Paris Olympics 2024: Hockey India selects 27 players for pre-Olympic camp
India has been placed in Pool B at the Paris Olympics 2024 where it will face Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist team will start its Olympic campaign against New Zealand on July 27.
Hockey India on Thursday announced a 27-member Indian Men's Hockey team for the pre-Olympic national camp to be held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus here from June 21 to July 8 ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.
India to start it's Olympic campaign against New Zealand
India has been placed in Pool B at the Paris Olympics 2024 where it will face Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Indian team will start its Olympic campaign against New Zealand on July 27.
The Indian Men's Hockey team will return to the camp after performing well in the FIH Hockey Pro League. India is currently in fourth place in the Pro League with 24 points in 16 matches.
Striker Dilpreet Singh has not got a place in the team
The core group includes goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, and defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, and Amir Ali. Meanwhile, striker Dilpreet Singh has not got a place in the team selected for the camp.
Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Vishnukant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, and Mohammed Raheel Mouseen have been included as midfielders. Whereas, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Boby Singh Dhami, and Araijeet Singh Hundal are the forwards who have been included.
Pro League matches against top teams was a great experience
Indian men's hockey team head coach Craig Fulton believes that playing Pro League matches against the world's top teams has been a great experience for his team.
“We are looking to start an important block of training in this camp, and we need to make sure that we are in the best form ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The players have learned a lot from their matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24. It has helped us in realising where we need to improve. We have a lot of time to work on those areas. We have a strong mix of players who are capable of winning anything.” Fulton said.
Hockey India names 40-member Indian Men's Hockey Team squad for the upcoming test series against Germany
The Indian Men's Hockey Team won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 and retained the title at the Asian Champions Trophy in China. The team will head into this camp following these recent successes.
Hockey India, on Tuesday has selected 40 probable players for the coaching camp of the Indian Men's Hockey Team in Bengaluru in preparation for the two-match series against world champions Germany here later this month.
Two matches will be played against Germany on the 23rd and 24th October at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium. The camp will run from October 1 to 19. The focus of the camp will be on honing the skills of the players and developing strategies during matches.
The Indian Men's Hockey Team won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 and retained the title at the Asian Champions Trophy in China. The team will head into this camp following these recent successes.
'This camp will allow us to improve our strategies'
India captain Harmanpreet Singh said the camp will help in ensuring that the team is well-prepared and in peak condition before facing Germany. "Playing against the world champions is a tremendous opportunity for us to showcase our abilities, and having an exciting mix of players in this camp will allow us to improve our strategies and build the cohesion needed,"
"Each player in this core group brings unique strengths and varying levels of experience and we'll be focusing on how to harness these individual talents and help us grow as players. Our objective is to create an environment where everyone pushes each other and by the end of this camp, we want to be an even stronger and better coordinated team." Harmanpreet added.
Indian hockey players Varun Kumar and Karthi Selvam will return to the national camp.
"Looking at the Olympics performance, its unfortunate that we didn’t win a medal": Mary Kom hints to make a comeback in Pro-Boxing
Notably, so far only three Indian boxers have won medals in the Olympics – Vijender Singh (bronze in Beijing 2008), Mary Kom (bronze in London 2012) and Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in Tokyo 2020).
Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom expressed disappointment over the poor performance of Indian boxers in the Paris Olympics 2024. She said that being a medal winner, it is natural that she feels bad.
India had sent a team of six boxers to the Paris 2024, which included two men and four women. It also included Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain and world champion Nikhat Zareen.
Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing
Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing, stating, "I am planning to make a comeback.I will try to make a comeback in pro-boxing." In the same event, she shared her happiness in participating in sports-promoting events but remained concerned about India's performance at the Olympics.
'We will assess what needs to be done'
Mary Kom told IANS during the Army Sports Conclave, "Looking at the Olympics performance, its unfortunate that we didn’t win a medal in the 2024 Olympics. We will assess what needs to be done moving forward and what shouldn’t be done,"
India's boxing campaign was disappointing
Lovlina (women's 75kg) missed out on a historic second medal at the Paris Olympics and lost to China's Li Qian in the quarterfinals. At the same time, in the men's 71 kg category, Nishant Dev had reached the quarter-finals, but he had to face defeat from Marco Verde of Mexico.
