India held on to sixth place in the medals tally
Already out of next year's World Cup, Pakistan had something to cheer about as the three-time champions defeated hosts Malaysia 3-1 to win the bronze medal at the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Sunday.
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.
Cricketers and fans around the world are paying tribute to Phillip Hughes via a social media campaign by leaving their cricket bats out and sharing a picture with the message #putoutyourbats on Twitter.
'I am not envious of those who are making millions. It's their era and I had my era.'
As stalwart midfielder Sardar Singh called time on his illustrious International career, Hockey India on Friday congratulated the 32-year-old Khel Ratna awardee on his long-serving career that spanned over 12 years.
If you don't have power in a game you are masters of, the world will walk all over you, notes Shekhar Gupta.
While praising the Indian men hockey team's progress under the guidance of coach Roelant Oltmans, former international Viren Rasquinha did not hold out a realistic chance for the country to climb the medals podium at the upcoming Rio Olympics.
Senior Board of Control for Cricket in India functionary Rajeev Shukla says the decision to give Team Director Ravi Shastri an extension till the 2016 World Cup was based on his good performance and rapport with the players.
India will begin their campaign in the 2004 tournament with a match against Germany.
For the 12th successive time, none could match up to India's regional might but the host country's record-breaking medal haul of 308 can hardly hide the fact that the standard of competition in the South Asian Games has failed to rise significantly.
He was blessed with celestial ability, a once-in-a-generation player destined to pull India out of its hockey inertia and lay down for it a new, exciting, path of greatness. Then he was shot and unsure if he would walk, let alone play hockey again. Dhruv Munjal hopes Soorma, the biopic on Sandeep Singh's life, will bring him back where he belongs -- in the spotlight.
Holland and New Zealand played out a goalless draw to join India and Australia in the semi-finals of the hockey tournament
Hockey legend Ashok Kumar reckons India would have won a medal had the Olympics been held this year but the break in momentum will make a big difference now that the Games are pushed to 2021.
The team management in London was told that Sardar should come to Leeds for questioning by the Yorkshire police.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
India's top-five finish not a given this time
Following is the schedule of the Indian contingent on the 14th day of the Asian Games in Jakarta, on Saturday.
The IHF president also ruled out the inclusion of Gagan Ajit Singh, Baljit Dhillon and Deepak Thakur in the team for the Champions Trophy.
Fancied India crashed out of the Hockey World League Semi-Final after suffering a shocking 2-3 defeat at the hands of Malaysia in a quarter-final match in London on Thursday.
Heavy rain since evening delayed the start of the final and even though the skies relented later, but by then the damage had already been done.
Veteran midfielder Sardar Singh on Saturday returned to the national team as Hockey India named a strong 18-member squad under the captaincy of Manpreet Singh for the Asia Cup to be held in Dhaka from October 11-22.
India, eying their maiden Champions Trophy title, had earlier crushed bitter-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their campaign opener on Saturrday.
Rediff.com brings a list of sportsmen who got hitched this year...
Asian Games gold medallist Pakistan and South Korea were on Friday handed wildcard entries for next year's Champions Trophy hockey tournament, scheduled to be held in India.
Drag-flickers Rupinderpal Singh and V R Raghunath scored hat-tricks as India extended their winning run in the Asia Cup hockey tournament, trouncing Bangladesh 9-1 in their concluding Pool B match at the Sultan Azlan Shah stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
And no, the commercial sporting leagues didn't cause the drought, says Shekhar Gupta.
The Indian team are in Pool B along with Pakistan, Malaysia, Wales, England, and will begin their campaign on April 7 against Pakistan.
The teams and players coming to India for any sporting event in the future will be subjected to proper scrutiny, the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday as Hockey India League's Pakistani signings headed home due to simmering tension on the Indo-Pak border.
By his own admission, Rupinder Pal Singh is witnessing a "dream run" at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy but the ace India drag-flicker said he was just doing his duty as his role in the team is to score goals from penalty corners.
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Malaysians handed India a heartbreaking 6-7 loss in sudden death after an exhausting shoot-off.
In the medal standings, India were placed eighth with a compilation of seven gold, five silver and 17 bronze.
Vinesh Phogat's gold medal was India's first since women's wrestling was introduced at the Asian Games in 2002.
'No country can go from zero to hero at the Olympics.' 'A hundred Indians now feature in the world's top 25 and that's progress,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The IHF announced the five teams to feature in the Premier Hockey League, Dhanraj Pillay to play for Maratha Warriors.
The second edition of the League, to be played in January in Chandigarh, will see several innovations in the rules.
Keen to start their Rio Olympic Games campaign on a winning note, Indian hockey men's captain PR Sreejesh said that his team would not be taking unpredictable Ireland lightly when they face-off on Saturday.
A record-smashing Mirabai Chanu and a perseverant P Gururaja claimed gold and silver respectively as weightlifters lived up to to the pre-event hype and delivered opening day medals for India at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Thursday.
The German will return to Delhi today to prepare the team for the four-Test series in Pakistan.
