The rising stars of Indian hockey will be under immense pressure but they would aim to rise above it and make a positive start in the Junior Men's World Cup when they take on a formidable Netherlands in their opening tie, in New Delhi on Friday.
Since hockey's introduction at Commonwealth Games 24 years ago, World No.1 Australia have been the most dominant force, having won all six gold medals till date.
'The players and the team management has let the entire nation down'
Australia's quest for a record hat-trick of titles started with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ireland in the opening Pool D match of the men's hockey World Cup, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
New Zealand pulled off the biggest surprise of the ongoing World League Semifinals with a 2-0 win over World Cup silver medalists Australia in the women's preliminary league in Antwerp.
India have been the FIH's top market in the last decade or so in terms of sponsorships and monetary benefits, and the world body official stressed that the country will continue to hold its significance despite the sport spreading its wings to other parts of the world.
'Graham Reid's resignation is his personal decision but at the end of the day somebody has to take the blame for this awful show.'
Under Manpreet's captaincy, the Indian team has achieved important milestones,
The Pakistan Hockey Federation on Wednesday recalled senior players Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Zeeshan Ashraf, who had announced their retirement after the team finished bottom of the heap in the World Cup in India. The PHF also recalled Waseem Ahmed and Salman Akbar for a national camp, from June 20, in Karachi, to prepare for a tour of Europe ahead of the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
A heart-wrenching defeat in the semi-finals notwithstanding, a demoralised Indian men's hockey team will have to regroup quickly and aim for a second consecutive podium finish at the Olympics when it takes on Spain in the bronze medal play-off in Paris on Thursday.
World champions Australia warded off a spirited challenge from South Korea to carve a 4-2 victory and move to the top of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament standings, on Wednesday.
The Indian women team's superb performance at the Asia Cup, particularly their attacking style, has come in for praise from the continent's hockey fraternity who on Saturday said the country deserves to be in next year's World Cup.
For Indian hockey, 2016 was a year in which much was promised and achieved as well. It was also a year where India made significant and visible advancements but deep down somewhere the pain of missing out on an Olympic medal will remain for four more years.
In a startling revelation, Pakistan hockey team's sacked manager Asif Bajwa has claimed that the team deliberately lost its World Cup qualifying league match against Poland to avoid hosts France in the final last year.
India midfielder Manpreet Singh will take over the captaincy from PR Sreejesh in the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat next month, marking the hockey team's first major tournament after the retirement of Sardar Singh.
Terry Walsh, an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master Coach, has 175 international caps and represented Australia in four World Cup campaigns and three Olympic Games including a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Title hopes already shattered, defending champions India even failed to finish on the podium as they lost 1-3 to France in the bronze-medal play-off match of the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
Hockey India Secretary General Narinder Batra on Wednesday took moral 'responsibility' for the country's early ouster from the Hero FIH Junior Men's World Cup and apologised to the fans for letting them down.
Former India captain Jude Felix has been appointed coach of the senior men's hockey team. The Olympian will work under chief coach Terry Walsh, Hockey India said on Wednesday.
The striking Indian hockey players expressed willingness to play the upcoming World Cup with their own money if need be after their demands for settlement of long-pending dues were rejected by Hockey India officials on Tuesday. 'We are willing to play the World Cup with our money. Since they [Hockey India] are saying they don't have the money we are ready to chip in from our own pockets,' declared captain Rajpal Singh on Tuesday.
"We are very disappointed at the way the Azlan Shah Cup organisers have dropped us from the tournament and included England in our place," PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmad said on Thursday.
WC star Azad beats state BJP heavyweight Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency
The national federations had planned to hold the eight-match Test series on a home-and-away basis during March and April.
Defending champions India hammered the Netherlands 4-1 to top Pool D in the Junior World Cup hockey tournament.
The disgruntled national hockey players on Monday continued their indefinite boycott of the World Cup preparatory camp to protest the non-payment of their dues and incentives.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also wished the legend a speedy recovery.
Yuvraj, 30, was part of the Indian team that played in the 2014 World Cup at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Eight-time Olympic champions India find itself in a lowly ninth position among men's teams in the recently-released FIH World Hockey Rankings.
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan welcomed the Indian Hockey team on his quiz show titled 'Kaun Banega Crorepati.
The 11th place finish at the World Cup saw India drop a notch to seventh in the rankings, headed by World champions Germany.
The Asian Games normally serves as the Olympic qualifiers but there was some confusion after the Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed from last year to this year due to the COVID-19 situation in China.
Sports Ministry confirms Satwik, Chirag for Khel Ratna, Shami and 25 others for Arjuna award
After New Zealand and Spain played out a 2-2 draw earlier in the day, World No. 20, the lowest ranked side in the competition, France needed an outright win to qualify for the cross-overs and they came out with intent to achieve the goal.
'I spoke to Paddy, and I made some changes.' 'After that, I slept well in the last two days -- at least eight hours each day.' 'So, I was fresh in the games. Sleep is very important.'
Despite taking a two-goal lead, India persisted with their aggressive style, maintaining pressure on Canada. However, they were unable to find more goals in the opening quarter as it ended 2-0 in their favour.
Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr on Tuesday suffered a cardiac arrest and his condition remains critical, his grandson Kabir said in a medical update. The 96-year-old, a triple Olympic gold medallist, was hospitalised in Mohali on May 8.
'I don't know how long cinema will survive.'
The two sides have shared the spoils since 2013. India and Netherlands have faced each other nine times since 2013, winning four apiece while one game finished in a draw.
The T20 World Cup in the US is a 'landmark event' and there is huge excitement among the diaspora as well as across America, said Consul General of India in New York Binaya Srikanta Pradhan.