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg), Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal (men's 51kg) and Preeti Pawar (women's 54kg) lost in the round of 16 in their respective categories. Jasmine Lamboria (women's 57 kg) was eliminated in the round of 32. Overall, India's Paris Olympics boxing campaign was disappointing.
"As a world champion and medallist myself, its natural to feel disappointed. We'll focus on more practice and hard work for the upcoming tournaments," Mary Kom added.
Only three boxers achieved olympic medal
Notably, so far only three Indian boxers have won medals in the Olympics – Vijender Singh (bronze in Beijing 2008), Mary Kom (bronze in London 2012) and Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in Tokyo 2020).
A lot of instances have seen cricket being differentiated from other sports. Especially, in South Asian countries, where cricket rules a fraternity, "sports" look doomed. An established "Cricket versus Sports" league is not a 2-month long tournament. It's an age-long duel with apparent results. But, is cricket guilty?
If we look back, Cricket was not as big as it is now. Restricted within the allies of a colonized country, cricket was just a time pass. 36 years to Independence, but a famous singer (Lata Mangeshkar) had to arrange a charity musical show to gather prize money for the 1983 World Cup Winners.
The image of Kapil lifting the World Cup trophy from the iconic Lord's balcony. Photo Collcted.
India gained some confidence since then. the biggest boost came after the win in the inaugurating T20 World Cup Win. 2007, 24the September, exactly 20 years back, the seed of the cash-rich league got sown.
Indian Premier League, started in 2008, is the biggest source of money earning for BCCI. Keeping aside BCCI, the neighbouring cricketing nations have their cricket board more powerful than the other boards. But is this a fault of Cricket?
"Athletes" ignites the fire of "Cricket versus Sport" League
India won its second T20I World Cup after ending its 11 years of drought. The fans who were frustrated for a decade finally got one thing to celebrate. The Marine Drive got flooded with people. The Wankahde Stadium showed all its suppresed love to the team.
The Indian team received a grand welcome at the Mumbai's Marine Drive that was followed by a felicitation ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium. AP
But this has triggered athletes from different sports. Names like Chirag Shetty and Saina Nehwal came into the limelight criticizing the sport. When Shetty wanted equal recognition for India's win in the last Uber Cup, Saina went a step ahead. Her view was simple- people wouldn't even hate cricket even if she did so. But, why would someone hate cricket?
This is not a once or twice-told story. This widespread competition with cricket is not new. But is cricket a foe to other sports? Here are a few stories of "influence" and "idolization" in the recent past, not only from India but from neighbors too.
Sri Lanka Cricket funded CWG participating athletes.
Palitha Bandara recorded a distance of 44.20 meters and won the silver medal for Sri Lanka. Photo collected
The pre-2022 Commonwealth Games has seen an economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Not just economic, but the life on the island was distressed. The then Prime Minister Rajadhakshya fled from the country. Sri Lanka since its independence faced their record crisis.
The country fell short of food and fuel. The pandemic had already hit the Sports authorities. The crisis increased the hardships. They ran out of money. The situation was so pathetic that the boards couldn't manage transport to send the accessories to the athletes
At a point, the country thought of withdrawing its name from the Birmingham CWG. But at that very moment, Sri Lanka Cricket stepped in.
The board contributed 22 million Sri Lankan Rupees to the athletes participating. They hosted Australia and gathered the amount, despite the fears of the crowd ruining it.
Cricket Sri Lanka tried to cover all the funds. However, the athletes still had limited athleisure. CWG authorities too came in help for the athletes. Sri Lanka finished the CWG Campaign with four medals (one silver and three bronze).
Pakistan Cricket Board- the unsung sponsor for Arshad Nadeem
Arshad Nadeem Won the gold medal for Pakistan, at Paris Olympics. Photo coutesy: Olympics
The Paris Olympics Gold medallist Arshad Nadeem was initially an age-group cricket player, His focus later shifted to javelin through which Pakistan got its first medal after 1992.
