World No 1 Australia reached the final of the Champions Trophy hockey in Auckland on Thursday, scoring a fine 4-2 win over the Netherlands in Pool C.
The FIH has responded by introducing a number of changes to the way hockey will be played and broadcast at the Rio Games. Those include a move to 15-minute quarters and scheduling more time for television replays and analysis to showcase players' virtuoso skills with a ball moving at more than 160 kilometres an hour, Fairweather said. For the first time in Olympic competition, the Rio hockey tournament will also feature quarter-finals, making it the last team sport to adopt the format at the Games.
Germany won their second successive men's hockey gold on Saturday by beating the Netherlands 2-1, courtesy midfielder Jan Philipp Rabente's first goals of the tournament. Germany's victory in a fast, attacking, hard-fought match spoiled a Dutch bid for a double after their women triumphed on Friday.
While the 54-year-old Van Ass, who was at the helm of affairs of the Dutch team from 2010 to 2014, will take charge of the men's team, New Zealand's Anthony Thornton, 47, will replace Neil Hawgood as coach of the women's senior team.
Indian hockey captain Sardara Singh missed out on the FIH player of the year award which was won by Germany's Moritz Fuerste.
The Indian women's hockey team, sans coach, finished last at the four-nations tournament in Rotterdam, after they were thrashed 1-5 by South Africa in the third and fourth place play-off match. Hosts Netherlands won the tournament after crushing Great Britain 5-0 in the final on Saturday.
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.
Disappointed he might be on missing out on a medal but India's hockey coach Michael Nobbs said there were several good signs for his team during the Champions Trophy in which it finished fourth after losing to Pakistan in the bronze medal playoff in Melbourne on Sunday.
A profligate India succumbed to a 2-3 defeat against the Netherlands on Thursday and face an early exit from the FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup in Singapore. Mink Van Der Weerden's hat-trick sunk India in the crucial Pool D encounter and, consequentially, the Diwakar Ram-led side will have to beat Poland in their final pool match on Friday.
Eight-time Olympic champions India find itself in a lowly ninth position among men's teams in the recently-released FIH World Hockey Rankings.
Jean-Laurent Kierffer scored a brace as France stunned European champions Belgium 5-4 in a nail-biting encounter to enter the semi-finals of the ongoing Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup in Delhi on Thursday.
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.
The Netherlands will face underdogs New Zealand in the summit clash of the Hero Hockey World league Final on Saturday after the two teams eked out hard-fought wins over world champions Australia and England at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Germany beat Australia 1-0 in Pool A on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the women's hockey World Cup where they will meet hosts Argentina. New Zealand beat India 3-0 and avoided finishing bottom of the pool.
India had something to cheer about after missing out on a berth in next year's World Cup as they defeated China 3-3 via the penalty shoot-out, after both the teams were locked 2-2 in regulation time, to clinch the bronze medal in the eighth women's Asia Cup hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Determined to put up a top-notch performance at the 2016 Olympic Games, the Indian men and women's hockey teams arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
Former captain Sardar Singh was brought back to bolster the Indian hockey team's mid-field while Birendra Lakra was included to shore up the defence line-up for the upcoming Champions Trophy, beginning on June 23 in Breda, The Netherlands.
Images from the eighth day's play at the 12th men's hockey world cup in New Delhi on Sunday.
Germany will meet China while The Netherlands play world champions Argentina in the semi-finals of the Olympic women's hockey tournament.
Ace forward Dhanraj Pillay was not considered for selection as he is still nursing an injury.\n\n
In a surprise move on Tuesday, India's women's hockey coach Harendra Singh was named chief coach of the men's team while incumbent men's in-charge Sjoerd Marijne was sent back to the women's camp -- a fallout of the poor show by Manpreet Singh and Co. in the Commonwealth Games.
'The Asian Games is the first step towards achieving that goal. We want to have a shot at the podium in 2020 Tokyo and the Asian Games will set the tone for our preparation towards that.'
The prestigious Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament will be held in New Delhi from December 3 to 11, the FIH announced on Friday. The world's top eight countries, including Olympic champions Germany and 2010 World Cup winners Australia, will take part in the tournament.
India's star drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh was on Tuesday named among the five nominees for the men's Player of the Year honour.
The Aussie beat Spain 1-0 with a golden goal while top-ranked the Netherlands beat Argentina in the semi-finals.
Back in the Olympics after eight years, the Indian hockey team would look to relive the glory days when it opens its campaign against the formidable Netherlands in the 30th Games in London on Monday.
Dutch legend and world's highest capped player, Teun de Nooijer will be among eight stars from the Netherlands to feature in next month's players' auction for the inaugural season of the Hockey India League.
However, with the Asian Games now postponed to next year owing to the COVID-19 situation in China, HI decided to pick a strong team for the prestigious event, scheduled to begin from July 28.
Germany might be the twice Olympic champions defending their title in men's field hockey but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat at next month's Rio Games.
'The way we are playing now, if we continue to play the same hockey, no one can stop us from standing on the podium in Tokyo.'
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is set to introduce drastic changes in the structure of global competitions with a new Global Hockey League (GHL) to be introduced in 2019 in place of the long-standing Champions Trophy, which will be scrapped.
A top-four finish in the Olympics will be a 'miracle' for the Indian men's hockey team, but a favourable outing in their Games opener against the mighty Netherlands on July 30 will act as a huge 'confidence booster' for the eight-time champions, feels former players.
Prior to the tournament, the team will participate in a four-nation tournament at Bilboe, Spain.
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.
World and Olympic champions Germany produced an outstanding first half performance to shock defending champions and unbeaten Australia 3-1 in the fourth round of matches in the Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament in Melbourne on Thursday. In other matches of the day's programme, Korea and Spain played out a thrilling 5-5 draw, while The Netherlands defeated England 3-2.
The Netherlands retained their women's Olympic field hockey title with a 2-0 win over World champions Argentina at Riverbank Arena on Friday. The Dutch scored off two second-half penalty-corners to join Australia as the only three-time Olympic champions.
Five of the Australian goals were field efforts while three were from the penalty corners. Australia earned eight PCs as against five of the South Africans.
India put up a valiant fight before defending champions Australia pipped them 3-2 in an absorbing encounter in the six-nation Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Breda, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.
Pakistan's hopes of a triumphant return to Champions Trophy hockey were dashed after 4-2 defeat to Spain, in Auckland, on Monday. In other matches, defending champions and Pool A leaders Australia proved too good for Great Britain, winning 4-1, while The Netherlands prevailed over perennial rivals Germany 2-1 to top Pool B.
Jaime Dwyer's penalty-corner goal in extra-time gave the Aussies a 2-1 victory over defending champions the Netherlands in the final.
