World Cup hockey.
The seasoned PR Sreejesh led the way as the Olympic-bound Indian hockey teams on Thursday received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines in Bengaluru.
Besides Rampal, the others who have been infected are Savita Punia, Sharmila Devi, Rajani, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Sushila.
The Indian men's hockey team's habit of conceding late goals continued to haunt them as reigning double Olympic champions Germany scored seconds from the final hooter to steal a 2-1 victory in a thrilling Pool B match at the Rio Olympics on Monday.
A bronze medal finish is not what hockey coach Craig Fulton had wanted, but the South African will relish the achievement simply for the fact that "underdog India" lifted themselves up from disappointments when no one gave them a chance.
India's chances of going through depends on the result of the last Pool A match between Ireland and Great Britain, later in the day.
