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Indian Hockey Team
Defending champions India survived a scare before Abhishek struck with just 45 seconds remaining to snatch a dramatic 4-3 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan and seal a place in the Asian Games hockey final here on Thursday. Harmanpreet converted two perfectly executed penalty corners in the 5th and 13th minutes, while Sukhjeet Singh scored a field goal in the 23rd minute. Abhishek scored the winning goal for India from a field play in the final minute of the game. Pakistan's goals were scored by Abu Mahmood (30th minute), Hannan Shahid (45th) and Waheed Rana (49th). The defending champions looked set for a comfortable semifinal win after captain Harmanpreet's brace and Sukhjeet Singh's field strike put them firmly in control. But a stunning second-half collapse allowed Pakistan to claw their way back as they scored three goals and push India to the brink of an embarrassing defeat before Abhishek's late strike rescued the contest. India, who had dominated the opening half, inexplica
Sixty years after India scripted hockey history at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, Harbinder Singh still gets goosebumps when he hears the song that became the team's companion on its journey to gold. "Whenever we went to a match, Shankar Laxman (India goalkeeper at that time) would play 'Watan ki raah mein watan ke naujawan shaheed ho' in the team bus, and all the players would sing along. This would automatically motivate us," the 83-year-old three-time Olympic medallist told PTI in an exclusive interview. "Even today, when I hear this song, I get goosebumps," he added. It also became a galvanising force before their Asian Games final against arch foes Pakistan, a match that India won to bring home their first ever gold at the continental showpiece. The song and the final remain etched in the memory of the legendary centre-forward, who was also a part of India's 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold-winning team. "We had won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics just two years earlier, and s
The Indian hockey teams will revert to their traditional blue jerseys for the upcoming Asian Games following widespread backlash over a controversial shift to a saffron coloured kit. Hockey India (HI) faced intense criticism earlier after switching its long-standing colour to saffron, which the teams sported during the FIH World Cups in the Netherlands and Belgium. The decision triggered internal discord when HI president Dilip Tirkey publicly questioned the move, stating it was implemented without the knowledge or approval of the federation's elected leadership and Executive Board. "IOA asked us about our preference of colour for kit, we gave blue as primary and saffron as the second one. As I had already said before the World Cup that the colour change is not permanent," Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said on the sidelines of the Asian Games contingent send-off here on Tuesday. Another top Hockey India official added, "The kits for Asian Games, Olympics and CWG are designed
Legendary goalkeeper and two-time Olympic bronze medallist PR Sreejesh on Monday voiced his frustration over India's underwhelming showing at the FIH World Cup, saying there must be "accountability" and that the global event cannot be treated as a "dress rehearsal." The Indian men's team lost 3-5 to Argentina in Amstelveen on Monday, extinguishing their wafer-thin hopes of reaching the semifinals. The women's team, meanwhile, succumbed to the pressure of a must-win game and were knocked out of semifinal contention after being held to a goalless draw by Australia on Saturday. A member of India's bronze medal-winning teams at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics, Sreejesh said someone needs to ask the "difficult" and "uncomfortable" questions over the lacklustre performances. "...Here's the uncomfortable question: Are we building a team to PLAY good hockey, or a team capable of WINNING against the best in the world?" Sreejesh, India's most successful hockey goalkeeper, wrote on ...
Indian men's hockey team head coach Craig Fulton admitted his team's slow start and inability to handle the pressure of a must-win game proved costly as they missed out on a place in the World Cup semifinals here on Monday. "It was a difficult day today. We didn't want to end like that. We started poorly, but the second quarter was much better. The third quarter wasn't good, but then we scored three goals in the last quarter and could have scored the fourth one too from a corner," Fulton told PTI after the 3-5 loss to Argentina. "Overall, it was a really strange game. We played at a high level in tournament, but in the big games we have to do better," he added. He also said the permutations surrounding India's qualification for the semifinals had affected the team's performance. "There were a lot of permutations going into this game that got the better of us. In the last 10 minutes, we played better hockey. That was a little too late," he said. Forward Sukhjeet Singh, who scored .
The Indian men's hockey team lost 3-5 to Argentina in a second round pool match to crash out of the semifinal race of the FIH World Cup here on Monday. Needing to win the match by at least a two-goal margin to stay in the hunt, India never looked in the game. Tomas Domene (33rd, 45th minutes) and Joaquin Toscani (1st, 53rd) scored a brace each for Argentina, while the other goal was scored by Nicolas della Torre in the sixth minute. India's two goals were scored from field efforts by Sukhjeet Singh in the 34th minute and 58th minutes. As a consolation, India got a penalty stroke 36 minutes from the final hooter and Hardik Singh converted to reduce the margin of victory.