HOCKEY WORLD CUP

2023 Hockey World Cup: A tournament between the world's best hockey teams to clinch the world title. For the second time in a row, the tournament was held on Indian soil. It was a proud moment for India to host this prestigious tournament one more time.

 

A tournament with dreams, hopes, and heartbreaking moments The number of teams has been increased from twelve to sixteen in this edition to provide more opportunities for teams and to raise competency levels. The 44 matches were hosted at two stadiums: 20 matches in the newly built Birsa Munda Stadium, Rourkela, and 24 matches (including Final) at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. The opening ceremony of the World Cup was hosted at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack with spectacular fireworks and Bollywood actors. A musical performance was given by K-pop band Blackswan and Odia artist Shreya Lenka.

 

When it comes to the Indian team, because of the home crowd advantage, this was a good opportunity for the Indian team to win the World Cup. After 48 years, the team was also desperate to add another World Cup trophy to their collection. This time, the Indian Team was led by Harmanpreet Singh and included many young talents such as Shamsher Singh, Hardik Singh, and Jarmanpreet Singh, as well as an experienced side such as Vice Captain Amit Rohidas, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, and defender Manpreet Singh, among others.

 

The Indian team began their campaign against Spain, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Amit Rohidas and Hardik Singh. The second match was an exhausted draw against England. The last nail-biting group stage match was against Wales, which India won 4-2 with goals from the Singh Trio (Harmanpreet, Akashdeep, and Shamsher).

Now the Indian team faced New Zealand in the crossover game due to a smaller goal difference with England in the group stage. The Kalinga Stadium is now set for the clash. The Indian team started with aggressive intent and scored back-to-back two goals, but New Zealand also came back with two goals, and before the full-time whistle, the scores were 3-3. The match went into a penalty shootout, which unfortunately New Zealand won 5-4. The Men in Blue had to wait another four years (after 1975) to reclaim their title in the Netherlands in 2026.

Now the Indian team had to focus on their next campaigns, including the FIH Pro Hockey League, the Asian Games 2022 (which will commence on September 23, 2023), the Paris Olympics 2024, etc. Coach Graham Reed's team had to make improvements in their defensive lineup and drag flickers to compete against European and Polynesian teams with a power-hitting style of play.

Thank You, 

Sarthak P. Khode 😊

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