Indian men's hockey team – PincodeIndiaPost

Our Historic Win Has Almost Been Forgotten and it Hurts: 1975 Hockey WC Heroes

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

Indian hockey wrote a historic chapter exactly 46 years ago on this day in Kuala Lumpur when the country lifted its only World Cup title, but the architects of that achievement on Monday rued the fact that countrymen has gradually forgotten their feat.

The Indian hockey team lifted its only World Cup crown on March 15, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur beating arch rival Pakistan by 2-1 in a thrilling final.

A glorious chapter was written after suffering the ignominy of a heart-breaking loss two years ago.

But Ashok Kumar , who had scored the winning goal in the final, has plenty of complains.

“We talk about nationalism and what is biggest example of nationalism than bringing laurels for the country. That win brought smiles on the faces of every citizen of this country across caste, religion, status, gender,” he told PTI Bhasha.

“But who remembers that now. TV channels are busy in celebrating Alia Bhatt”s birthday since morning. Not a single mention of hockey World Cup win anywhere. We do not get any congratulatory calls on this day,” said Kumar, son of legendary Major Dhyan Chand.

He said the World Cup final win against Pakistan was one of the most impactful matches in the history of Indian hockey and it deserves respect.

“People still remember the radio commentary of that match. Hockey was a symbol of nationalism those days. I remember how Raj Kapoor organised a friendly match between our team and Bollywood team and whole film fraternity was there in Wankhede stadium to watch that,” he said.

Sharing similar sentiments, another member of the World Cup winning team, Olympian Ashok Diwan feels new generation needs to take note of that glorious chapter of Indian hockey.

“Naturally we feel bad that only we team members and hockey fraternity remembers this historic day. New generation must be told about that win and feel proud of it,” he said.

“That was our first World Cup win. It has been 46 years now. We hope that India wins the hockey World Cup in 2023 and we get a chance to relive those moments.”

His team mate and 1972 Munich Olympics bronze medalist Varinder Singh added: “Last time we all met in Bhubaneswar during 2018 World Cup. We spent a week together refreshing old memories. We stayed in the same hotel, had breakfast, lunch and dinners together and used to go to the stadium together.

“We had decided then that we will meet once in a year but somehow it could not be materialised. I think that there should be a mechanism by which former players remain connected,” he said.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Men’s Hockey Team Coach Graham Reid

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

The Indian men’s hockey team needs to work on its defence, said coach Graham Reid. Reid said that the biggest learning he took from their recently concluded tour of Europe was that the team allows the opposition to come back into the game in the middle periods of matches too often.

“We will go over the data from this tour once we return to SAI, Bengaluru but the first things that requires attention is making sure we tighten our defence. We allow them (opponents) to come back in the middle (of the game) a bit too much. The last match was a little bit better. We are starting to make some ground on that,” said Reid in a release from Hockey India.

“We go back to Bengaluru from here and will be training there for a few weeks before we set out on another tour of our FIH Pro League matches in Argentina. I believe the next few months leading up to Tokyo (2020 Tokyo Olympics) are going to be busy for us with competition and some training in between where we will work on the things we need to. The Olympic year has well and truly started now for us and we need to accelerate our learnings,” he said.

India secured a 6-1 win and 1-1 draw against Germany in Krefeld, Germany. They followed this up with a 1-1 draw and 3-2 win against Great Britain in Antwerp, Belgium.

ALSO READ | Indian Men’s Hockey Team Stay Undefeated in Tour of Europe

“Our performances against Germany were mixed. It was pretty good beating them 6-1, we took them by surprise and made good use of the opportunities, but we let too many PCs in,” said Reid.

“The second game saw better defensive efforts from us. The third against GB was OK. It was a bit colder in Antwerp, different pitch and perhaps we didn’t play as well as we should have. But the last game (where India beat GB 3-2) was first-class. We led most of the game, came back twice from a stalemate, scored in the last few minutes which is a really important thing to get over,” he further said.

India’s Pro League tie against Argentina will be held in Buenos Aires on April 10 and 11.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment germany, Graham Reid, Great Britain, Indian hockey team, Indian men's hockey team

Indian Men’s Hockey Team Stay Undefeated in Tour of Europe

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

The Indian men’s hockey team played out two draws and got two victories in their four games on their tour of Europe with matches against Germany and Great Britain.

