Hockey World Cup Begins Today
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2023-01-13 06:24:11
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
The FIH World Cup hockey tournament begins in Odisha today. The first match will be played between India and Spain at the newly-constructed, state-of-the-art Birsa Munda stadium in Rourkela. A total of 16 nations are taking part in the tournament. Apart from India and Spain, England, Wales, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Argentina, Chile, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa have made the cut. Belgium are the defending champions. The 16 teams are divided in 4 groups and the top two teams will make the quarter-finals. India is placed in Group D with Spain, England and Wales.
India has prepared well and has been upbeat in several matches leading to the World Cup. But it has not fared well in the Cup with a win in 1975 being the best. After that, it has twice got the fifth place. That and the fact that teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, Germany, Netherlands and Argentina have frequently got the better of India, makes it a tough tournament for the hosts. Although India finished on the podium in Tokyo Olympics, the World Cup is a different ball game. But India's performance in the 2021-22 Pro League (it finished third with 8 wins and 30 points from 16 matches and they scored 62 goals, the highest by a team in the tournament) was excellent and gives it hope.
Graham Reid, coach of Team India, is banking on youth. Captain Harmanpreet Singh, in good form in recent matches, said that the team has improved a lot under Reid and will spring a surprise or two if it plays to potential. But so have other teams. India's penalty corner woes continue to take the team back and the defence has also become weak after the retirement of drag-flickers Birendra Lakra and Rupinderpal Singh. India's game plan and talent will be put to a tough test in the first match itself when they face a resurgent Spain who will be hungry for a podium finish after not achieving much in recent times. They have built a new team under former Dutch coach Max Caldus.
Overall, this is going to be an exciting tournament and a treat for hockey lovers. Odisha has lined up a host of Indian and international performers including K-pop band Blackswan (which has Odisha girl Shreya Lanka) and Ranveer Singh and Disha Patni for the opening ceremony. Music composer Pritam who composed the Hockey Hai Dil Mera, the official Hockey World Cup 2023 anthem, will also perform live with the 11 singers who sang the song.
