India will face Great Britain in their final round robin league-stage match 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.
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.
With three wins and a draw, India are currently leading the six-team league table with 10 points and a goal difference of eight.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
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.
The Indian junior men's hockey team lost to Great Britain 3-4 in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out in the Sultan of Johor Cup final in Johor Bahru on Sunday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
An inexperienced Indian men's hockey team fought hard before going down to arch-rivals Pakistan 4-5 and slumping to their third defeat in the Asian Champions Trophy at Kakamigahara, Japan on Thursday.
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.
Prabhjot Singh (6th minute), Shilanand Lakra (15th, 43rd), Harmanjit Singh (21st), Mohd Faraz (23rd), Abhishek (50th) and skipper Mandeep Mor (60th) were the goal scorers for India.
The Government of India is set to appoint Hockey India's Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey.
In the absence of skipper Sardara Singh, the Indian men's hockey team suffered another defeat in the Asian Champions Trophy.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
'I feel so fortunate to be part of this incredible group and yes, I do believe I have been lucky to have had such a great start to my international career.'
The Indian men's hockey team will have to guard against complacency when it takes on lower-ranked Russia, while a tricky contest awaits their female counterparts against United States in the two-legged Olympic qualifiers.
India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year award for men and women, respectively, at the Hockey India second annual awards, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
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.
The hosts will face Australia in the semi-final on Friday.
Australia and France made the quarter-finals of the Hero FIH Junior Men's World Cup after registering contrasting victories in their respective Pool B matches today at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.
Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra confirmed that that they are in look out for a foreign expert to work with Indian goalkeepers on short-term basis.
India eye Paris revenge against Germany in Test series as international hockey returns to Delhi
The Indian men's junior hockey team maintained its unbeaten run on the tour of England, thrashing the hosts 7-1 at the Bisham Abbey Sports Centre in Marlow. Ajay Yadav (27th, 43rd minute) and Varun Kumar (32nd, 35th) scored twice each for the Indians, while Manpreet (15th), Gurjant Singh (38th) and Simranjeet Singh (40th) accounted for the other goals.
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
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.
PR Sreejesh says his dual role as India hockey captain and goalkeeper is to allow his team mates the freedom to express themselves in Rio but knows he must keep them focused on the medal hunt in the "magic world" of the Olympics. The 30-year-old was second choice at London 2012 behind then captain Bharat Chetri but has since established himself as the clear number one. He was named captain for the recent Champions Trophy in London where India rested some seniors, including regular captain Sardar Singh, ahead of the Rio Games.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday.
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.
Indian colts staged a magnificent comeback to beat Japan 2-1 in their opening match of the Junior Men's Asia Cup Hockey.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Manpreet (30th minute, 44th) was the star for sixth- ranked India, while Varun Kumar (17th) and Harjeet Singh (49th) also sounded the board.
India and hosts Holland are in the same pool for the junior hockey World Cup scheduled to be held in Rotterdam
Harmanpreet Singh struck twice as India edged past hosts Malaysia 2-1 in their fourth league match of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup, Junior Hockey tournament in Johor Bahru on Thursday.
Hockey coach Ramesh Parameswaran applies for Dronacharya Award
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Defender Gurinder Singh, midfielders Sumit and Manpreet who were part of the Junior World Cup-winning squad are slated to make their debut at the tournament.
"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.
Indian men's hockey team captain Sardar Singh and former skipper of the national women's side Saba Anjum were conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award by President Pranab Mukherjee at a glittering ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The arrival of India's neighbouring nations Pakistan and China in Chennai on Tuesday night energised the city's atmosphere ahead of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023.
Ramandeep Singh scored two field goals as India beat Argentina 4-2 and set up a mouth-watering clash against Pakistan in the 9th-10th place classification match at the Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup in Delhi, on Thursday.
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