The Indian men's hockey team, rated 13th in the world, lost 5-2 against France after winning back-to-back games in South Africa at the FIH Hockey Pro League.

India's solitary goals came from Jarmanpreet Singh (22') and Harmanpreet Singh (57'). Whereas France's Victor Charlet (16', 59') scored twice. Victor Lockwood (35'), Charles Masson (48'), and Timothee Clement (60') each scored one.

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The French seemed more structured in Saturday's play. They guarded well and ensured India didn't get a decent start. India had possession of the ball in the first quarter and attempted to get into the attacking circle. However, France's defensive system was difficult for the Indian forward line to penetrate through.

In the second quarter, Victor Charlet of France made a little error in pushing the ball past India's goalkeeper. This put India on the defensive. However, India's desired goal did not arrive until the 22nd minute. India drew 1-1 thanks to Jarmanpreet Singh. After a 1-1 tie at the end of the second quarter, France took control in the third quarter. Viktor Lockwood, supported by Gaspard Baumgarten, scored a spectacular goal during the first five minutes of the quarter. Thus, putting France back in front. He made space on the left flank with strong stickhandling and a shot that sailed clean through the Indian goalkeeper's ankles.

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India was put under a lot of pressure after the 2-1 lead. Despite numerous scoring chances created by PCs, India was unable to score. Thus, forcing the game into the final quarter, which was fiercely contested.

France caused substantial problems for India's defence in the fourth quarter, starting with a well-formed PC in the 48th minute. Sreejesh had no chance of making a leaping save since Charles Masson was on target. Harmanpreet Singh hit a penalty stroke in the 57th minute to cut India's lead to 2-3. Eventually, France wiped out India's hopes with two quick scores as India threw players forward in pursuit of a late equaliser. Victor Charlet made his second goal of the night on a penalty corner, and Timothee Clement contributed a field goal to make the score 5-2.

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However, India will finish their campaign with a clash against South Africa on Sunday before coming home to encounter Spain in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022.

The Indian men's hockey team finished fourth in the FIH Pro League 2022-23, which concluded here on Wednesday night, with Spain defeating world champions Germany youth team in the final league encounter.

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It was a two-part season for India, who until a few weeks earlier had led the league table. But They were overtaken by eventual champions the Netherlands and Great Britain to take the first two places. India kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win against Argentina in their 16th and final match of the FIH Pro League 2022-23 season, played in a mini-cluster of three or four teams, on 11 June.

Meanwhile, Spain, which had beaten Germany in their opening encounter, finished fifth with 27 points from 16 matches, three points behind India, who had just finished their camp in Eindhoven a few weeks ago. On Wednesday, Spain had to come from behind three times to beat an ambitious young German team 4-3. This marked the end of the 9-team FIH Pro League 2022-23 season.

The Netherlands (35 points from 16 matches) successfully defended their crown by defeating challengers Great Britain (32 points). Belgium, with 30 points, finished above India in the table due to more wins to their name (10 versus India's eight).

Starting off under head coach Graham Reid, India played the first leg of the FIH Pro League 2022-23 season at home. They put up an impressive performance, winning five, drawing two, and losing only one match. India's only defeat in their home leg was a 3–2 defeat against Spain in Bhubaneswar.

While the second leg of the season in Europe was a different ball game entirely for the Craig Fulton-coached team. However, the away legs in London and Eindhoven did not prove as fruitful. India topped the Pro League points table in the European phase of their fixtures. They managed only three wins, four losses, and one draw from eight away matches.

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If in the first half of the season, India had impressive wins against reigning world champions Germany, Commonwealth Games gold medalists Australia and New Zealand, then in the second half India could only win against Argentina (2) and Belgium (1). While they lost both their matches against the eventual champions Netherlands.

India ended their campaign with a 2–1 win against Rio Olympic gold medalists Argentina. But their narrow 2–3 defeat to the Netherlands saw Netherlands and Belgium overtake them. The Dutch eventually pipped the Indians to win the title. While Belgium failed to keep up the momentum as they lost 2–4 and 1–6 to the Netherlands in Antwerp. After that, they lose their chance to finish higher.

FIH Pro League 2022-23 Points Table:

The Indian men's hockey team defeated Great Britain 4-2 in a very exciting match through penalty shootout in the FIH Pro League 2022-23 tie at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London on Saturday.

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Abhishek, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Harmanpreet Singh, and former captain Manpreet Singh scored goals for India in the shootout to ensure victory for their team. The match ended in a 4-4 draw. After this Indian goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak made two saves in the penalty shoot-out to help India win the bonus point. For the Indian men's hockey team, Harmanpreet Singh (7'), Mandeep Singh (19'), Sukhjeet Singh (28') and Abhishek (50') scored goals. On the other hand, Sam Ward from Great Britain scored four goals for his team in the 8th, 39th, 46th, and 52nd minutes.

India's Harmanpreet Singh scored the first goal of the match, converting a penalty corner in the sixth minute. In response, Sam Ward of Great Britain scored the first goal for his team. He scored a goal in the 7th minute of the match. He also made the score 1-1 by opening the account for his team through the penalty corner. After that, there were no more goals in the first quarter of the game. At the same time, there was no goal for 17 minutes in the second quarter. In the 18th minute, India's Mandeep Singh scored a brilliant field goal to give his team the lead. Sukhjeet Singh then scored a field goal in the 27th minute to make it 3-1. Great Britain did not score a single goal in the second quarter.

India's score was 3-1 at half-time, after which Sam Ward scored his team's second goal in the 39th minute of the match, converting a penalty corner. There was not a single goal from India in the third quarter. By the time the third quarter ended, the score was now 3–2. Still, the Indian team was ahead by 1 goal. The final quarter saw Great Britain play aggressively. Sam Ward completed his hat-trick in the match by scoring from a penalty corner in the 46th minute. By this goal, Great Britain equalized with India. Now the score was tied at 3-3. After this, the game was on full swing.

