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.
'Whatever happened at the Asian Games, that's a big learning curve for the players, coach and the staff.'
Malaysia beat Japan 5-3 in the third place play-off to win their maiden medal at the Asia Cup.
Eleven Pakistani players, including skipper Rehan Butt, will feature in the third edition of the Premier Hockey League.
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.
A combined India-Pakistan team will take on World XI for a charity match
India's top-five finish not a given this time
Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay today said that the legendary Dhyan Chand should be bestowed with the Bharat Ratna as soon as possible.
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.
It's only when Gold moves away from Akshay Kumar's blundering Bangla and hockey humbug to become a story of grace among go-getters that it comes close to becoming the movie it should have been, says Sukanya Verma.
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.
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.
Australia trounced England 4-0 and claimed a third successive Champions Trophy, 11th in all, in a rain-delayed match in Moenchengladbach (Germany), on Sunday. England, who had never finished better than fifth, were runners-up while the Netherlands placed third after beating Germany 4-1. Spain beat New Zealand 3-1 to finish fifth.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
In a tit-for-tat response, Sports Ministry has virtually prompted the Government to pull out from upcoming sporting events in India, who decided against touring Pakistan for a cricket series citing a diplomatic stand-off following the recent Mumbai terror attacks.
Holland and New Zealand played out a goalless draw to join India and Australia in the semi-finals of the hockey tournament
- 'I hope our training on creating early pressure will be evident when we go into the competition'
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will lead an 18-member Indian men's hockey team in the fourth Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) to be held in Kuantan, Malaysia from October 20 to 30. With an aim to form a group of leaders, Hockey India selectors have named 24-year-old midfielder Manpreet Singh as the vice-captain of the side for this tournament in place of SV Sunil.
India, eying their maiden Champions Trophy title, had earlier crushed bitter-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their campaign opener on Saturrday.
India's stunning victory over Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey final was marred by the constant hollering of the victorious players with abusive words by Pakistan head coach.
The experienced Alegre brothers -- Ramon and David -- are among the leading Spanish hockey players who have signed up to be a part of the Hockey India League Players' Auction to be held next month.
India will begin their campaign in the 2004 tournament with a match against Germany.
Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as defending champions India defeated South Korea 4-1 in their final round robin match to keep a clean slate and storm into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy.
The team management in London was told that Sardar should come to Leeds for questioning by the Yorkshire police.
Hockey India's decision to send back Pakistani players due to cross-border conflict has been termed as "unfortunate" by Uttar Pradesh Wizards' Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans, who feels the Hockey India League will certainly lose its sheen with the departure of the visitors.
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.
Pakistan's national hockey federation (PHF) has expressed confidence that it's players will stay away from the unsanctioned World Hockey Series in India in the wake of the organiser's claim that all those who have signed for the multi-million event will certainly play.
Following is the schedule of the Indian contingent on the 14th day of the Asian Games in Jakarta, on Saturday.
The Indian men's hockey team put up a clinical performance against Japan, demolishing the Asiad gold-medallists 9-0 for its third win in as many matches at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat.
The Malaysians handed India a heartbreaking 6-7 loss in sudden death after an exhausting shoot-off.
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.
Diljit Dosanjh's striking self-possession, like the champion he's portraying, doesn't let it come in the way of a performance that screams g-o-a-l, feels Sukanya Verma.
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.
Check out India's schedule on Day 6 of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the sixth day of the Asian Games.
The ICC's decision to award six points to Pakistan after the Indian women's team was deemed to have forfeited each of the three matches of the ICC Women's Championship was a result of non-communication from the BCCI about the team's participation. A well-informed source told PTI that there were multiple e-mail communication from ICC, but there was no response to any of the e-mails to provide reasons for not playing the series against Pakistan, which was scheduled to be held between 1 August and 31 October.
London Olympics bronze medallist M C Mary Kom was on Monday voted the 'Most Valuable Player' of India's campaign at the Incheon Asian Games, at a felicitation for the medal winners by the contingent sponsors, Samsung India.
This past week, the Indian hockey team recorded a rare Test series win against world champions Australia. It was a significant achievement by the men in blue - hockey, not cricket - as it was for the first time in four years that India had beaten Australia.
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.
Manpreet Singh will lead an 18-member Indian junior men's hockey team in the second Sultan of Johar Cup, in Malaysia, from November 11 to 18. Kothajit Singh is vice-captain of the side. India's opening match is against Australia on November 11.
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