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Indian Hockey Team
The Indian senior women's hockey team will tour Argentina for a four-match series, set to be held at the CeNARD in Buenos Aires from April 13 to 17. Indian team will play its matches on April 13, 14, 16, and 17 at Argentina's National Centre of High Performance Athletics (also known as CeNARD). India and Argentina have enjoyed competitive encounters in recent years, including a thrilling 2-2 draw decided by shootout in the FIH Pro League 202425 last June. This upcoming tour will offer valuable match practice against quality international opposition ahead of the FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium and Netherlands and the Asian Games later this year. The series will serve as important preparation for India, offering four high-tempo matches, while also giving the team an opportunity to explore different combinations and tactics. Speaking on the tour, Indian women's hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said, "We are travelling to Argentina with a squad of 24 players, and that is a very
A total of 29 teams will compete across three divisions when the 16th Hockey India Sub Junior Women's National Championship begins here with five matches on Wednesday. The tournament will run till April 12 and the participating teams will compete across Division 'A', Division 'B', and Division 'C', in a promotion and relegation format introduced last year. While Division 'A' teams will vie for the championship title, the top two teams from Divisions 'B' and 'C' will earn promotion. The bottom two teams in Divisions 'A' and 'B' will face relegation for the next edition. Division 'A' features 12 teams divided into four pools, with the knockout stages scheduled from April 9, culminating in the Final on April 12. The host side Hockey Jharkhand headlines Pool A and will be joined by Bihar (BSSA) and Maharashtra. Pool B includes Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh. In Pool C, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Manipur will compete, while Pool D comprises Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, and ...
Building combinations, improving fitness levels, and sharpening tactical aspects will be the key focus areas when the tried-and-tested group of 31 probables assemble for the senior women's national hockey camp from April 1 to prepare for the World Cup later this year. The camp will be conducted at the Sports Authority of India's National Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The team is currently basking in the glory of a strong performance at the recently-concluded FIH World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, where it secured a silver medal to qualify for the World Cup in Belgium and Netherlands in August. The camp comes at a crucial juncture as India are also set to compete in the Nations Cup in June, followed by the World Cup and the Asian Games scheduled from September 19 to October 4 in Japan. The goalkeeping unit includes Savita Punia, returning after missing the FIH World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, alongside Madhuri Kindo, Bansari Solanki, and Bichu Devi Kharibam, the recent Hockey
Veteran midfielder Manpreet Singh on Friday rubbished rumours of a fall-out with Hockey India supremo Dilip Tirkey, clarifying that the former India skipper has in fact encouraged him to surpass his record of being the most-capped player for the senior national team. Tirkey currently holds the record of making 412 international appearances, the most by an Indian men's hockey international and Manpreet, at 411, is just two matches shy of breaking his long-standing record. While there were rumours that all was not well between Manpreet and Tirkey after the veteran midfielder was dropped from the list of core probables for the FIH Pro League earlier this year, the duo came out in public to clear the misunderstanding. Manpreet on Friday expressed his desire to continue playing at least till the Asian Games and then will take a call on his future depending upon his fitness. "At present my focus is on the Asian Games and I will continue to play till the Asian Games as I am fit and traini
India's two-time Olympic medallist Gurjant Singh on Friday retired from international hockey after an illustrious career, saying it's the appropriate time to quit after losing his place in the national team due to a back injury last year. Gurjant represented India in 130 matches at the senior level and also helped the team win a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games in China. The 31-year-old forward from Khailara village in Amritsar was a member of the Indian team that won back-to-back bronze medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. He announced his retirement during the eighth Hockey India Annual Awards ceremony here on Friday. "Since June Pro League last year I was forced to sit out of the senior team due to a back injury. I was out of hockey for nearly 7-8 months," Gurjant told PTI. "After that, I played Hockey India League and domestic hockey but never could return back into the side. So I felt it is the appropriate time to quit and give the juniors a chance." He, however, will
