As the much-awaited hockey men's World Cup is inching closer, music maestro AR Rahman has shared the glimpse of the much-anticipated official theme song and video of the hockey tournament, slated to be held from November 28 to December 16 in Bhubaneswar.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
In a series of tweets, Bajaj lashed out at the AIFF for getting the permission to use the stadium cancelled.
In Group B matches in Margao, Germany beat Nigeria 2-1 and Chile beat New Zealand 3-1.
The hosts will face arch-rivals Pakistan for a place in the final, the latter scoring 4-2 upset win over eight-time champions The Netherlands earlier in the day.
India's hockey coach Harendra Singh apologised after a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by the Netherlands ended their hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil.
Creating a nationwide buzz, India's music icon A R Rahman on Thursday shared the teaser video which features Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and him doing the 'Hockey Hook Step'.
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.
India women claim hockey CWG medal after 16 years
India dominated all throughout but their goal-scoring woes continued for the second match in a row.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Belgium won a tense penalty shootout 3-2 against three-times champions Netherlands to win their first men's hockey World Cup title.
World No.1 Australia scored all their goals from penalty corners through Jeremy Hayward (4th minute), Blake Govers (19th) and skipper Aran Zalewski (37th) at the Kalinga Stadium.
Shot putter Manpreet Kaur and long distance runner G Lakshmanan grabbed gold medals on a remarkable opening day for India at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships as the hosts won seven medals to sit atop the medal tally, in Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
Indian Arrows stunned defending champions Minerva Punjab FC 2-1 to notch-up their fifth win of the 12th I-League season and leapfrog to the seventh position on the points table, in Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
After New Zealand and Spain played out a 2-2 draw earlier in the day, World No. 20, the lowest ranked side in the competition, France needed an outright win to qualify for the cross-overs and they came out with intent to achieve the goal.
Hosts India drawn with England, Spain and Wales in Pool D of FIH World Cup
World champions Australia defeated Olympic champions Argentina 2-1 in a hard-fought summit clash to defend the Hockey World League (HWL) Final crown.
Both the Indian men's and women's teams will play against Spain on February 26 and 27 in a two-legged tie, followed by matches (both men's and women's) against Germany on March 12 and 13.
Ace drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat struck a second-half hat-trick as Germany made a sensational comeback after being two goals down to beat Australia 4-3 and enter the men's hockey World Cup final for the fifth time, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
World Cup bronze medallists Argentina stunned Olympic champions Germany 3-0 in their concluding Pool B match to end their league engagements in the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Bhubaneswar, on a high note.
Germany struck twice with two minutes left in the match to wipe out a two-goal deficit and then prevailed over England in the penalty shoot-out to make a dramatic entry into the semi-finals of the Men's Hockey World Cup, in Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
FC Goa overcame a strong fightback from Odisha FC after being three goals up to prevail 4-2 and reclaim the top spot in the Indian Super League, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
Track and field athletes will return to outdoor training on Monday after two months of being confined to their rooms due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown but the early focus will be entirely on their fitness regimens to avoid injury. Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla said that all the athletes based at NIS-Patiala, SAI Centre in Bengaluru and Ooty will start "outdoor fitness" training from Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
All the results from the I-League and ISL matches played on Friday
India bounced back in style to beat title holders Australia 3-1 via a shoot-out after both the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
An impressive England demolished Pakistan 8-2 in their second Pool A match to register their best-ever win in the history of the FIH Hockey Champions Trophy.
Neeraj will be competing in his first Olympics and he has already qualified for the Tokyo Games early last year before the COVID-19 pandemic began
India are now atop the leaderboard with five points from two games, but the Manpreet Singh-led side conceded a point to the Netherlands after drawing (during the regulation time) the second match of the contest on Sunday.
'I could not reach the semifinals last time but I am hoping to reach the finals this time'
The Indian women's hockey team took giant leap towards Olympic qualification with a near-flawless performance to hammer United States 5-1 in the first-leg of the two-match FIH 2020 Olympic Qualifier.
World No 1 Australia scored three goals in the final quarter to register their second consecutive win in Pool B at the Kalinga Stadium.
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.
FC Goa turned in a flawless display to beat I-League champions Chennai City FC 3-0 in the first semi-final of the Hero Super Cup, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, on Tsday. The result sends the Gaurs through to the final of the knockout tournament, where they will face the winner of Wednesday's match between Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC.
The final inspection will take place later this year following which the venue of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020 will be named.
Rain spoiled India's party as they struggled in heavy pitch conditions to lose 0-1 to Olympic champions Argentina and crash out of title race in the Hockey World League (HWL) Final, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
Harendra Singh's outburst against umpiring after India's quarter-final loss to Netherlands in the ongoing World Cup didn't go down well with the world body (FIH) and its president Narinder Batra.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
Olympic champions Germany clinched the Hero Champions Trophy title with a convincing 2-0 win over Pakistan in the summit clash, snapping their five-year old jinx in the elite eight-nation event at the packed Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
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