The Indian males’s and ladies’s hockey groups jumped one spot every to realize their highest-ever world rankings at quantity 3 and eight respectively, driving on their historic marketing campaign on the Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian males’s group, which ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching a historic bronze within the Olympics, was positioned behind gold-medallist Belgium and silver-medallist Australia.
“It’s the reward of all the hard work and dedication towards the game we love, towards the game which has given us everything,” stated Indian males’s group captain Manpreet Singh in a launch issued by Hockey India.
“This ranking and the Olympic medal after 41 years mark the rise of Indian Hockey…there is no looking back now, we have set the benchmark for ourselves and would like to grow from here.”
While the boys’s aspect claimed the bronze, the ladies’s group narrowly missed out a medal after taking place to Great Britain within the hard-fought third-place play-off, to finish on the fourth place.
“We were very close to finishing on the podium, and it is hurting the team that we didn’t. However, looking at the bright side, we have made remarkable progress in recent years, and I am really proud of it,” girls’s group skipper Rani Rampal stated.
“Finishing in the top four at Olympics, and climbing to the 8th position in world rankings, is a very big thing for us, and this has boosted our confidence, it will certainly help us grow going forward.”
Manpreet and Co. had completed second in Pool A, successful 4 out of 5 group part matches and defeated Great Britain 3-1 in quarterfinal earlier than dropping 2-5 towards Belgium of their historic semifinal.
However, they staged a exceptional comeback to seize a 5-4 win over Germany to clinch a historic bronze medal at Olympic Games and because of this climbed as much as their best-ever world rating.
“I must admit, I feel privileged to have played a part in the rise of Indian Hockey. It’s a great feeling that we won the historic Bronze Medal as well as achieving the highest ranking on the back of our solid performance in the Olympics,” Indian males’s group chief coach Graham Reid stated.
“We played like a unit, with the right kind of attitude, and I think that has helped the team achieve this feat.”
After struggling three losses within the preliminary part, the ladies’s group pulled off arguably its largest upset by beating world quantity 3 Australia in what was its first ever quarterfinal of the Olympics.
However, the ladies’s group misplaced each semifinal and the bronze medal play-off match towards Argentina and Great Britain, respectively.
Outgoing Indian girls’s group chief coach Sjoerd Marijne stated, “Achieving eighth rank on the earth rating and ending among the many prime 4 at Olympics, is a giant step for Indian Women’s hockey, and I feel each group will certainly take us severely.
“The athletes have that desire to learn and improve each and every day, and I feel this is one of the biggest reasons why we could finish among the top four.”
The males’s group was ranked No.4 in March final yr on the again of their scintillating performances within the first three rounds of the second version of FIH Hockey Pro League.
On the opposite hand, the ladies’s group’s earlier highest world rating was ninth, which they achieved by producing their greatest end (Quarter Finals) on the World Cup in London in 2018.
Having reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, the ladies’s group had turn into the top-ranked Asian group and went on to clinch the silver medal on the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