India women's hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne is banking on a mix of overseas tours, competitive exposure and national camps to ready the side for the World Cup and Asian games this year. The World Cup is scheduled to be held in Belgium and Netherlands in August, while the Asian Games will take place in Japan in September. The Indian women's team will compete in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup in Auckland from June 15 to 21. They are also scheduled to tour the United States and Argentina, and play matches against Germany and the Netherlands. "We have a tour to USA and Argentina, the Nations Cup in New Zealand, and practice matches in Germany. We will also play some matches in the Netherlands," Marijne said in media release. "These scheduled games combined with our camps set us up for a very good mix of matches and training to be ready for the World Cup and Asian Games." India have been placed in Pool D alongside England, China and South Africa. China are the top-ranked side in
The Indian men's team has been drawn alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, strong contenders England and Wales in the group stage of the FIH Hockey World Cup to be co-hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium later this year. During the draw ceremony held here on Tuesday at the iconic Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam, the Indian women's team was placed alongside China, England and South Africa in the prestigious tournament, scheduled to be held from August 15 to 30. Both the Indian men's and women's teams, placed in Pool D in their respective categories, will play their matches in the Netherlands, according to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which added that the full match schedule will be announced on Wednesday. Germany, the reigning men's champions who clinched their third World Cup title in 2023 in Bhubaneswar by defeating Belgium, have been placed in Pool B alongside Belgium, France and Malaysia. "The draw was done by hockey legends Naomie van As, Barbara Neelen and Teun de Nooije
Mid-fielder Hardik Singh was on Tuesday named captain of the embattled Indian men's hockey team for its FIH Pro League matches in Hobart from February 20 to 25 after regular skipper Harmanpreet Singh was left out "due to personal reasons." The upcoming leg of the tournament will feature India alongside Spain and hosts Australia at the Tasmania Hockey Centre in Hobart. The side lost all its four matches in the just-concluded Rourkela leg, which included a shocking 0-8 drubbing at the hands of Argentina. "After a disappointing four matches in Rourkela, where the results didn't go our way, we've learned some good lessons and made some notable improvements," India coach Craig Fulton said. New captain Hardik is a two-time Olympic bronze-medallist. The team will also feature youngsters including Amandeep Lakra and Manmeet Singh, who made their debut appearances for the senior team during the Rourkela leg. "Harmanpreet Singh will not be part of the squad due to personal reasons," Hockey
Inconsistencies continued to plague India as they slumped to a 0-8 defeat against Argentina, with Tomas Domene netting four goals in the Rourkela leg of the FIH Men's Pro League here on Thursday. Domene (15', 20', 26', 60') led the charge with his multiple strikes, while Tomas Ruiz (14'), Lucio Mendez (22'), Ignacio Ibarra (25') and Nicolas Della Torre (30') also found the net as the visitors completely overpowered a lacklustre Indian side at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. India started on the front foot, attempting to make early inroads, but after a brief spell of dominance, they squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead towards the closing stages of the first quarter when they were awarded a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet Singh was denied from the spot by the Argentine goalkeeper. Argentina scored almost instantly with Ruiz (14') powering his tomahawk into the back of the net to give his side the lead. The visitors quickly doubled their advantage as Domene (15') managed to .
India let in two goals in the final quarter to suffer a 1-3 defeat to Belgium in their Rourkela leg of the FIH Men's Pro League 202526 match here on Wednesday. Nelson Onana (23rd minute), Thomas Crols (53rd) and Arno Van Dessel (57th) scored for Belgium while Shilanand Lakra (29th) was the goal-scorer for India. The two sides were locked 1-1 at the half time as well as at the end of the third quarter, before Belgium pumped in two goals in the final 15 minutes. It was an extremely competitive first quarter with both sides hardly making any mistakes at the back. Belgium earned an early penalty corner in the 4th minute. However, Alexander Hendrickx's drag-flick was stopped heroically by India's first rusher Vivek Sagar Prasad. Four minutes later, India too got their first penalty corner but the home side couldn't capitalise on the occasion. While Belgium were having more possession, India did well to hold their ground and launch quick counter-attacks in search of goal-scoring ...