The Indian hockey groups continued their upward development in 2022, with the ladies’s aspect barely outperforming their male counterparts by clinching a Commonwealth Video games medal — a bronze after 16 years.
In Birmingham, each the Indian males’s and ladies’s groups picked up their third CWG medals.
Whereas the lads’s group received silver, the ladies bagged a podium end after 16 lengthy years. The Indian ladies had received gold on the Manchester CWG in 2002 and silver at Melbourne 4 years later.
The Indian ladies’s group defeated 2018 Gold Coast CWG champions New Zealand 2-1 within the penalty shootout to say the rostrum end.
In direction of the tip of the 12 months, the ladies proved that the CWG bronze was not a fluke as they continued their upward graph below Dutch coach Janneke Schopman, defeating Spain 1-0 to win the inaugural FIH Nations Cup in Valencia and qualify for 2023-24 FIH Professional League.
The ladies proved they have been no pushovers anymore in world hockey as they remained unbeaten within the Nations Cup, placing up good performances to reclaim their Professional League spot.
The ladies had completed a creditable third of their debut Professional League season in 2021-22 however didn’t qualify for the 2022-23 season.
The 12 months began on a shiny notice for the ladies’s group because it completed third within the Asia Cup, beating China 2-0 within the bronze-medal match.
The Indians, nonetheless, misplaced out on a medal within the Junior World Cup by a whisker after dropping 0-2 to England within the bronze-medal sport in Potchefstroom, South Africa in April.
To rub salt into India’s wounds, the ladies endured a forgettable World Cup in Spain and Netherlands, ending ninth with one win, three attracts and two losses. However they bounced again in model and fought their method to the rostrum in Birmingham a month later.
The boys too witnessed success in 2022, essentially the most notable being the silver in Birmingham. However greater than anything, the group would nonetheless be smarting from the 0-7 drubbing by the hands of Australia within the CWG ultimate.
It was a nightmarish outing for Graham Reid’s males as they have been bamboozled by the Kookaburras in all departments of the sport.
However the Indian males had their share of success as properly. They started the 12 months with a third-place end within the Asia Cup in Jakarta and adopted it up by successful the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s match in Lausanne, the place they beat Poland 6-4 within the ultimate.
In between, India additionally received the tenth Sultan of Johor Cup, a world males’s below 21 match, beating Australia 4-5 on penalties after each groups have been locked 1-1 on the finish of regulation time.
India performed three Professional League matches, two in opposition to New Zealand and one in opposition to Spain, on the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Whereas India defeated New Zealand 4-3 and 7-4, they misplaced 2-3 to Spain.
In direction of the tip of the 12 months, the lads’s group toured Australia for a five-Check sequence, the place it challenged the world no.1 aspect in all departments of the sport.
The Indians might need misplaced the high-scoring sequence 1-4, however they proved that they’ve improved by leaps and bounds after the CWG ultimate drubbing and might be a power to reckon with within the World Cup to be co-hosted by Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29 subsequent 12 months.
Change of guard
The 12 months additionally witnessed a change of guard within the nationwide federation with former skipper Dilip Tirkey changing into the president of Hockey India, with Hockey Jharkhand’s Bhola Nath Singh taking up as secretary.
However it was not easy crusing by way of administration of the sport within the nation. Hockey India was put below a three-member Committee of Directors (CoA) by the Delhi Excessive Court docket after observing that the federation had violated the Nationwide Sports activities Code.
The court docket ruling got here on a petition filed by former India participant Aslam Sher Khan, who had challenged Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA) president Narinder Batra’s appointment as life member of Hockey India.
At one time limit, the Worldwide Hockey Federation (FIH) had issued a risk to the nationwide physique to conduct elections and set the home so as or else “jeopardise” the lads’s World Cup.
However the CoA and the sports activities ministry labored along with FIH and managed to save lots of India from a significant embarrassment.
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