Hockey
FIH Pro League: Indian men's and women's teams gear up for final leg
Indian men's and women's teams will have different priorities in hand when they take the field in the final leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League.
The Indian men's and women's hockey teams will play their final leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24 in London starting Saturday.
They will face Germany on June 1 and 8 before taking on Great Britain on June 2 and 9 in a bid to end their campaign with as many points as possible. After the Antwerp stage, the Women’s team are placed 7th while the men's team are 3rd in the points table.
Olympic selection headache for Fulton
The Indian men's team have drawn half of their matches in this year's Pro League, and they would like to win some games in regulation time.
Another big headache for head coach Craig Fulton will be the late evaluation of the players before he names his final team for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the Antwerp stage, India started with a 2-2 (5-4 SO) shootout win against Argentina, followed by a 1-4 loss to Belgium, and a 2-2 (1-3 SO) shootout loss against Belgium before defeating Argentina in a thrilling match which ended 5-4.
Reflecting on the team’s performance so far captain Harmanpreet Singh said, “We played some intense matches against Argentina and Belgium in Antwerp, both in the same pool as us in the Paris 2024 Olympics. We played scintillating hockey in some moments while we struggled in a few others, but the team is constantly improving. We also used this opportunity to give some match experience to the younger players in the squad and improve our overall chemistry.”
Indian women's team struggling under new coach
Playing under new coach Harendra Singh and new captain Salima Tete, the Indian team failed to make any significant improvement and struggled against Argentina and Belgium in the Antwerp leg.
The team would like to find their rhythm back and play more as a cohesive unit against Germany and Great Britain.
The Indian women's team are now placed 7th after earning 8 points from 12 matches, while their opponents Germany and Great Britain sit in 6th and 8th position respectively, having played 4 matches in the FIH Pro League so far.
Speaking about the upcoming games, Indian captain Tete said, “We are currently in a rebuilding phase, and we are looking to take it one game at a time. We are confident that the upcoming games will help us better understand our chemistry within the team and improve going forward.”
The Indian men's hockey team will take on Germany at 2:30 PM IST, while the Indian women's hockey team will face Germany at 9:45 PM IST.