Rourkela: Men’s Hockey World Cup series begins today in Odisha.
The 15th edition of the ICC Men’s Hockey World Cup begins today in Odisha. The matches will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the newly constructed Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela. 16 teams will participate in this series which will be held till 29th and will conduct multiple tests to win the title. The quarter-final matches will be played on 24th and 25th, while the semi-finals will be played on 27th and the final on 29th.
Teams from Australia, Argentina, France and South Africa have been placed in ‘A’ group and defending champions Belgium, Germany, South Korea and Japan have been placed in ‘B’ group. Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia and Chile teams are in ‘C’ category and India, England, Spain and Wales teams are in ‘D’ category.
In the league round, each team will play against the other teams in their division once, and the top team in each division on points will directly enter the quarter finals. The 2nd and 3rd placed teams in each division in the league round will play in a cross-over round. Out of this round of 8 teams, 4 teams will qualify for the quarter finals.
4 matches are played today which is the opening day. Argentina vs South Africa teams will clash at 1 pm. Australia will face France in the next match at 3 PM. Both these matches will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
At 5 pm England – Wales teams will conduct a multi-test. The match is being played at the newly built Birsa Munda stadium which can seat 21 thousand people to watch the match. The Indian team will face Spain in the match at the same stadium at 7 pm.
In the Hockey World Cup, the Indian team won the bronze medal in the inaugural series in 1971 and the silver medal in the 1973 series. India won the title in 1975 under the leadership of Ajit Pal Singh. In none of the series held since then, the Indian team has not even advanced to the semi-finals.
Thus the Indian team’s World Cup thirst has lasted for 48 years. However, since the Indian men’s hockey team won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics last year, there are high expectations for the players this time. If the Indian team wins a medal, there may be a turning point in the world hockey arena.
In the period from 1978 to 2014, India did not make it past the league stage of the Hockey World Cup. Meanwhile, in the 2018 series, the Indian team lost to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. But this time the Indian team led by Harmanpreet Singh is considered to be one of the teams that can win a medal.
India, ranked 6th in the world, recently toured Australia and played a 5-match series against the team. In spite of 4 failures, it has improved its technical skills.
At the same time, they also won a match against Australia, who are ranked first in the world. It was also the first win for India against Australia in the last 6 years. The Indian team may aim to qualify for the semi-finals as the first phase of the World Cup series.
In the year 2021-22, the Indian team was ranked 3rd in the Hockey Pro League conducted by the International Hockey Federation. This has boosted the confidence of the team. Since Graham Reid took over as the coach of the Indian team in 2019, the performance of the players has been steadily improving.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh has won the International Hockey Federation Player of the Year award. An excellent defender and track flicker, he can be a key contributor to the Indian team’s success. Goalkeeper PR Jesh, mid-field Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and striker Mandeep Singh are capable of changing game moments. Along with them, former captain and defender Amit Rohitas, who can perform well in the penalty corner, and forward Akashdeep Singh can also add strength.
The Indian team may be looking to start the World Cup series with a win. If they register a win in the first match, they will have no difficulty in directly entering the quarter-finals. Otherwise it will be forced to play in a cross-over round.
Spain from Europe has never been an easy team for India. Spain, ranked 8th in the world, will be the team with the most youth in the series. Despite the fact that the team has never won a World Cup title, it is a formidable challenge for any team on match day. Spain finished second in the 1971 and 1998 series. After that he won the bronze medal in 2006.
The coach is former Argentina player Max Caldas and the captain is experienced Alvaro Iglesias. Spain beat India 3-2 in the Pro League hockey series held in Bhubaneswar at the end of last year. In the same series, the Indian team also retaliated against Spain. The two teams have faced each other in 30 matches so far. In this, India won 13 matches and Spain won 11 matches. 6 matches ended in draws.
India: Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Abhishek, Surender, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Nilam Sanjeep, PR Sreejesh, Neelkanda Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohitas, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sukhjeet Singh.
Spain: Andreas Rafi, Alejandro Alonso, Cesar Curiel, Xavi Gisbert, Borja Lagalle, Alvaro Iglesias, Ignacio Rodriguez, Enrique Gonzalez, Gerard Clasp, Andreas Rafi, Jordi Bonastre, Joaquin Menini, Mario Garin, Mark Payne, Mark Mirellas, Pepe Caniel, Mark Regassens, Pau Kanil, Mark Vizcaino.
