Indian men climb to no. 5 in latest hockey rankings; women to rank no.9

SportsCafe Desk
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Indian Men’s Hockey team have earned themselves the fifth rank in the latest FIH rankings that were released today. Even though, the Indian women’s team couldn't hold a podium finish at the Hockey World cup, they managed to earn the ninth place in women’s hockey rankings ahead of the Asian Games.

India's performance in the Champions Trophy played a big part in the rankings hike. India had started its quest for the Champions Trophy by playing against the arch rivals, Pakistan and decimated them with a score of 4-0. In their second match, India gave Argentina a taste of their own medicine by defeating the defending champions by a score of 2-1. Team India tried their level best to make a late comeback in their third match against Australia, but unfortunately lost 3-2.

India showed a rather defensive character as they held Belgium to a draw in their fourth match which resulted to a score of 1-1. With just one point required to book a spot into the finals, India successfully held Netherlands at a score of 1-1 and entered into the finals. However, in the final game, both India and Australia had a tough time against each other. With a score of 1-1, both the teams had to undergo a penalty shootout resulting to which Australia beat India with a score of 3-1.

Even though India couldn't win the title, their performance throughout the tournament was brilliantly impressive. This not only caused the team to earn a lot of praise, but they also got promoted to one spot ahead in the FIH rankings. India now stands on the fifth spot after Australia, Argentina , Belgium and Netherlands.

Indian women’s hockey team is no less than the men’s team. The Hockey Women’s World Cup took place in London from the 21st of July to the 5th of August. Indian women’s team dribbled past other competitors and entered the cross-over round where they met Italy. India successfully beat the Italians by a score of 3-0 and booked their spot in the quarterfinals. India met the World Cup runner’s up, Ireland and played a rather impressive match to hold them at a score of 0-0 which resulted into a penalty shootout. Unfortunately, Ireland won the shootout by a score of 3-2, resulting to which india was knocked out of the World Cup. Team India didnt have a lot to regret about the loss because not only did they play well throughout the tournament, but also managed to earn the ninth spot in the World rankings announced by FIH. 

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