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The Hockey World Cup is currently underway in Bhubaneshwar and the group stage has been finished. Hosts India, Australia, Germany and Spain have directly qualified for the quarter-finals by topping their respective groups. On the other hand, teams like the Netherlands, England, France, Belgium and Pakistan are parts of a crossover phase which would yield 4 more quarter-finalists.
England has beaten New Zealand 2-0 in the first Crossover match and France defeated China 1-0 in the following fixture. The Netherlands are the favourites to qualify for the quarter-final from the crossover stage. However, the chance of one or more upsets taking place cannot be ruled out either.
We would now take a look at the 3 teams which have looked most impressive in this tournament so far:
#3. India
The hosts India has not won a Hockey World Cup since 1975 and will try to make the most of their chances in the current edition of the tournament. They've made a very impressive start by beating South Africa by 5 goals and drawing 2-2 with Belgium.
Indian players have traditionally depended more upon stick-work and short passes and therefore, they have usually found it very difficult to the fast-paced game on Astro-turfs.
However, the current Indian players have superior fitness levels and have made the most of the familiar home conditions so far. They have played fast and direct hockey at times to outclass their opponents.
However, they have not been able to get too many penalty corners and their conversion rate remains poor as well. Akashdeep Singh has been an exceptional player for them with his link-up play and sudden acceleration in the opposition half at times. Lalit Upadhyay has been very good with his deflections and opportunistic forays to the D as well and managed to score 3 goals so far.
The Indian defence has been exceptional as well and managed to hold their own against Olympic Champions Belgium. They blocked numerous Belgian attacks in the first 2 quarters of the match and made sure that the Belgians could not score more than a goal during that period. Defender Harmanpreet Singh has been excellent in the tournament so far.
#2. Germany
Germany, the 2-time World Cup Champions, found themselves in the toughest group with the Netherlands, Pakistan and Malaysia, but managed to top the group by winning all their matches.
They have also scored 10 goals in the process and their penalty corner conversion rate has been pretty good too. Forward Niklas Wellen has been a revelation by playing a key role in a few German goals. He has positioned himself really well inside the D to retrieve long passes and provide those vital final touches. His stick-work is also very good.
Marco Miltkau has been another German who has impressed a lot. He has scored 4 goals in the tournament so far. The Netherlands has traditionally been the bogey side against Germany but were outclassed by the latter in their group match. Germany won 4-1 and made sure that they topped the group. They also scored 5 goals against Malaysia and look like genuine contenders for the title.
#1. Australia
Current holders and 3-time champions Australia remain the team to beat in this World Cup too. They have been the most consistent team in world hockey in the past decade or so and are the favourites to win the title.
They have scored a flurry of goals in the group stage and managed to score 11 against China. They also thrashed England 3-0 and beat Ireland 2-1 to top the group easily. They would also be fresh for the quarter-finals after a few days’ rest and should at least make the final of the tournament. They have also stretched their winning run to 16 consecutive matches in World Cups.
Australian forward Blake Govers has been the top-scores of the tournament so far with 5 goals including a hattrick against China. Australia’s penalty corner conversion rate has also been reasonably good as they converted 3 of them against China.
Australia typically builds attacks quickly with brisk passes and increase numbers in the opposition half with rapid strides from players. They also use the lack of the offside rule to good effect.
They have scored through some one-two exchanges too and midfielder Tom Craig has been one of the players of the tournament so far. The Australian supporters would definitely be hoping for yet another World Cup triumph this year.
