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Following a 2-3 loss to Spain in the first leg of the ongoing FIH Pro League 2022-23, the Indian hockey team's plans to tame the Spanish team in Sunday's match at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar revolve around playing 'consistently'.
After a thrilling 7-4 win against New Zealand on Friday, the Indian team exuded confidence to contain the Spanish Armada during the weekend match. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh believes the Indian team has the ability to carry forward the momentum gained from their 7-4 win against New Zealand in their next match.
“Playing consistently throughout the match will be the main goal against Spain,” the Indian skipper said. “Spain plays defensive hockey compared to New Zealand. We will chalk out a new strategy to tackle Spain on Sunday.”
After Friday's high-scoring match, the Indian team topped the FIH Pro League pool standings with six points. India came from behind to move up the ladder courtesy of earning full points in the match against New Zealand.
In the opening 18 minutes of the game between India and New Zealand on Friday, both teams scored as many as six goals. New Zealand scored through Simon Child in the second minute of the game, while the Indian skipper leveled via a penalty corner. New Zealand scored two more in the first quarter to race to a 3-1 lead.
India made a dramatic comeback to level scores at 3-3 and then surged ahead to score a 7-4 win. India’s Hardik Singh was adjudged the Player of the Match.
“Despite conceding early goals, our focus on sticking to our game plan to surge ahead worked,” Indian skipper Harmanpreet said in the post-match against New Zealand.
Belgium and Netherlands to jointly host 2026 Hockey World Cups
Belgium and the Netherlands will jointly host the 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s and Men’s World Cups simultaneously, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Executive Board announced Thursday. The combined event will take place in July or August 2026 in Amsterdam/Amstelveen, Netherlands and Wavre, Belgium, the FIH said in a statement.
The FIH Executive Board also confirmed that the winners of the Hockey Pro League in season 5 (2023/2024) and season 6 (2024/2025) will directly qualify for the 2026 Men’s and Women’s World Cups.
