KOLKATA: The Indian men’s hockey team will be facing off against defending champions Belgium and the ever dangerous Australia in the group stage of Paris Olympics itself as they have been placed in Pool B according to the current FIH world rankings.
The eight-time Olympic gold medallists had lost to both the teams in Tokyo and will have to put up a much-improved show if they are to reverse the results this time around. Besides Belgium and Australia, Harmanpreet & Co will also be facing off against Rio Olympics gold medallists Argentina, Ireland and New Zealand in the group stage.
India, who qualified for the Olympics after winning gold at Asian Games, will be looking to better their Tokyo Olympics performance where they won a bronze and end their long wait of 41 years for an Olympic medal.
Although the matches against Ireland and New Zealand seem to be easy on paper, one should remember that New Zealand had beaten India via penalty shoot-outs in the crossovers during the World Cup last year to knock them out of the tournament.
It was a huge blow to the team that was playing in the quadrennial event at home for a second consecutive time. However, India did get the better of them in Tokyo and won the game 3-2 in the group stage.
On the other hand, Pool A consists of world No. 1 the Netherlands, defending World Cup winners Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South Africa. While France will be taking part as the hosts, the Netherlands qualified for the event on the back of winning the EuroHockey Championships. South Africa, who finished 10th in Tokyo, also won the 2023 African Olympic Qualifier to grab their berth for Paris.
As for Germany, Great Britain and Spain, they booked their spot during the FIH Olympic Qualifiers that were held last week.
Meanwhile, in the women’s competition, Pool A consists of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China and France while Australia, Argentina, Great Britain, Spain, the US and South Africa have been grouped in Pool B.
Although the Indian women’s team had taken part in the games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo and finished a historic fourth in 2021, they failed to make it thrice in a row as they were placed third in Asian Games and then finished fourth in the just-concluded FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi.
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