Asian champions India have never won the Champions Trophy in its last 36 editions but will be hoping to claim the feat in the tournament's last edition.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
It was a complete performance by the Indians who dominated their arch-rivals throughout the match to post a facile win and zoom to the top of Pool B ahead of The Netherlands.
Defending champions Australia will face Germany in the title clash of the Champions Trophy hockey championship in Melbourne on Sunday after Germany advanced to the final despite losing 3-4 to The Netherlands on Saturday.
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Thursday.
India squandered their hard-earned lead on two occasions as they slumped to their second successive defeat losing 2-4 to World Cup bronze medallists Argentina.
The Netherlands, a strong contender for the World Cup title, will aim to maintain a clean slate by beating lowly Canada in Pool A and book a semi-final berth in the hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Friday.
Veteran drag-flicker Taeke Taekema scored the first hat-trict of the tournament as the Netherlands blanked bottom-ranked Argentina 3-0 in their Pool A hockey World Cup match in New Delhi on Monday.
For Netherlands captain Tuen de Nooijer the 2-2 draw against arch-rivals Germany in a crucial pool A match of the hockey World Cup on Sunday was an expected result since the history of the clashes between the two hockey powerhouses has more often produced the same result.
In 2015 when Indian the women's team qualified for the Rio Olympics after a gap of 36 years, it was Rani who had played a key role in the decisive victory against Japan.
Defending champions Australia routed Netherlands 7-2 to top the standings in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne on Sunday.
The German Hockey Association has decided to send their development team for the Champions Trophy
The Tokyo Olympics produced many, many, many emotional moments for the athletes and their coaches...
Hockey India constituted a strong 11-member committee to evaluate India's pathetic performance in the ongoing World Cup at The Hague, Netherlands.
A resurgent Indian hockey team, with its penetrative attack and solid defence, can actually challenge for the top spot in the Champions Trophy.
The Netherlands claimed the 2007 BDO Hockey Champions Trophy women's title, defeating hosts Argentina in the final.
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.
Pakistan, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and defending champions Argentina will battle for top honours from July 22-30.
Leaking late goals has been something of an Achilles' heel for the Indian hockey team but captain Sardar Singh believes his team have addressed the issue as they head to Rio looking for the country's first Olympic medal in 36 years. Once-mighty India are the most decorated nation in the sport's Olympic history but the South Asians collected the last of their eight gold medals way back at the Moscow Games in 1980. Having failed to qualify for the Beijing Games in 2008, the team representing a nation of 1.3 billion people did recover to seal a spot at the London Games four years later only to finish last among the 12 countries taking part.
England pulled off a stunning upset by hammering Olympic champions Germany 4-1 in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne on Sunday, in an encounter that featured two self-goals.
Roderick Weusthos scored for the Dutch in the 64th minute to take them into the final, against Australia.
The Netherlands beat New Zealand 3-1 to record their second successive win at the hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The second edition of the League, to be played in January in Chandigarh, will see several innovations in the rules.
With their eyes firmly set on a berth in next year's World Cup, Indian eves started the eighth Asia Cup hockery tournament campaign on a rollicking note, spanking minnows Hong Kong 13-0 in their opening Pool A match in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
A long-term plan is needed for Indian hockey to regain its status of yore, said the 1948 and '52 Games gold medal-winning team member.
The ace defender will turn out for Klein Zwiterland, the team Gagan Ajit Singh plays for.
Holland and New Zealand played out a goalless draw to join India and Australia in the semi-finals of the hockey tournament
India were made to toil hard by the world No 2 Australia before eventually losing the match in a close encounter.
Australia's Grant Schubert was adjudged Young player of the Year as Dutch players dominated the annual awards.
In other matches in the men's Olympic hockey qualifier, New Zealand beat Malaysia 1-0 while Poland surprised Great Britain 2-1.
Defending champions India hammered the Netherlands 4-1 to top Pool D in the Junior World Cup hockey tournament.
While a billion hearts would pray for all the participants to do well, all eyes would be set on the duo of Deepika Kumari/Atanu Das, the four shooters and Mirabai Chanu to open India's medals count.
India chief coach Roelant Oltmans today said two yellow cards hurt the team badly and that resulted in its 1-2 loss to the Netherlands in a pool B men's hockey match at the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. "We were on the attacking side until we got two yellow cards, which was a gamechanger. You had to fight with one or two less. That's not only difficult to score a goal but it also took away a lot of energy from the players that I'm not happy about it," Oltmans said.
Indian hockey captain PR Sreejesh, who played a pivotal role in his side's 2-1 win over Argentina at the Rio Olympics, said it's his job to "give life" to the team in the dying moments of a match. Leading 2-0 with Chinglensana Singh and Kothajit Singh's strikes in the first three quarters, India survived a final-quarter onslaught from Argentina for a nail-biting win to virtually secure a quarterfinal berth at the men's hockey competition.
Erstwhile hockey powerhouse India are languishing at the 10th position in the men's category, while the women's team is further down at 13th spot in the recently-released FIH world rankings.
India's star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh has set a personal target of scoring in every game at the London Olympics and hopes to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the Beijing Games.
Coach Harendra Singh is unable to explain the inconsistency of his team in the Junior World Cup hockey tournament.
The Dutch too will be with their best players for the three-Test series, beginning in Hyderabad on February 5.\n\n