The games were planned to help the Indian men’s hockey team prepare well for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, with almost no match practise due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last played India were on the field was back in the FIH Hockey Pro League in January and February last year where the team took on the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia in Bhubaneswar.

Tour captain PR Sreejesh had stressed on the importance of the matches against top European sides and how it would help the world no. 4 team in preparations for the delayed Summer Games.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment germany, Great Britain, Indian hockey team, Indian men's hockey team

Indian men’s hockey team beats Great Britain 3-2 to end Europe tour unbeaten | Hockey News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

ANTWERP (Belgium): Striker Mandeep Singh struck a brace as the Indian men’s hockey team eked out a close 3-2 win over Great Britain to end their Europe tour on an unbeaten note on Monday.
Harmanpreet Singh’s strike in the very first minute and two goals by Mandeep in the 28th and 59th minutes helped India remain undefeated on the tour.

For Great Britain, James Gall (20th) and striker Adam Forsyth (55th) were the goal scorers.
In their previous match, India’s Simranjeet Singh had scored a late goal to hold Great Britain to a 1-1 draw and against Germany, the PR Sreejesh-led side had secured a 6-1 win and a 1-1 draw respectively.
On Monday, India started off aggressively and earned themselves a penalty corner in the very first minute of the game. The opportunity was duly converted by India’s vice captain Harmanpreet to give his side an early lead.
The early advantage helped India maintain pressure on their opponents, ending the first quarter with a 1-0 lead.
Great Britain restored parity in the 20th minute through midfielder James Gall’s field goal.
The much-needed equaliser helped his team gain the right momentum. Putting India under pressure, Great Britain earned themselves a penalty corner, but their attempt was derailed by a brilliant save by India skipper Sreejesh.
India’s moment to regain the lead came in the 28th minute when forward Mandeep successfully converted a penalty corner on the rebound.
Ahead by a goal, India rallied to extend the lead further with aggressive play in the third quarter.
Though India secured a penalty corner in the early minute of the third quarter and even made as many as five circle entries, they were denied each time by the Great Britain defence.
India’s defence, however, remained resolute as they held onto the 2-1 lead.
India dominated the proceedings at the start of the fourth quarter, but a quick turnaround saw Great Britain grabbing the opportunity as Alan Forsyth scored an equaliser in the 55th minute.
The last few minutes was a battle of nerves as both the teams lived up to the billing, but it was Mandeep who rose to the occasion as his late strike helped India cap off their first assignment of 2021 with a 3-2 win.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment Great Britain, Indian men's hockey team, James Gall, Mandeep Singh, Sreejesh

Simranjeet’s late strike helps India hold Great Britain to 1-1 draw | Hockey News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

ANTWERP (Belgium): Simranjeet Singh produced a late strike as a resilient Indian men’s hockey team held Great Britain to a 1-1 draw in its third match of the Europe Tour on Saturday.
Simranjeet’s late equaliser in the 57th minute ensured India remained unbeaten on the tour.
For Great Britain, Alan Forsyth scored in the 2nd quarter.
India dominated with ball possession early in the match and used hard press to tame Great Britain’s attack.
Britain’s first real opportunity came in the 10th minute when they earned a penalty corner but were denied by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who made an excellent save.
Though both teams created a number of opportunities in the first quarter, they could not convert.
Ending the first quarter in a 0-0 stalemate, the GB men started the second period aggressively and won themselves yet another PC, but the Indian custodian Krishan B Pathak, who replaced Sreejesh for the second quarter, made an outstanding save.
In return, India did create potential opportunities in Great Britain’s striking circle but couldn’t convert.
However, within a few minutes, Alan Forsyth’s strike helped Great Britain to break the deadlock towards the end of the second half.
A dominating start to the third quarter saw GB earning back-to-back penalties, but India managed to nullify the threat. Vying for an equaliser, India penetrated twice inside Great Britain’s striking circle, but couldn’t make the most out of it.
Indian men got their rewards in the 57th minute as Simranjeet found the net.
India will take on Great Britain on Monday in their fourth and final match of the Europe Tour.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment Alan Forsyth, Great Britain, Indian men's hockey team, PR Sreejesh, Simranjeet Singh

Resilient Indian Men’s Hockey Team Draw 1-1 with Germany

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

Indian men’s hockey team’s second of their four-match tour of Europe ended in a 1-1 draw with both the teams living up to their billing on Tuesday. Jarmanpreet Singh of India opened the score board for India in the fourth minute while Martin Haner scored for Germany.

