India were drawn against their Pakistan for an away Asia-Oceania Zone Group 1 fixture.
Hockey: India v Australia, QF
For Indian hockey, 2016 was a year in which much was promised and achieved as well. It was also a year where India made significant and visible advancements but deep down somewhere the pain of missing out on an Olympic medal will remain for four more years.
Former India hockey Olympian Joseph Antic's condition has improved since being hospitalised in Mumbai on Friday morning.
India scored a minute from the hooter to beat Pakistan 2-1 in their concluding league match in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Thursday. Sunil Sowmarpet scored the all-important goal in the 69 th minute. The victory took the former champions' points tally to nine from six outings, while Pakistan have just three from five outings.
Hockey India president Narinder Batra on Monday ruled out Pakistani players participation in future editions of Hockey India League saying they will not be considered until they apologise for their 'unacceptable behaviour' during last year's Champions Trophy.
Indian media and public had developed negative feelings about Pakistan after the incident in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
The midfield will be spearheaded by Olympic bronze medal-winning former skipper Manpreet Singh, current vice-captain Hardik Singh and young Vivek Sagar Prasad, while India also boasts of a strong, attacking forwardline in Shamsher Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
Punjab XI from Lahore will be seen in action in the 43rd edition of the premier hockey tournament, commencing at the Mahindra stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
Scoring field goals was a major concern in Paris but here the young forwardline comprising Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal and others have exceeded expectations.
Disappointed with the bronze medal finish at the Asian Games, ace drag flicker Sandeep Singh on Sunday said that the Indian hockey team was the best in the quadrennial event but lack of video referral system deprived the team of a well-deserved victory against Malaysia in the semi-final.
The triumph also took Germany to the top of FIH world rankings from the pre-tournament fourth place.
The Indian men's hockey team beat Oman 3-0 to register their first victory in the third Asian Champions Trophy at Kakamigahara, Japan, on Tuesday.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
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.
Kindo, a full back in his playing days, was a member of the team that won the lone World Cup for India in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur
Pakistan could lose their Dutch national team hockey coach Michel van den Heuvel who said on Thursday he was not keen to return because of security concerns.
Hockey India appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men's national team on Wednesday and he will work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh.
They beat Japan 7-1 for their third straight victory in the tournament.
Germany outclassed last edition silver medallist Netherlands
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
India blanked arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to open its campaign on a rousing note in the final edition of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
Raj Kumar Pal struck a hat-trick
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 in a pulsating third-fourth place play-off match to win the bronze medal at the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament, in Dhaka, on Wednesday.
India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 to enter the final of the 4th Men's Under-18 Asia Cup tournament in Dhaka on Thursday.
Once renowned stars of their own sporting arena, former India hockey players Gagan Ajit Singh and Rajpal Singh will be in incharge of security at the PCA stadium, in Mohali, during ongoing ICC World Twenty20.
India continued to torment Pakistan in the Hero Hockey World League Semifinals, hammering the arch-rivals 6-1 in a 5th-8th place classification match, in London on Saturday.
Ace defender and former captain Dilip Tirkey is the only Indian to figure in the FIH's 18-member men's All-Star hockey team for 2007. Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer of Australia has been named captain.
'Terrorism and sports can't go along and Pakistan should understand that'
The Pakistan Hockey Federation dropped Mohammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain for failing to report for a preparatory camp.
The seven participants due to represent Pakistan at next month's Games have all been given wildcard entries.
'This team can be more than a super power' 'When you have such a system, then you will automatically have politics in cricket and that is our problem now'
Air Marshal Denzil Keelor was an Indian Air Force legend. His nephew Basil Keelor, son of another war hero Wing Commander Trevor Keelor, remembers a remarkable officer and gentleman.
Germany ended Belgium's dominance in global hockey in the last five years after yet another stunning comeback from two-goal deficit to beat the defending champions in the penalty shoot-out to win the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup for a third time, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
The constant change of captain in the Indian hockey team is in bad taste and defies logic, feels Olympian and former India captain Gurbux Singh.
Hockey greats Vasudevan Baskaran, M M Somaya and Mervyn Fernandis relive India's gold medal-winning campaign at the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
The Pakistan Wrestling Federation on Tuesday claimed that its national team has been denied visa by the Indian High Commission for the upcoming Asian Championship scheduled to be held in New Delhi from May 10-14.
India wasted chances galore in their 1-2 defeat against arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in a keenly-contested Pool B match of the men's hockey competition at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Thursday.
Olympic bronze medallist Germany defeated Malaysia 5-3 in a keenly-contested match
A cracker of a contest is on the cards when a confident India takes on a resurgent Pakistan in the semi-finals of the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Bhubaneswar, on Saturday.
