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Hosts India made a shock exit from the FIH Men's World Cup after losing to New Zealand in sudden death in their must-win crossover match in front of a relentlessly cheering 15000 home crowd here on Sunday. The loss ended India's hopes of a Wold Cup medal after 48 years. Despite vociferous support from the jampacked Kalinga Stadium crowd, India allowed New Zealand to come back from two-goal deficit in the regulation time as the match ended at 3-3 in the regulation time. In the penalty shootout, the scores were also tied after the first five set of strikes, and the match was finally decided via sudden death. Captain Harmanpreet Singh had the golden chance to take India to victory in sudden death but he failed to do that as he missed the target. Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made two saves in the shootout to rescue India after they were 2-3 down. He saved another one during the sudden death and got himself injured and Krishan Pathak replaced him in the next three rounds of ...
Veteran India hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh feels their opening two FIH Pro League matches against ever-improving Spain will be a "mock test" ahead of the World Cup to be held early next year in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. India are set to host the men's World Cup from January 13 to 29 next year. But before the marquee event, India will host world No.8 Spain on October 30 and November 6 in their first tie of the upcoming FIH Pro League 2022-23 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. "FIH Hockey Pro League is the best platform for us because we get to play against some of the top teams. The upcoming matches at home will be like a mock test for us, it will help us for the real challenge which we will face in January 2023," Sreejesh said in a Hockey India release. "It will also help us in providing young players the experience of playing high-level hockey. So, it's a great opportunity for us as it will sort of help us set the tempo for the World Cup." India are placed in a tricky Pool D
Indian women's hockey vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka on Tuesday said the Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medal is a thing of the past now and the team is focussing on winning this year's FIH Nations Cup, a qualifier for next season's Pro League. India, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and hosts Spain are the eight participating teams in the Nations Cup to be held in Valencia from December 10 to 17. The winner of the tournament will directly qualify for next season's FIH Pro League. "We did well in Birmingham, but now that is a closed chapter. We have had a good break and now we have to get back to work. I am sure chief coach Janneke Schopman will assess our previous performance and plan the upcoming days in camp accordingly," Ekka said in a Hockey India release. "We have to do well in Spain in the FIH Women's Hockey Nations Cup, and for that the preparation begins from today. It won't be easy but training hard and doing the right things repeatedly during