Road to Rio Olympics: Men's Indian Hockey Team
A Briefing to hockey in the Rio Olympics Here’s to the most awaited event in the world of sports!
Read the story of how Indian men's hockey team qualified for the Olympics & more..!
The field hockey will be hosted in Deodoro with 24 teams participating, 12 for men and women each. The hype is building up day by day and there’s lots in store with India's hopes at stake especially rooting for the Men’s Indian hockey team that gracefully earned their way into the Games.The teams that were placed the six highest at the semi finals of 2014-15 FIH Hockey World league gain easy entry , so do each of the Continental Champions for five confederations who receive an automatic berth into the competition. The twelve teams that were qualified to compete are : India, Germany, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands and Australia.As seen earlier, the winners of the last Olympics at London in 2012 was Germany, followed by Netherlands and Australia. The known teams that hold medalists of this prestigious event are Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Britain and Pakistan. India is not far behind bagging 11 medals between the period 1928 and 1980 among which 8 were gold . Their last successful victory was in Moscow in 1980.
It came as a surprise to none that India is one of the top skilled teams to gain entry and qualify for the
Rio Olympics 2016 . They did so at Incheon , South Korea in the 17th Asian Games that took place
between 20th September -2nd October 2014.They defeated rivals and defending champions Pakistan 4-2 with a shoot out ,ending the 16 years of non achievement of the gold medal in the Asian Games and hence succeeded their way through the 2016 Rio Olympics in Incheon on 30th September.In the finals, it was a fierce fight between India and Pakistan, who stood firm and battled their way through the 60 minutes of the game. Due to the tie at 1-1, a shoot out was required to declare the winner. The key players who contributed to the victory were Akashdeep Singh, Rupinder Singh,Birendra Lakra and Dharamvir Singh. An ovation primarily to the vice captain P.R Sreejesh for his outstanding saves against the rivals. As a result of their golden moment to victory, they have earned a qualification to the Rip Olympics. That was a prestigious turning point for the Men’s Indian Hockey team since the last time India won a gold medal was in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Immense hard work and dedication has enabled them to strive their way to the top. Its an experience to watch them come a long way since the 2014 Asian Games ,being proud owners of the gold medal. This has been a ray of hope for the Indian Team and they’ve started believing in themselves again.
As said by V.R Raghunath,“We were ranked 12-13 In 2014 but climbed up to no.6 and currently we are no.7 in the world.Opponents don’t take us lightly anymore and they talk about us as a team that does well in knockout”.Currently the Men’s Indian Hockey team ranks number 5 world wide and are endeavoring their way up the charts ,aiming high and pressing on towards their goal.
The team has been putting in all they’ve got ,not reading to lose focus and setting their target to be
undefeatable. Their approach is more systematic this time and they are treading on the right path.
Also quoted by S.V.Sunil, “Last time we paid more attention to fitness. This time we are focusing on overall development as a team and the training has a lot to do with discipline and team spirit.”The Indian team is gearing up towards tremendous game-plays and strategies to excel with flying colors this upcoming Olympics. Their rigorous practice sessions,dedication and hard work will be revealed as they go all out in this most hoped victory. Their teamwork, skills and efficient field work has been well renounced world wide.
Proudly said by Olympio Fernandes, a goalkeeper of the winning team in 1975,” I have been watching the performance of the Indian Hockey team and they played to a plan despite their depleted strength in the Champions Trophy. Indian hockey has found the right formula to reach the top once again.”
The buzz is getting bigger and the masses are in enormous support of the Men’s Indian Hockey team.
In definite terms ,this is a huge encouragement to them. Let’s wish them ample amount of luck and watch them outshine,making us proud Indians.
Read the story of how Indian men's hockey team qualified for the Olympics & more..!
Road to Rio Olympics: Men's Indian Hockey Team
The Rio Olympics 2016 which is to be hosted by Brazil from the 6th of August to the 21 st August 2016. It is also called the Game of XXXI Olympiad Multi Sport event of Olympics taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With an outstanding number of 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympics Committee, 28 sports held at 33 venues.
The field hockey will be hosted in Deodoro with 24 teams participating, 12 for men and women each. The hype is building up day by day and there’s lots in store with India's hopes at stake especially rooting for the Men’s Indian hockey team that gracefully earned their way into the Games.The teams that were placed the six highest at the semi finals of 2014-15 FIH Hockey World league gain easy entry , so do each of the Continental Champions for five confederations who receive an automatic berth into the competition. The twelve teams that were qualified to compete are : India, Germany, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands and Australia.As seen earlier, the winners of the last Olympics at London in 2012 was Germany, followed by Netherlands and Australia. The known teams that hold medalists of this prestigious event are Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Britain and Pakistan. India is not far behind bagging 11 medals between the period 1928 and 1980 among which 8 were gold . Their last successful victory was in Moscow in 1980.
India's Qualification
It came as a surprise to none that India is one of the top skilled teams to gain entry and qualify for the
Rio Olympics 2016 . They did so at Incheon , South Korea in the 17th Asian Games that took place
between 20th September -2nd October 2014.They defeated rivals and defending champions Pakistan 4-2 with a shoot out ,ending the 16 years of non achievement of the gold medal in the Asian Games and hence succeeded their way through the 2016 Rio Olympics in Incheon on 30th September.In the finals, it was a fierce fight between India and Pakistan, who stood firm and battled their way through the 60 minutes of the game. Due to the tie at 1-1, a shoot out was required to declare the winner. The key players who contributed to the victory were Akashdeep Singh, Rupinder Singh,Birendra Lakra and Dharamvir Singh. An ovation primarily to the vice captain P.R Sreejesh for his outstanding saves against the rivals. As a result of their golden moment to victory, they have earned a qualification to the Rip Olympics. That was a prestigious turning point for the Men’s Indian Hockey team since the last time India won a gold medal was in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Training and Preparation towards the Olympics
As said by V.R Raghunath,“We were ranked 12-13 In 2014 but climbed up to no.6 and currently we are no.7 in the world.Opponents don’t take us lightly anymore and they talk about us as a team that does well in knockout”.Currently the Men’s Indian Hockey team ranks number 5 world wide and are endeavoring their way up the charts ,aiming high and pressing on towards their goal.
The team has been putting in all they’ve got ,not reading to lose focus and setting their target to be
undefeatable. Their approach is more systematic this time and they are treading on the right path.
Also quoted by S.V.Sunil, “Last time we paid more attention to fitness. This time we are focusing on overall development as a team and the training has a lot to do with discipline and team spirit.”The Indian team is gearing up towards tremendous game-plays and strategies to excel with flying colors this upcoming Olympics. Their rigorous practice sessions,dedication and hard work will be revealed as they go all out in this most hoped victory. Their teamwork, skills and efficient field work has been well renounced world wide.
Proudly said by Olympio Fernandes, a goalkeeper of the winning team in 1975,” I have been watching the performance of the Indian Hockey team and they played to a plan despite their depleted strength in the Champions Trophy. Indian hockey has found the right formula to reach the top once again.”
The buzz is getting bigger and the masses are in enormous support of the Men’s Indian Hockey team.
In definite terms ,this is a huge encouragement to them. Let’s wish them ample amount of luck and watch them outshine,making us proud Indians.