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Then in the 49th minute, India's 23-year-old Abhishek scored a brilliant field goal to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Indian team. But for Great Britain, in-form Sam Ward scored his and his team's fourth goal in the 52nd minute to level the score at 4–4. The match ended 4-4 in regulation time. After that, the match was decided through a penalty shoot-out, in which the Indian team won the match by scoring four goals against two.

The Indian men's hockey team will travel to the Netherlands to play the hosts and Argentina next week. The team will now play their next FIH Pro League 2022-23 match against the Netherlands on Wednesday, June 7. The match will start at 11:10 PM IST.

The Indian men's hockey team thrashed Olympic champions Belgium 5-1 in the FIH Pro League 2022-23 being played at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London on Friday.

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The Indian team made a spectacular comeback in the FIH Pro League 2022-23 after consecutive losses in their European leg. Earlier, the Indian team lost 1-2 to Belgium on 26 May in the opening match of the European leg and then lost 2-4 to Great Britain the next day. After this win, India slipped to the second position in the FIH Pro League 2022-23 points table.

Meanwhile, Vivek Sagar Prasad (1st minute), Harmanpreet Singh (20th, 29th), Amit Rohidas (28th), and Dilpreet Singh (60th) scored for India. Whereas for Belgium, William Ghislain scored the only goal in the 45th minute. Captain Harmanpreet Singh has scored the most goals in the matches played so far in FIH Pro League 2022-23. He has 15 goals in 11 matches.

India is now on the second spot in the points table with 22 points. At the same time, Great Britain is at the first position with 25 points. This was the first away win for India in the FIH Pro League 2022-23 season. The Indian men's hockey team will now play its next match on June 3, ie against Great Britain, which will start at 5:10 pm IST.

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Midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad opened the scoring for India in the second minute of the play. Harmanpreet Singh (21', 30') scored a brace. While Amit Rohidas (30') and Dilpreet Singh (60') netted India's fourth and fifth goals, respectively. A goal from Belgium in the first minute of the fourth quarter by forward William Ghislain pushed India to commit more numbers at the back. However, lack of finishing from the penalty corners cost Belgium on the day as India, courtesy of collective passing and finishing from Dilpreet Singh, pumped in their fifth goal.

The Indian hockey team once again suffered a last minute defeat as they went down 2-1 to Olympic champions Belgium in their opening match of the FIH Pro League 2022-23 in London on Friday.

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The Indian team, who were unbeaten in the home leg, produced a brilliant performance and the match was tied 1-1 till the third quarter. But, two minutes before the end of the match, taking advantage of the mistake of the defense, Belgium earned a penalty corner and then converted it into a goal to seal the match. The Indian team will now play their next FIH Pro League 2022-23 match against Great Britain on 27 May.

In the first quarter, India started aggressively and attacked the Belgian goal post in the fifth minute itself. However, the Belgian defense easily defended it. With 25 seconds left in the first quarter, Belgium earned a penalty corner. However, they could not take advantage of this opportunity. In the third minute of the second quarter, the Indian team once again brought the ball to Belgium's goalpost. But the Belgian team also succeeded in counterattacking. They gets a penalty corner. Although they did not get success in the first attempt but the team managed to take the lead on the second penalty corner.

However, in the 10th minute of the same quarter, Mandeep Singh equalized for India. After this, the third quarter also saw a close fight between the two teams and no goal was scored. But, at the end of the fourth quarter, Belgium took the match by scoring a goal. For India, Mandeep Singh (24') scored the solitary goal while Thibeau Stockbroekx (17') and Nelson Onana (59') netted for Belgium. 

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Despite the loss, India lead the FIH Pro League 2022-23 standings with 19 points from nine matches while Belgium are seventh with nine points from five matches.

The Men's FIH Pro League 2022-23 is all set to return, bringing together some of the world's top field hockey teams in a thrilling international tournament. The Pro League is the premier event for field hockey, providing a platform for teams to compete against the best in the world and gain valuable experience ahead of major tournaments such as the Olympics and the World Cup.

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The schedule for the FIH Pro League 2022-23 promises to be an action-packed one, with matches scheduled across multiple continents. The tournament started in October 2022 and hosted New Zealand and Spain at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. India beat the Black Sticks in both their encounters of that leg while losing one and drawing one against Spain.

The Indian men's hockey team will also be competing in the FIH Pro League 2022-23, with a packed schedule of matches against some of the world's top teams. The team will start off with a home series against Germany on March 10, followed by a long overseas tour that includes matches against Australia.

Meanwhile, the Indian hockey team is currently placed fourth in the Pro League points table with eight points from four matches. Germany also has the same number of points from as many matches and is fifth in the standings. Australia, on the other hand, is eighth with four points from four outings.

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FIH Pro League 2022-23 full schedule and fixtures for India:

Schedule:

• India vs Germany- March 10, Friday, 7:00 PM
• India vs Australia- March 12, Sunday, 7:00 PM
• India vs Germany- March 13, Monday, 7:00 PM
• India vs Australia- March 15, Wednesday, 7:00 PM

Where to watch FIH Pro League 2022-23 live in India

Live streaming of India vs Germany and Australia FIH Pro League 2022-23 hockey matches will be available in the Fancode app and website. The FIH Pro League 2022-23 will be telecast live in India on the Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD TV channels in India.

FIH Hockey Pro League 2023: India's full squad

Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Pawan

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Manjeet, Manpreet Singh

Midfielders: Hardik Singh (vice-captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal

Forwards: S Karthi, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Gurjant Singh