{"id":274521,"date":"2025-04-05T02:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T02:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/05\/hockey-at-fih-pro-league-in-bhubaneswar-indias-hockey-teams-begin-their-journey-toward-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T02:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T02:25:00","slug":"hockey-at-fih-pro-league-in-bhubaneswar-indias-hockey-teams-begin-their-journey-toward-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/05\/hockey-at-fih-pro-league-in-bhubaneswar-indias-hockey-teams-begin-their-journey-toward-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey: At FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar, India\u2019s hockey teams begin their journey toward World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hockey: At FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar, India\u2019s hockey teams begin their journey toward World Cup\" title=\"Hockey: At FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar, India\u2019s hockey teams begin their journey toward World Cup\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"pcl-full-content\">\n<p>This time in 2024, when India\u2019s hockey teams kick-started their Pro League commitments, the circumstances couldn\u2019t have been more contrasting. The men were in an experimental mode, upbeat after the Asian Games and brimming with self-belief to finish on the Olympic podium again \u2014 which they did. The women\u2019s team, meanwhile, were recovering from a heartbreak like never before. They failed to qualify for the Paris Games, which put many celebrated careers in a spot of bother. And the then-coach, Janneke Schopman, lashed out heavily at the administration.<\/p>\n<p>A year on, they return to the competition in different moods and ambitions. Craig Fulton and Harmanpreet Singh\u2019s men are strutting around with an aura around them; not necessarily of invincibility \u2014 that they are not \u2014 but one of them being taken seriously in world hockey. In Salima Tete, the women have a new leader; the old guard have stayed on and with the Olympic setback now behind them, the Harendra Singh-coached team once again seems to have the wind in their sails. And later this week, they will face their former coach Schopman, who returns to India as Germany\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n<p><ev-engagement group-name=\"contentLogin\"\/><ev-engagement group-name=\"myNotification\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"ev-meter-content ie-premium-content-block\">\n<p>These storylines provide fascinating context to the Pro League, a competition that has seen its significance rise after it got the status of a 2026 World Cup qualifier, with the winner getting an automatic spot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"iframe-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/indianexpress\/images\/lazy_placeholder.gif\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/3hoQBvyCGPipAyQPJi4OPr?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"osv-ad-class\" style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;height: 375px;margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n<p>Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For the Indian teams that finished in the bottom half last season, it\u2019ll take something special to challenge for the title, more so for the women who have consistently struggled to beat teams ranked higher than them. Yet, they are banking on the \u2018Hockey India League factor\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are still in that momentum,\u201d says former captain Savita Punia. \u201cWe have seen in the past how much the HIL had an impact on the men\u2019s team. Hopefully, we will see the same with women\u2019s hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Can we see the HIL effect?<\/h2>\n<p>The HIL hangover is yet to subside. Savita said how most of India\u2019s players, be it a veteran like her or the rookies in the team, observed the foreign stars closely \u2014 from technical stuff to off-the-field conduct. Suddenly, some of the players who shared the dressing room just weeks ago in club colours will now be in the opposing dugouts for their country.<\/p>\n<p>Over on the men\u2019s side, Harmanpreet couldn\u2019t stop talking about how impressive his defence and drag-flick partner Jugraj Singh was. The duo, divided by clubs, will reunite with the national team with the hope that Jugraj continues his good form and cements his place as a worthy back-up \u2014 and a long-term replacement \u2014 for Harmanpreet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"adboxtop adsizes\">\n<p>Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Fulton might be tempted to experiment more than he did in the previous season, given the bloated squad of 34 players he has chosen for this competition. An area on the field which he is likely to tinker the most is the forward line. Youngsters like Araijeet Singh Hundal, Angad Bir Singh, and <a rel=\"noamphtml\" class=\"keywordtourl\" href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/about\/arshdeep-singh\/\">Arshdeep Singh<\/a> could be given a look-in given that transition phase involving some seniors is imminent over the next two years.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"iframe-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/indianexpress\/images\/lazy_placeholder.gif\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/7alLyZ30GEtvjscKiAkYAm?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Harendra might not have the same luxury in terms of the depth in the player pool as Fulton. Yet, he will have some wiggle room this year given there aren\u2019t any major championships scheduled. \u201cSo I hope to identify my core group of 24 by the end of this round of Pro League and then work with them further,\u201d he said. \u201cThose players will be in my World Cup plans, more or less. We are better than what the rankings suggest and given the time we have, I believe we can aim for the semifinals at the World Cup. That\u2019s the target we have kept for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The road to that begins in Bhubaneswar, starting Saturday.<\/p>\n<h2>India\u2019s Pro League fixtures:<\/h2>\n<p>Feb 15 and 16: Men \u2014 vs Spain; Women \u2014 vs England<br \/>Feb 18 and 19: Men \u2014 vs Germany; Women \u2014 vs Spain<br \/>Feb 21 and 22: Men \u2014 vs Ireland; Women \u2014 vs Germany<br \/>Feb 24 and 25: Men \u2014 vs England; Women \u2014 vs The Netherlands<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '444470064056909');\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/sports\/hockey\/fih-pro-league-india-hockey-teams-journey-world-cup-9836698\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This time in 2024, when India\u2019s hockey teams kick-started their Pro League commitments, the circumstances couldn\u2019t have been more contrasting. The men were in an experimental mode, upbeat after the Asian Games and brimming with self-belief to finish on the Olympic podium again \u2014 which they did. The women\u2019s team, meanwhile, were recovering from a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[605],"tags":[211425,211424,11427,6283,211254,211421,85404,1318,211423,23134,189983,211251,210291,211275,9771,9767,210725,211418,90222,93882,211420,211416,211419,211252,87680,209815,189982,77935,9766,925,211422,9764,5070,108404,211426,2873,211028,4642,211417,42826,211024,210308,3933,1052],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274523,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274521\/revisions\/274523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}