Riding high on confidence after a dominating 6-1 win in their first international match of 2021, the world No.4 India started on an attacking note against host Germany and earned a penalty corner in the fourth minute, which was converted by defender Jarmanpreet Singh with a classic slap shot.

Within the following two minutes, the hosts also bounced back and got their chance to score an equaliser with a penalty corner but could not capitalise.

The visitors continued to dominant in the second quarter, with better ball possession, creating potential opportunities with intent to capitalise on the early lead. However, the quarter ended with the hosts putting pressure on the Indian men with strong man-to-man tackle.

The hosts backed their tactical play with some quick forays into the striking circle, resulting in them earning back-to-back penalty corners. It was in their second attempt when the experienced Martin Häner levelled the score 1-1 minutes ahead of the half-time break.

Continuing the momentum, the third quarter saw Germany keeping the ball in the Indian half to create scoring opportunities but, Indian defenders remained composed and set-up a well-structured defence that kept the German forward line from converting. A solid block from Surender Kumar at the very last minute saw the third quarter ending in a 1-1 stalemate.

The final quarter saw some nail-biting moments, with both the teams upping the ante but neither allowed a goal with the match ending in a 1-1 deadlock.

“This match was a good experience for our players. It was a tough match and the team worked hard. Both teams created opportunities and I believe we will learn a lot from this game,” said India’s chief coach Graham Reid.

India will next play Great Britain on Saturday.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment ., germany, Indian hockey team, Indian men's hockey team, Jarmanpreet Singh, Martin Haner

India Men’s Hockey Team Beat Germany 6-1 on Return to International Action

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

Young Vivek Sagar Prasad scored a brace as the Indian men’s hockey team outclassed Germany 6-1 in its Europe tour opener to make an impressive return to international circuit following coronavirus-forced break.

Vivek (27th, 28th minutes), Nilakanta Sharma (13th), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (41st), Akashdeep Singh (42nd) and Harmanpreet Singh (47th) were the goal scorers for India.

Hungry to perform, India played with an intent to win. They went on an attacking mode right from the start, putting pressure on the German line-up.

After creating potential opportunities in the striking circle, India earned a penalty corner in the 13th minute of the first quarter, which saw midfielder Nilakanta breaking the deadlock for the visitors.

However, in the next minute, forward Constantin Staib scored an equaliser for Germany. The second quarter started with the hosts putting pressure on India and earned themselves two back-to-back penalty corners in the initial minutes.

The Indian side made brilliant saves and created quick counter-attacks which led to midfielder Vivek scoring two back-to-back goals in the 27th and 28th minutes.

In the third quarter, the hosts started off on the front foot again and earned as many as six penalty corners. However, skipper PR Sreejesh stood firm in front of the goal to keep the Germans at bay.

Soon after a solid defensive display, Indian forwards Lalit and Akashdeep netted brilliant goals in the 41st and 42nd minute, respectively to put the world no. 4 Indian team in the driver’s seat.

Another glorious opportunity came for the Indian men at the 47th minute in the form of a penalty corner, and Harmanpreet extended India’s lead with a fierce flick. Playing under pressure, the hosts did try hard to make a comeback and even pulled out their goalkeeper to put an extra attacker in the team but a great overall performance from the Indian side ensured a 6-1 victory.

“It was absolutely thrilling to play after so long and coach’s advice to us was ‘go and enjoy the game’ and so we did. This was the same German side who are playing the FIH Hockey Pro League matches, and I feel we did well against this squad, considering we were playing after a year.

