Indian Hockey Team Captain Harmanpreet Singh (Twitter)
Indian men’s hockey climbed to the fourth spot in the latest FIH World Rankings after the team’s stupendous performance at the Birsa Munda International Stadium in Rourkela where they won four consecutive matches against reigning world champions Germany and resolute Australia.
Four impressive consecutive wins in Hockey Pro League 2022-2023 domestic games have helped Indian men’s hockey jump to the fourth spot in the latest FIH World Rankings, but for skipper Harmanpreet Singh, it doesn’t matter much for his team as Players prefer to grab their chances and put pressure on the opposition rather than thinking about rankings.
After a hat-trick of wins, the Indian team remained unbeaten as they put up a dominating performance against Australia in the last home game in the FIH Hockey Pro League to register a 2-2 (4-3 SO) win on Wednesday night.
Read this also Women’s World Boxing Championships: Nikhat Zareen, Sakshi enter second round
Earlier, India defeated defending world champions Germany 3-2 and 6-3 in their last match and then defeated Australia 5-4.
India’s stupendous achievement in Rourkela has propelled them to the top of the pool in the FIH Hockey Pro League. The team is now on top with 19 points from eight matches and ahead of Spain, who have 17 points from eight matches, followed by Argentina, who are third with 13 points from 12 matches. Defending world champions Germany have been pushed to number 4 in the pool with 11 points after 8 matches.
This result has also helped India climb up the FIH World Rankings, beating teams ranked above them. Before this year’s Pro League outing, India were ranked No. 6 when they started their campaign at home, while Germany were No. 1 and Australia No. 4. The Indian side is now ranked fourth in the world behind reigning world champions Germany, who have moved up to third in the recently updated FIH World Rankings.
“I think these things (world ranking) don’t matter much to us. We don’t keep that in mind when we play. Our only priority was to capitalize on our chances and keep the pressure on the opponent. Some youngsters who Given the opportunity to showcase his talent, he too rose to the occasion and did extremely well for himself as well as the team.” With 11 goals in 2023, Alexander Hendrickx of Belgium is ahead with six goals.
The legendary player also said that the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, which has the largest seating capacity in the world, is actually ‘lucky’ for India as the team has never lost a match here.
“We are happy to retain our record here in Rourkela. We have not lost a single match here in this wonderful stadium. Certainly Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium is a matter of great fortune for us. When you get so much love and encouragement from the fans, we want to go out there and win every single game,” said skipper Harmanpreet, who scored twice in India’s tense shootout win on Wednesday.
Adding options to the team’s forward line in a crucial year with Olympic qualification at stake, the performances of Selvam Karthi and Sukhjit have been remarkable. Karti is now the 4th highest goal scorer in the FIH Hockey Pro League, while Sukhjeet and Abhishek are the 7th and 8th top scorers respectively.
“Here in Rourkela, we took away many positives from this tour which will help us in our preparation for the upcoming Asian Games,” the skipper was quoted as saying in the media release.
Another big factor that contributed to the team’s success in these matches at Rourkela was the team’s better on-field communication and decisive video referrals, including the crucial one taken by goalkeeper Sreejesh during the penalty shootout.
“Yes, the referral taken by Sreejesh was absolutely crucial to our win. He has years of experience and understands the updated rules of the game but some other video referrals by our team at key moments of the match were also very important, this is something we work on in our training as well. On-field communication was also much better this time, and we will continue to build on it,” concluded Harmanpreet.
The Indian team will leave from Rourkela to New Delhi on Thursday for the 5th Hockey India Annual Awards to be held on March 17, following which the team will have a two-week break before regrouping at the national coaching camp.
read all Latest sports news Here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)