Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is planning to have India and Pakistan play their home and away matches in Europe if the arch-rivals face off in the Olympic qualifying tournament for a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
In the shoot-out, the hosts won 3-2 to pocket two points (including a bonus) as against England's one.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The Malaysians handed India a heartbreaking 6-7 loss in sudden death after an exhausting shoot-off.
Images from Day 7 of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Sports Ministry officials clarified that they are yet to receive any form of communication on Indian men's hockey team coach Paul van Ass, who claims to have been sacked by Hockey India.
The victory also secured them a place at next year's Olympics.
In an encouraging development for the Indian women's hockey team, all the squad members are set to be included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) when the review committee will identify a core group for the government-funded programme, next month.
Captain Rani Rampal's clinical strike helped India beat South Africa 1-0 to seal their place in the semi-finals of the women's hockey event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
New Zealand survived waves of Korean attacks before pulling off a 2-1 upset victory to keep alive their semi-final hopes in the hockey World Cup in Delhi on Friday.
The sports ministry cleared the final contingent that also features 140 support staff and officials, of which 72 "have been approved at cost to the Government" to meet the "requirements" of the travelling sportspersons.
The Aussies will meet Korea, while Spain face Germany in the semi-finals of the men's hockey World Cup.
Captain Diwakar Ram slammed four goals, including two late strikes, to help India eke out a 5-5 draw against Malaysia in an inconsequential final league match of the men's hockey event in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney on Saturday. In a high-scoring crowd stunner at the Hockey Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Diwakar converted four penalty-corners to save the day for the Indians.
While India downed China, Ashari struck twice in Malaysia's 3-1 win over Pakistan.
A summary of Indian athletes' showing atthe Olympic Games in Tokyo on Sunday.
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Monday.
Hockey India Secretary General Narinder Batra on Wednesday took moral 'responsibility' for the country's early ouster from the Hero FIH Junior Men's World Cup and apologised to the fans for letting them down.
Neeraj Chopra's soaring javelin did not just earn India their first Olympic gold in athletics on Saturday, it also meant that the contingent will return from Tokyo with seven medals, their biggest Games haul ever.
A summary of the country's athletes showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, August 7.
India staged a grand recovery to defeat England 4-3 and take the top spot in Pool B of the men's hockey tournament at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday. England finished second.
India survived a final-quarter onslaught from Argentina for a nail-biting 2-1 win that enhanced their quarterfinal chances at the men's hockey competition of the Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. The second win in the Pool stage has virtually secured India a quarterfinal berth as they rose to the second position with six points.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to eminent sports personalities, the country was wholesome in its praise for the Indian hockey team after it clinched the Asian Champion Trophy by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals at Kuantan, Malaysia on Sunday. Favourites India prevailed 3-2 over Pakistan to reclaim the trophy and present a perfect Diwali gift to the nation. PM Modi wrote on his twitter handle, "Very proud of our hockey team. Congratulations on winning the Asian Champions Trophy."
World No 5 India won all five matches during the tour, beating Belgium 2-0 in the opening match, and registering 6-1 and 5-1 wins over Spain in the next two games, before finishing off their Tour with two more wins (2-1 and 5-1).
India might have lost to Pakistan in the summit clash of men's hockey in the 12th South Asian Games but captain Mandeep Antil on Saturday sought to take the positives from the performance of his players, saying they have done well given the inexperience of the team. With the country's top players taking part in the ongoing Hockey India League, India fielded an inexperienced team mostly consisting of junior players and they failed to click as a unit in the SAG. India settled for the silver medal after losing twice to arch-rivals Pakistan, including in the final 0-1 in Guwahati on Friday night. India had just two senior players who had played some international matches in Antil himself and veteran Gurbaj Singh. Even Antil has played just 20-odd international matches while Gurbaj has donned India colours in more than 200 games. Pakistan had at least six players who played in the London Olympics. Antil said he was disappointed to have lost to Pakistan in the final, which he felt was a close match. "Any loss to Pakistan at any level is a disappointment. We wanted to win the gold but we could not do it. We played better (than the group match which also India lost 1-2) and it was a close match but we lost again," Antil told PTI.
Akashdeep Singh scored two goals as India posted a comfortable 3-0 win over Asian champions South Korea to finish a lowly ninth in the men's hockey World Cup at the Kyocera Stadium at The Hague in The Netherlands on Saturday.
Olympic bronze medallist Germany defeated Malaysia 5-3 in a keenly-contested match
The reigning champions squandered a 2-0 lead as the dogged Koreans earned a point.
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.
Images from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
India slumped to a humiliating 2-5 defeat against formidable Germany in Group B and went out of the reckoning for a berth in the semi-finals of the men's hockey competition at the London Games on Friday.
India's star drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh was on Tuesday named among the five nominees for the men's Player of the Year honour.
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen settled for a silver medal after he lost in the men's singles final against Li Shifeng of China in straight games at the Youth Olympics.
Young striker Dharamvir Singh scored a double as India defeated a lowly Scotland 4-0 in a Pool A match to stay in hunt for a semi-final spot in the men's hockey event, at the Commonwealth Games.
The Indian men's hockey team produced a lion hearted performance before going down 1-4 to leaders the Netherlands in the penalty shoot-out
Germany outclassed last edition silver medallist Netherlands
Indian men's hockey team fired in a goal two minutes from the final hooter through Ramandeep Singh to pull off a 3-2 win over France and begin their FIH World League semi-finals campaign on a winning note in Antwerp.
The Aussies put on a strong display of running hockey with Jamie Dwyer finishing off their relentless attacks with three flying field goals.
The Indian men's hockey team suffered a 2-3 defeat at the hands of New Zealand in a hard-fought encounter of the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament here on Saturday. India knew that they would have to do most of the attacking in the opening periods of the game. The first quarter followed that pattern, India dominating the possession statistics, and creating several circle penetrations but unable to offer clear opportunities on goal.
Winning the eighth Junior Men's Asia Cup hockey tournament is just the beginning for the Indian colts; they need to frequently face "sterner tests" to become world beaters, feels coach Harendra Singh.
