The Pakistan Wrestling Federation on Tuesday claimed that its national team has been denied visa by the Indian High Commission for the upcoming Asian Championship scheduled to be held in New Delhi from May 10-14.
Hockey greats Vasudevan Baskaran, M M Somaya and Mervyn Fernandis relive India's gold medal-winning campaign at the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
Rani Rampal led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Mumbai's boys and girls' teams bowed out of the 35th Junior (under-20) National Hockey Championships in contrasting fashion on Saturday. The Mumbai boys went down fighting to a plucky Karnataka 1-2 in a pre-quarter-final match while the girls were squarely beaten 6-1 by Punjab in a quarter-final.
Former hockey captain P R Sreejesh was chosen for the Padma Bhushan, while Ravichandran Ashwin was among the Padma Shri winners.
'I've faced my share of obstacles, but I've always believed that hard work can overcome anything.'
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.
Singapore, Malaysia have accused India of fielding over-age players in the ongoing Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament in Hyderabad.
Manpreet Singh will lead an 18-member Indian junior men's hockey team in the second Sultan of Johar Cup, in Malaysia, from November 11 to 18. Kothajit Singh is vice-captain of the side. India's opening match is against Australia on November 11.
India will play their last pool match against Canada on Saturday.
Pakistan Hockey Federation has finally got clearance from the government to send its national junior team to Lucknow, India for the FIH Junior World Cup next month. A reliable source in the PHF said that the ministry of inter-provincial coordination has informed the federation that the government has given the NOC for participating in the December 8-18 Junior World Cup. "The PHF officials were anxious about getting the NOC to send its team to India next month as the FIH event is scheduled from December 8 to 18th and it is an important event for the future of Pakistan hockey. But now the ministry has informed the PHF that the government has given the clearance," the source said.
'Terrorism and sports can't go along and Pakistan should understand that'
Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on Monday said the Indian men's hockey side's main focus is qualifying for the Paris Olympics by winning the Asian Games this year besides giving opportunities to youngsters.
The FIH Hockey Pro League matches between India and Great Britain, scheduled for May 8-9 in London, were on Wednesday postponed following the UK government's decision to add India to the travel 'red list'.
With an aim to provide a safe training environment for the Olympic-bound players, Hockey India has devised a detailed Standard Operating Procedure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
India booked a berth in the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament with an impressive 3-1 victory over New Zealand, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Indian women's hockey team forward Rani Rampal is set to become an assistant coach with the Sports Authority of India after SAI relaxed its recruitment norms owing to her fine brilliant record.
In the first quarter-final of the day, Germany eked out a narrow 3-1 win over Spain via the shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2 in regulation time. Later, Argentina beat the Netherlands 2-1.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday honoured the former hockey players for their achievements and contribution to the country.
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.
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.
Favourites India maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament and eked out a fighting 2-1 win over a spirited South Africa in their final Pool D match to book a place in the quarterfinals of the men's Junior Hockey World Cup at the Major Dhyan Astroturf stadium in New Delhi on Monday. India scored both their goals from field efforts through skipper Harjeet Singh (11th minute) and Mandeep Singh (55th), while Kyle Lion-Cachet (28th) found the net for the Africans. India, thus, finished the pool engagements with possible nine points from three wins and will now face second placed team in Pool C, Spain in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded former India women's hockey captain Rani Rampal's achievements, saying her exploits on the field will be cherished for ages to come.
Rajinder Singh, however, said he is concerned about the team's field goal scoring abilities.
The Indian junior men's hockey team started their campaign at the eighth Sultan of Johor Cup with a hard fought 2-1 win over hosts Malaysia, in Johor Bahru, on Saturday.
Hockey India on Saturday sacked national coach Roelant Oltmans after a string of unimpressive outings at the international level.
Eight-time Olympic hockey champions India may not have made the cut for Beijing Games for the first time in 80 years, but four of its coaches will be at the hockey tournament to study the strategy of other participating nations.
"Through his outstanding performance at the Olympics, Sreejesh has brought joy to Indians around the world. As a fellow-Malayali, I take tremendous pride in his achievement," Vayalil, Chairman and Managing Director of VPS Healthcare, was quoted as saying in a media statement.
It was a proud moment for India defender Nilam Sanjeep Xess as he made his debut in the Hockey World Cup 2023.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
But India clawed back into the game in the second quarter. While the team's defence held strong in the following minutes, the Indian attackers worked on creating scoring opportunities.
India eye Paris revenge against Germany in Test series as international hockey returns to Delhi
The Indian colts won the four-nation hockey tournament in Spain after drawing their last match against Chile 2-2.
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.
Hockey India (HI) secretary general Bhola Nath Singh on Saturday claimed that India will definitely win gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they miss out on the yellow metal in Paris next year.
Tale of two sports shops and unfulfilled dreams of a former hockey player
Having made the cut for the 18-member squad for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, the Indian men's hockey team forward Gurjant Singh is looking to make an impact with his skills.
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
The other Indian shuttlers who participated in the singles events of the Super 1000 tournament have already left Thailand while the doubles players will fly out on Monday.
