India squandered a one-goal lead and went down 1-3 to Pakistan in the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
The triumph also took Germany to the top of FIH world rankings from the pre-tournament fourth place.
Rising to the occasion, the Indian hockey team thrashed hosts Indonesia 16-0 to qualify for the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup in Jakarta on Thursday on Thursday.
India, who have already sealed a semi-final berth, ended the round-robin stage of the five-nation tournament at the top of the standings with 10 points, ahead of Korea (6), Japan (5), Pakistan (2) and hosts Bangladesh (0).
Pakistan slumped to their worst defeat in the tournament when a lowly South Africa stunned the Asian giants 4-3 in a must-win Pool B match to shatter their semifinal dreams at the hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Saturday.
India beat Pakistan 3-1 and collected their first points in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Tuesday. The former champions, who had to win to stay in the race for a berth in the final after losing to Australia and South Korea earlier, led 2-1 at the breather.
India went on a scoring spree in the second half to thrash arch-rivals Pakistan 5-1 in the Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia on Tuesday. Locked 1-1 at the breather, the Indians came out a transformed side after the change of ends and scored four more goals.
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.
The simmering tension on the India-Pakistan border spilled over to the sporting arena on Tuesday, with a rattled Hockey India deciding to send back all the nine Pakistani players taking part in its high-profile league following protests over the killing of Indian soldiers.
Indian hockey wrote a historic chapter exactly 46 years ago on this day in Kuala Lumpur when the country lifted its only World Cup title, but the architects of that golden achievement rued the fact that countrymen has gradually forgotten their feat.
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.
Penalty-corner ace Sohail Abbas, goalkeeper Ahmad Alam, forwards Shabbir Hussain and Kashif Jawad have been left out of the 16-member squad for the Afro Asian Games.
India, on the other hand, finished runners-up twice in 2010 and 2014 editions.
The match remained scoreless until the fourth quarter when Jugraj Singh found the back of the net, securing a dramatic 1-0 win for India.
Germany outclassed last edition silver medallist Netherlands
India beat Pakistan in a thrilling final via the tie-breaker to win the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Ordos, China, on Sunday. The match ended in a stalemate after 70 minutes' full-time and even 15 minutes' extra-time failed to break the deadlock.
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.
Neeraj Chopra hoped to compete with other prominent international names in India
India produced an improved show after their opening match loss to New Zealand in a thrilling 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Pakistan, in the Lanco International Super Series Hockey 9s in Perth on Friday.
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.
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.
Archrivals India and Pakistan have been clubbed in the same pool in the 2010 hockey World Cup, which begins in Delhi on February 28. Apart from 1975 champions India and four-time winners Pakistan, Pool B also has Australia, Spain, England and South Africa. Defending champions Germany is the top seed in Pool A, which also has the Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina.
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.
We have won this cup thrice in a row and the team is capable of winning it this time, he said.
The Pakistani hockey team booked a place at next year's World Cup in India by winning a qualifying tournament in France at the weekend.
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.
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Friday said the training of its team for the Junior World Cup in the Indian city of Lucknow is in full swing, even as it awaited clearance from the government. Shahbaz Ahmed, Secretary of the PHF, said an unnecessary controversy had been created in the media whether Pakistan would participate in the Junior World Cup, to be played December 8-18 in India.
The two-time Olympian (2012 and 2016), from Somwarpet in Coorg, was a key player in the Indian forward line for over a decade with fine performances.
India had topped the five-team league standings with three wins and one draw
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
Already through to the final, defending champions India suffered a shock 3-5 defeat at the hands of Malaysia in their last and inconsequential league match of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Doha.
They beat Japan 7-1 for their third straight victory in the tournament.
'If he is being spoken in the same breath as Dhyan Chand, then you can image how good he was.'
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
The inexperienced Indian team meet Pakistan in the last match of the four-Test series on Friday.
Pakistan suffered their second successive defeat in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, losing 2-3 to New Zealand, while Malaysia registered back-to-back victories in the five-nation event, beating Egypt 4-1 in the second match of the day.
Olympic bronze medallist Germany defeated Malaysia 5-3 in a keenly-contested match
The Pakistan Hockey Federation dropped Mohammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain for failing to report for a preparatory camp.
Eight senior Pakistani players have been summoned by the Pakistan Hockey Federation for a disciplinary hearing on May 7 for participating in the unsanctioned World Series Hockey in India.
A historic bronze-winning show by the men's team and an outstanding fourth place finish for the women's team infused fresh life into the game which was in danger of slipping into oblivion.
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