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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Senior players like Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh will give the tournament a miss.
India held on to sixth place in the medals tally
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
SV Sunil's oodles of experience came in handy as his 59th minute strike enabled India to pip a gritty Wales 4-3 in their second Pool B encounter at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast.
'The incidents have remained confined to the paramilitary forces on both sides with both the armies scrupulously avoiding getting involved. While this incident has been going on, the LOC has been reasonably quiet. Cross border firing achieves no tactical or strategic aims and is more a symptom of hostility. Unfortunately, India has to learn to live with this. Like Israel, we must construct shelters for the border populations and be ready to retaliate in kind,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India's chances after this defeat will be badly dented as even a big win against Indonesia in the last game might not be enough for qualification to
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.
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.
'Whatever happened at the Asian Games, that's a big learning curve for the players, coach and the staff.'
A combined India-Pakistan team will take on World XI for a charity match
'I am not envious of those who are making millions. It's their era and I had my era.'
Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay today said that the legendary Dhyan Chand should be bestowed with the Bharat Ratna as soon as possible.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Holland and New Zealand played out a goalless draw to join India and Australia in the semi-finals of the hockey tournament
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.
- 'I hope our training on creating early pressure will be evident when we go into the competition'
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.
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.
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's top-five finish not a given this time
India, eying their maiden Champions Trophy title, had earlier crushed bitter-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their campaign opener on Saturrday.
India will begin their campaign in the 2004 tournament with a match against Germany.
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.
The team management in London was told that Sardar should come to Leeds for questioning by the Yorkshire police.
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.
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.
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.
Following is the schedule of the Indian contingent on the 14th day of the Asian Games in Jakarta, on Saturday.
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.
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.