Arshad Nadeem registered a monstrous throw of 92.97 metres sealing the gold for his country. Earlier he won the silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Budapest, with a throw of 87.82 meters. He gave Pakistan’s first-ever medal at the World Athletics Championships.
But what did Pakistan give him? ignorance! The Commonwealth champion earlier expressed that he has been using a javelin for the last 8 years. His bosom friend and admirer Neeraj Chopra from India tweeted, urging the Pakistan Government to buy Nadeem news javelins.
Nadeem hails from Punjab's Miyan Channu village. Struggling themselves, the villagers funded him for his Olympic campaign. Added, that it was the Pakistan Cricket Bard who sponsored him.
PCB also financed Nadeem and his coach Salman Fayyaz Butt's air tickets.
Earlier BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced financial aid for the Olympians.BCCI granted Rs. 8.5 Crores (approximately $1.03 million) to the Indian Olympic Association for their Olympics campaign.
Recently a new NCA (National Cricket Academy) is near completion. The old existing facilities at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the city center will be upgraded to a multi-sport training facility.
Apart from the cricketers, it will open doors for the Olympians too. NCA will have new facilities that will let them train there.
The new facilities will have World-Class Playing Grounds will have:
45 Practice Pitches: A variety of pitches to cater to different training needs.
Indoor Cricket Facilities: For year-round practice and skill development.
Olympic-Sized Swimming Pool: To aid in recovery and cross-training for athletes.
State-of-the-Art Training and Recovery Facilities: Equipped with the latest sports science technology to help athletes maintain peak physical condition and recover efficiently from injuries.
Cricketer- "athlete" collaboration
When one section came forward criticizing the fame, the other one took it handy to make their own.
Mahi's influence
Speaking about Swapnil Kusale, he himself mentioned that he doesn't follow any other sport apart from shooting. But he follows Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kusale, who is an Indian Railways employee is a ticket checker like Dhoni. It took him 12 years to feature in the Olympics. And take India's first ever 10m Rifle position 3 medal. The Asian Games Champion accepted that MS's calm personality helps him to stay calm in chaos.
One of the biggest heartbreak for any badminton fan was Lakshya Sen's exit from the Olympics without a medal. The Chinese Lee Zii Jia shattered Sen's bronze medal dream.
But Sen's popularity is still unmatched in the sports arena. Even though he is "big," he still wants to "be the Virat Kohli of Indian badminton in coming years." In "The Ranveer Show" podcast he expressed his admiration for Kohli.
The other name that comes in the list is Nitesh Kumar. The Olympic Champion in the Men's Singles SL3 category is a Kohli fan. His winning celebration had some glimpses of Kohli's aggression.
But Nitesh's love for Kohli is not limited to celebrations. After succumbing to a deadly injury in Vizag, he started upgrading his badminton skills. Not only that, he delved himself into fitness, inspired by the 2013 version of Kohli.
P.R Sreejesh celebrated in his unique style after winning the bronze medal at paris. (Reuters Photo)
Soon after retirement, Indian Men's Hockey team goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh was assigned to train the junior hockey team. The two-time Olympic Bronze medallist was delighted to get this role. he not only talked about the future prospects but did mentioned about Rahul Dravid.
"The Wall" of Indian Hockey looked upon "The Wall" of Indian Cricket when it came to coaching. The way Dravid devoted himself to training the cricketing juniors, Seejesh is looking forward to doing the same for his sports.
The 2028 Olympics will feature Cricket after 128 years. The brand value of Virat Kohli played a pivotal role in the addition of cricket. But as Sunil Chhetri, the Indian former captain of Indian Football once said, Cricket excelling is great for that country. Then, how does that justify other sports not getting the "love" cricket gets?
How does that justify Chirag Shetty repeatedly slipping down on the court, in the Olympics quarterfinal, having his partner Sattwikraj Rankireddy as the lone warrior?
How does that justify the associations not getting enough funds and definitely investing to find talent?
How does that justify archers failing to read the wind in bigger stages?
