Indian men's hockey team slips to eighth spot after disappointing campaign in FIH Pro League 2024-25

The Indian women’s hockey team have been relegated after finishing ninth in the FIH Pro League 2024-25.

The Indian men’s hockey team slipped to the eighth spot in the FIH World Rankings after a disappointing performance in the FIH Pro League 2024-25 European Leg. Despite having a full-strength squad, the team had to face defeat in seven out of eight matches.

The Paris Olympics bronze medalists were placed fifth at the start of the second half of the FIH Pro League. However, they lost a lot of points, especially after losing against teams below them in the chart. The Indian men’s hockey team finished eighth in the Men’s FIH Pro League 2024-25 with 18 points in 16 matches, including six wins and ten losses.

However, they ended up losing two games each against the Netherlands, Argentina, and Australia, and one against Belgium. After seven consecutive defeats on the trot, they concluded the tournament with a 4-3 victory against the latter. The pattern in the defeats has been nearly the same.

Six of them were by a deficit of one goal. In five of them, they had a lead at some point. There were also just two encounters, where the Men in Blue didn’t concede any goals in the fourth quarter. Except for Abhishek, the forwards performed the worst. They were guilty of not burying easy chances and allowing their opponents to hang on in the game, which eventually proved costly.

With many exciting talents on the sidelines, change looks imminent. The Indian team had already suffered a major blow with the retirement of Lalit Upadhyay, one of the stalwarts of the game. The defenders and midfielders were slightly better, but were guilty of committing silly errors at crucial junctures.

India will play some practice matches before the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup is scheduled to start from August 27 in Rajgir, Bihar. They need to win the Asia Cup title to secure qualification for next year’s Hockey World Cup. If that doesn’t happen, they would have to bear the ignominy of playing the Qualifiers next year.

Women’s team remains in ninth place

The Indian women’s hockey team remains in ninth place in the updated rankings. They had a disappointing campaign in Europe as well, eventually finishing last in the table with 10 points in 16 matches, including two wins, three draws (one shootout bonus point), and eleven losses. As a result, they have been relegated and will now play in the FIH Nations Cup next season.

After putting on a brilliant performance in Bhubaneshwar (including a draw with a shootout bonus against World No. 1 Netherlands), they showed glimpses of great promise in the second half of the tournament last month. However, just like the men’s team, they were guilty of not converting their opportunities.

The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze-medal-winning team came on the wrong side of two close fixtures against Australia, before being thrashed by Argentina. They then made a stunning comeback to secure a draw against the South American side, before losing in the shootout.

Competing to avoid relegation, India suffered two defeats each against Belgium and China, dashing their hopes. While they did manage to maintain their rankings, they have lost the opportunity to potentially play sixteen competitive matches against the best teams in the world, in the upcoming edition.

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