“We had worked a lot on individual skills and had planned tactical play against Germany back in the camp. We just had to execute it today and it was really exciting to be back with a win,” said Sreejesh.

After a day’s break, India will again take on Germany on March 2.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment Akashdeep Singh, germany, Harmanpreet Singh, Indian hockey team, Indian men's hockey team, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad

Indian Team Excited to Play Germany: Men’s Hockey Captain PR Sreejesh

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

The Indian men’s hockey team, ranked No.4 in the world, is ready to face world No.6 Germany in the first of the four-match tour of Europe beginning on Sunday, said an upbeat captain PR Sreejesh.

“The entire team is very excited and eager to get on with the first match. It’s been more than a year since we played a competitive match, and we are prepared for the challenge,” said Sreejesh, also the team’s goalkeeper.

“It’s been about five days since we arrived in Krefeld and the weather too has not been too cold. It was about 16-18 degrees when we practiced yesterday [Friday], and we are quite comfortable playing in this weather,” he said.

Sreejesh pointed out that the team was getting to play a competitive match after one year due to Covid-19.

India last played in the FIH Hockey Pro League held in January and February last year where the team took on the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia on home ground in Bhubaneswar.

“Not playing competitive matches in over a year has been very difficult, mostly mentally than physically. But the coaching staff ensured the sessions during the national camp were planned in such a way that it would excite us players and they tried to create an environment of competition in the group. Though we played a lot of matches internally over the past few months in SAI [Sports Authority of India], the next few weeks in Europe will show exactly where we are at in terms of performance,” Sreejesh said.

The captain emphasised that this tour would help the team set the parameters for preparation for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“These matches against Germany and Great Britain are super important for our preparations. It is an opportunity to test ourselves tactically, physically and mentally. We are very lucky to be able to play against quality teams, despite the ongoing pandemic. This outing will help us set the parameter and enable us to plan our months leading up to the Olympics,” he said.

In the context of playing Germany, Sreejesh said: “We have watched this team closely, analyzed their game and replicated how we must play against them during the past few weeks in camp. They play man-to-man and our style of play will be slightly tweaked in order to succeed against them. The whole idea is to implement what we have been doing in camp these past few months and the focus will be on ourselves.”

Sreejesh also spoke about the supposed challenges of playing in a bio-bubble.

“There are no challenges in this regard. We are very used to being in a bio-bubble and also understand very well that the pandemic is still not over, and that we need to be responsible. We have received very strict SOP for this tour, and we are following it to the T,” he said.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2021 Tokyo Olympics, germany, hockey india, Indian hockey team, Indian men's hockey team, PR Sreejesh, Tokyo Olympics

Rupinderpal, Varun, Manpreet to Miss Hockey Tour to Europe

[ad_1]

Read More/Less

Manpreet Singh (Photo Credit: Hockey India)

The national team will play a series of matches against Germany and England during the 17-day European tour.

IANS New Delhi
Last Updated: February 22, 2021, 12:02 IST
FOLLOW US ON:

Seasoned defenders Rupinderpal Singh and Varun Kumar have been dropped from the European tour of the national men’s hockey team as they are going through rehabilitation, an official familiar with the development said on Sunday.

“Kumar has an ankle problem while Singh is also unfit,” the official added.

Former skipper Manpreet Singh too will miss the tour, though due to personal reasons.

The national team of 22 players and six support staff are leaving for their first international tour after nearly 12 months as the Covid pandemic had disrupted the global and domestic competition.

The national team will play a series of matches against Germany and England during the 17-day European tour. India will play Germany on February 28 and March 2. The national team will then travel to Antwerp, Belgium, to play against England on March 6 and March 8.

India last played Australia during the Hockey Pro League matches held in Bhubaneswar in February last year.

“We are very grateful for the opportunity to go to Europe. We are looking forward to having our first competitive matches in just over 12 months. Playing against powerhouse teams like Germany and England will provide us with great competition and help immensely in our FIH Hockey Pro League and Olympic Games preparation. Playing any top 10 ranked team is always a great experience for the team,” national team coach Graham Reid had said earlier.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment hockey news, indian hockey, Indian men's hockey team, Manpreet Singh, Rupinderpal Singh