It's an open-ended question. Is it cricket the enemy, or the system? Is cricket actually an enemy or a friend in need?
China Open 2024: Malvika Bansod enters Super 1000 quarterfinals for the first time by defeating top seed Kirsty Gilmour
The 23-year-old badminton player achieved this victory a day after defeating the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. However, Malvika Bansod is the only Indian shuttler left in the competition.
Indian badminton player Malvika Bansod continued her brilliant form and entered the Super 1000 quarter-finals for the first time by winning a tough match against her higher ranked opponent Kirsty Gilmour at the China Open 2024 in Changzhou on Thursday.
Malvika Bansod, BWFranking 43rd, toiled hard for one hour and five minutes before defeating two-time Commonwealth Games medalist and world number 25 Gilmour of Scotland 21-17 19-21 21-16 in the women's singles round-of-16 match.
Earlier defeated Paris Olympics bronze medalist
The 23-year-old player achieved this victory a day after defeating the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.
However, Malvika Bansod, the only Indian shuttler left in the competition, faces a tough challenge as she will face fourth seed and two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the last eight stage.
Although the Japanese shuttler has won both the matches against Malvika, the Indian shuttler came close to defeating Yamaguchi and she is hopeful that she will be able to register victory this time.
Malvika's sensational performance in pre-quarterfinals
In the opening game against Gilmour, Malvika was down 11-5 at the break. The Indian shuttler brought down the deficit to two points at 16-14 and then won seven of the next eight points to go one game up in the contest. Gilmour, drew on her experience to mount a comeback and close a tight second game.
Malvika surged to an eight-point lead at 10-2 in the decider. She later extended her advantage to 20-11. Gilmour fought back with five consecutive points to make it 20-16 but the late fightback proved too little for Malvika, who comfortably sealed her spot in the quarter-finals.
Asian Champions Trophy 2024: India bags their 5th title after defeating China 1-0
When no one was able to score any goal from both the teams, Jugraj Singh did wonders and scored a goal for India. Because of this goal, the Indian team was successful in winning the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 title.
In this match, initially, no one was able to score any goal from both the teams. Then just a few minutes before the end of the match, Jugraj Singh did wonders and scored a goal for India. Because of this goal, the Indian team was successful in winning the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 title. India had won the Asian Champions Trophy title for the fifth time. China had made it to the finals for the first time and had already lost in the first round.
Players from both the teams failed to score goals in the first quarter. India created chances to score goals, but the team was not successful to do it. They also got a penalty corner but the team could not capitalize on it.
There was no goal scored by both the teams in the second quarter as well. In this quarter, China's defense performed well and kept the Indian players in check. In the third quarter, China made several attacks to score, but they failed to reach Indian goalkeeper Krishna Pathak.
Jugraj Singh scored a powerful goal
No goals were scored between the two teams till the third quarter. In such a situation, it seemed that the match would go to penalty shootout. But after this, Jugraj Singh scored an excellent field goal and gave the team a 1-0 lead in the match. This increased the hopes of the Indian hockey team to win. After this, India did not give any chance to China to score a goal. Jugraj's goal in the final proved important in the team winning the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 trophy.
The Indian hockey team has performed amazingly in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 and has not lost a single match till the final. The team had defeated South Korea 4-1 in the semi-finals. Harmanpreet Singh (C), Uttam Singh, and Jarmanpreet Singh had scored goals against the Korean team.
This is India's fifth Asian Champions Trophy title. Earlier, India had won the trophy in 2011, 2016, 2018 (joint winners with Pakistan) and 2023. Harmanpreet Singh has received the Player of the Tournament award for his strong performance throughout the tournament.
Follow Us
/sportzpoint/media/media_files/WpCpN9mb8EAdrEbnZRkC.jpg)
/sportzpoint/media/media_files/qxvRhKx85us1bMg5OrKF.jpg)
/sportzpoint/media/media_files/AjRu5aO8nq5el2T2VHod.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/media_files/2vEeJKGLz4H5iHljbDA0.png)
/sportzpoint/media/media_files/6lCwVpLE1Ph3It6wRuCO.webp)
