Indian Hockey had a disastrous FIH(Federation of International Hockey) Pro League where both Men and Women struggled big time to reclaim their glory.
The disappointment looms further as Men’s Hockey team who have been member of two Olympics where they have won bronze medal respectively in 2020 and 2024 didn’t have solution to all possible threats imposed by Opponents.
Indian Men’s Hockey Team have lost 7 out of 8 matches they played in the tour, and they struggled against some of the top teams including the likes of Argentina, Australia, Belgium and Netherlands.
This was biggest reality check which was needed especially as they were looking to secure berth in World Cups berth.
They narrowly missed wooden spoon which they could have capitalized by winning more games and eventually not playing well meant that they finished behind Ireland.
This experience must have been wake up call for Indian Hockey team however whether its sports or general, they still have an outside chance to bounce back in Asia Cup which is stated to be scheduled later next month in Rajgir Bihar.
The competition would certainly offer Indian team a great chance to qualify for World Cup which is scheduled in Netherlands and Belgium in August next year.
The Preparations are already underway, with a training camp which is set to begin on Monday next week, where squad of 24 players will be taken to Australia for two week camp which will also include Friendly matches, and 22 players would be selected post the way camp goes on and the performances would be taken into consideration.
“The Asia Cup is a priority for the year. We want to remain No 1 in Asia, and we know many strong reasons will be vying for victory to secure direct qualification. We must respect all our opponents but we are focused on improving from our performances in the Pro League and returning to winning form” said India’s National Men’s Head Coach Craig Fulton during a virtual Press Conference interactions held on Tuesday.
India is currently ranked Number 8th team in the world, and they are certainly he is one of the highest ranked team in Asia will enter the tournament as favorites.
However they might face challenges from teams like Pakistan ( World Ranking 15) and Malaysia( World Ranking 12) and South Korea(World Ranking 13) could give home team serious threat.
Indian Hockey team has seriously undergone redemption after 1980 for straight 40 years, but ultimately they went on to win Bronze Medal in Tokyo Olympics and they capitalize it perfectly in Paris 2024 Olympics where they successfully went on to win Bronze medal again.
There is tremendous change, in Men’s and Women’s Team, and credit should be given to all the stakeholders who have worked hard behind the scenes to make this entity extremely popular.
The Hockey India Federation also deserve appreciation for bringing robust the change in the ecosystem, to make it even more worthy.
The Indian Men’s Hockey team have all the ingredients in their arsenal, in order to pose tough fight to rest of the teams.
Indian Hockey team have done well but they need to up their psychological game along with their skills in order to emerge winner against some of the top class teams in the world.
The Indian Hockey team also need to develop other players who could possibly take penalty corners, apart from Harmanpreet Singh and several teams you see pressure oozes on the former to deliver and score goals if that backup players could be developed further India could channelized and deliver big time in attacking and defensive instinct.
India would certainly expected to do well in Asia Cup that would give them huge confidence to carry momentum forward in Upcoming Competitions.
