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.
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.
Defending champions Orissa Steelers found their wonted form and registered an exciting 4-2 win over Maratha Warriors to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final berth in the Premier Hockey League at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in Chandigarh on Saturday night.
Indian men's hockey team captain Sardar Singh and former skipper of the national women's side Saba Anjum were conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award by President Pranab Mukherjee at a glittering ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The IHF announced the five teams to feature in the Premier Hockey League, Dhanraj Pillay to play for Maratha Warriors.
Indian women's team captain Ritu Rani and senior's men's team drag-flicker V R Raghunath were on Wednesday recommended by Hockey India for the Arjuna Award.
Mar del Plata in Argentina will host the women's tournament in 2007.
Top-ranked India will take on South Korea in the semi-finals of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy after the Koreans conceded a late equaliser to Malaysia and finished fourth in the round-robin league standings in Kuantan, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Images from Day 7 of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Two members of the small Pakistani contingent participating at the Rio Olympics have the country's military to thank for much of their training.
In the other matches of the day, Olympic champions Australia began their quest in style, scoring an authoritative 4-1 win over former winners Germany while Spain beat India 2-1.
Sindh Qalandars overpowered Northern Cavaliers 4-3 to win Pakistan's inaugural Super Hockey League
The Indian ace stole the limelight as Capital Dynamos beat Shan-e-Punjab 7-4 in Pakistan's Super Hockey League.
Title favourites Australia registered the biggest win in the history of the hockey World Cup, inflicting a humiliating 12-0 defeat on South Africa in a Pool B match.
India coach Jose Brasa hailed his men after they beat Pakistan 4-1 in their opening match of the men's hockey World Cup, in Delhi on Sunday, saying they 'played with brain and not emotions'.
Indian Light Blues edged past Youngsters' Hockey Club of Pakistan 4-3, while India under-18 beat Telekom Malaysia 2-1 in the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament.
The German will return to Delhi today to prepare the team for the four-Test series in Pakistan.
World champions Australia were made to sweat before beating Pakistan 1-0 and sealing a place in the semi-finals of the men's hockey tournament at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
The drag flick ace scored four times from penalty-corners as Pakistan won 5-3 in the Olympic hockey qualifer in Madrid.
Five-time title winners, India will open their campaign at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament against New Zealand scheduled to be held at Ipoh, Malaysia on May 24.
India Light Blues got the better of India Dark Blues, while India Juniors beat India under-18 in the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament.
Blaming India for their pull out from the Asian Squash Championships, Pakistan have lodged a complaint with the World and Asian squash bodies, alleging that the hosts deliberately delayed visas to their team.
India went down fighting 1-3 to Australia via the penalty shoot-out in the final of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Breda, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
Out of the podium race in the Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup, India have a chance to redeem some pride with a win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the 9-10th place classification match but national coach Baljit Singh Saini refused to treat the high-profile fixture as a "special" encounter.
Australian Terry Walsh, who resigned as Indian men's hockey team chief coach because of a "pay dispute", hinted that he was ready to reconsider his decision if he was given a new contract on his terms and conditions by the Sports Authority of India.
Also seen in action for India will be the shuttlers, boxers, the women's hockey team and the table tennis players among others.
India squandered a three-goal lead and were held 3-3 by arch-rivals Pakistan in an ill-tempered match, in the double leg tri-nation hockey tournament in Busselton, Australia, on Friday.
Bollywood celebrities have backed the Indian Cricket Team after they lost the final of 2017 ICC Champions Trophy against Pakistan.
Pakistan, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and defending champions Argentina will battle for top honours from July 22-30.
Left with little option after the mass retirement of players and the sacking of the selection panel following it's dismal showing in the hockey World Cup, Pakistan might skip the inaugural AHF Champions Trophy and Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Malaysia later this year.
Delhi Waveriders started their campaign on a winning note, defeating Jaypee Punjab Warriors 2-1 in the opening match of the inaugural Hockey India league, at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium, in Delhi, on Monday.
Somdev Devvarman won India a gold medal in tennis after beating Australia's Greg Jones 6-4, 6-2 in the men's singles final at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
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.
After India humbled Scotland by a 4-0 margin, the hockey team's chief coach Jose Brasa said ON Saturday that his team has a psychological advantage over arch-rivals Pakistan for the do-or-die encounter in the Commonwealth Games event.
Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Viren Rasquinha and Prabhjot Singh were dropped from the Indian squad for the upcoming Pakistan series and Commonwealth Games.
Amit Panghal displayed soldier's grit to stun the reigning Olympic champion for India's only boxing gold while two 50-plus bridge players proved that age is just a number with top finishes as the country achieved its best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Saturday. India equalled its best gold medal haul by touching 15, something that last happened back in 1951, as the overall tally surpassed the 65 in Guangzhou by three this time.
England pulled off a stunning upset by hammering Olympic champions Germany 4-1 in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne on Sunday, in an encounter that featured two self-goals.
The refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera is now renamed Narendra Modi Stadium.
