Manpreet Singh will lead the team as a captain and Birendra Lakra as a vice-captain. As it is the very first FIH tournament for Coach Graham Reid as chief, so he seems quite excited and looking forward to this series as a quite important step in the Olympic qualification process.

He added that our goal is to give the consistent performance in every match of the series that we play along with respecting all the opposing teams, turning out to be the best team. Also, the previous international matches with the great teams have given us many things to learn, and we’ll surely implement those in these matches.

Following are the details of the team:

Goalkeepers – PR Sreejesh and Krishan B Pathak

Defenders – Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra (Vice Captain), Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh

Midfielders – Manpreet Singh (Captain), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma

Forwards – Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Simranjit Singh

All the very best team, India. We are looking forward to a fantabulous performance in the series.

Keep watching this space for the updates of the match.

The post 18-Member Squad is All Set For The FIH Men’s Series Finals in Bhubaneswar Odisha first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the first quarter, the Australia team without wasting time made a circle entry and gave a great shot but saved by Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak. In the next minutes, another great shot by Australia team and finally a goal in the 3rd minute with a score IND 0-1 AUS. Another great shot by team India at the goal but missed. Team Australia played aggressive and giving back to back shots but team India showed defensive skills to avoid further loss. PC was awarded to India but missed to score a goal. Next PC to Australia, but India kept on saving all the shots at the goal. Australia got possession and scored another goal. In the next minutes another great shot by Niakanta Sharma and finally a first goal of the match in the 12th minute making the score IND 1-2 AUS at the end of the first quarter.

Quarter 2 – In the second quarter, Australia team started with a great shot but no further loss. India got the free hit but missed the shot. Mandeep Singh showed great skills but the shot goes the wrong way. India team got possession in the next minutes by no goal recorded. India got a free hit again but missed. Another great shot by Trent Mitton of team Australia followed by a PC and another goal by Blake Govers making the score IND 1-4 AUS at the end of the first half.

Quarter 3 – In the third quarter, team India ruled the ball in initial minutes, but missed the shot at the goal. Multiple free hits to team India and multiple entries to circle, but all saved. Tim Brand of team Australia scored a goal in the 43rd minute making the score IND 1-5 AUS at the end of the third quarter.

Quarter 4 – Team India seemed aggressive to score goals in the last quarter and left no stone unturned to give great shots. A PC was awarded to India and finally the second goal by Rupinder Pal in the last minutes of the match thereby making the score IND 2-5 AUS. Team India played well but lost the second match of the series.

And finally, the Australian tour ended with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats for Team India.

Keep watching this space for further updates.

The post Men’s Team India Faced a Second Defeat in the Australia Five Day Hockey Match Series first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the initial minutes, team India got the ball to score a lead, but missed. Aran Zalewski took the next charge and then the next minutes, PC was awarded to India but missed the shot at the goal. Then, a free hit to team Australia for the attack and they seemed aggressive to utilize the opportunity, but rescued by skipper Manpreet Singh. Another shot by team Australia but saved by Surender Kumar. Again a free hit to Australia and a next circle entry but missed. Nilakanta made the next circle entry but again missed. Again a great shot at the goal by team Australia but missed. A PC and a Penalty shot were awarded back to back to team Australia and they did it. Finally a goal by Blake Govers with the score IND 0-1 AUS at the end of the first quarter.

Quarter 2 – Team India seeking out for goal scoring opportunities to equalize the score and team Australia looking out for ways to strengthen their lead. Another PC to Australia and they did it again with a goal by Jeremy Hayward. Another great shot at the goal by Australia team but Vivek Sagar saved it. India got the ball possession and Kothajit makes a beautiful pass in midfield. The second PC was awarded to India to score a lead and the players seemed aggressive but missed. The opposing team got the ball possession again but no further damage. India got another PC and a great shot by Harmanpreet Singh by saved. Another PC was awarded to team Australia, but the score at the end of the first half remained IND 0-2 AUS.

Quarter 3 – In the third quarter as well PC was awarded to team Australia but saved by Vivek Sagar. Both the teams gave great shots but were unable to score a goal and the score remained the same at the end of the third quarter as well at IND 0-2 AUS.

Quarter 4 – In the final quarter, team India holds on to possession showing a great team spirit. A great shot by Rupinder Pal Singh but saved by the Australian goalkeeper. In the last minutes, two back to back goals by Australia thereby making the score IND 0-4 AUS. Team India tried hard and gave great shots as well by missed this time. Better luck next time.

The next match of the series is going to be held on 17th May 2018 at 14:30 hrs IST.

Keep watching this space for the further updates of the matches.

The post India Men’s Hockey Team’s First Defeat in the Fourth Match of Australia Tour first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – The first quarter started with full enthusiasm, with both the teams striving to give a shot at the goal. In the early minutes, team India got the ball possession but missed scoring a goal. Team Australia ‘A’ took the next opportunity and made their first circle entry. In the following minutes PC was awarded to India, but great shots at the goal were missed. Team Australia tried hard to score the first goal but saved by Krishan B Pathak. The next PC was awarded to Australia ‘A’ but all the great shots were saved. India got another circle entry but missed a goal. Both the teams were aggressive to record a goal first, but unfortunately, at the end of the first quarter, the score remained IND 0-0 AUS.

Quarter 2 – India Team seemed too focused on the goal and made another circle entry, but the opposing team showed great defensive skills and saved. Team Australia gave an excellent shot in the next minutes and finally scored a goal in the 21st minute. India team gave another great shot to equalize the score, before the first half end but unfortunately unable to. So the score at the end of the first half was IND 0-1 AUS.

Quarter 3 – In the early minutes of the 3rd quarter, India got the PC and there was a great shot by Akashdeep Singh, but again saved. Australia team give the next shot but saved by Surender Kumar. PC was awarded to India, but despite great efforts of Rupinder and Manpreet, no goal was recorded. The team got the possession as well, but Australian goalkeepers saved every shot and the score at the end of the third quarter remained the same IND 0-1 AUS with Australia having the lead.

Quarter 4 – Again the team India got the possession and a circle entry was made by Sumit Kumar but then a counterattack by opposing team and got the possession and a circle entry was made but unable to score a goal. In the next minutes, India’s another circle entry by Akashdeep Singh and then a PC took by Harmanpreet Singh and a great shot but again saved. In the last minutes, again PC was awarded to India and took by Harmanpreet Singh and finally a goal at the 56th minute. So, finally the score equalized, and there was a draw between the teams.

Well done teams!

The next match of the series is scheduled to be held on 15th May at 14:30 hrs IST.

Keep watching this space for further updates of the match.

The post Third Match of Men’s Hockey India Vs Australia Ended at a Draw first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

The matches will be played from 8^th May to 17^th May. The schedule for five matches is as below:

• 8^th May at 15:30 IST between WA Thunderstics and India

• 10^th May at 7:30 IST between Australia ‘A’ and India

• 13^th May at 7:30 IST between Australia ‘A’ and India

• 15^th May at 14:30 IST between Australia and India

• 17^th May at 16:30 IST between Australia and India

According to Captain Manpreet Singh, this International tour and the matches with world class teams will prove to be a great exposure for youngest team members to build up their confidence in the upcoming FIH Final Hockey Series.

At the time of Departure, Manpreet reminds the team of Chief Reid’s words about how important is the value of a team player than that of an individual player. The team of youngsters and experienced players is well prepared and are fully confident to give their best shots.

Keep watching this space for further updates on the match.

The post Men’s Hockey Team India is All Set for Australia Tour first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

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