In Birmingham, each the Indian males’s and ladies’s groups picked up their 1/3 CWG medals.
While the lads’s crew gained silver, the ladies bagged a podium end after 16 lengthy years. The Indian girls had gained gold on the Manchester CWG in 2002 and silver at Melbourne 4 years later.
The Indian girls’s crew defeated 2018 Gold Coast CWG champions New Zealand 2-1 within the penalty shootout to assert the rostrum end.
Towards the top of the yr, the ladies proved that the CWG bronze was once now not a fluke as they persevered their upward graph underneath Dutch trainer Janneke Schopmandefeating Spain 1-0 to win the inaugural FIH Nations Cup in Valencia and qualify for the 2023-24 FIH Pro League.
The girls proved they have been no pushovers anymore in international hockey as they remained unbeaten within the Nations Cup, placing up good performances to reclaim their Pro League spot.
The girls had completed a creditable 1/3 of their debut Pro League season in 2021-22 however did not qualify for the 2022-23 season.
The yr began on a vibrant word for the ladies’s crew because it completed 1/3 within the Asia Cup, beating China 2–0 within the bronze-medal fit.
The Indians, then again, misplaced out on a medal within the Junior World Cup by way of a whisker after dropping 0-2 to England within the bronze-medal sport in Potchefstroom, South Africa in April.
To rub salt into India’s wounds, the ladies persisted a forgettable World Cup in Spain and Netherlands, completing 9th with one win, 3 attracts and two losses. But they bounced again in taste and fought their strategy to the rostrum in Birmingham a month later.
The males too witnessed luck in 2022, essentially the most notable being the silver in Birmingham. But greater than anything, the crew would nonetheless be smarting from the 0-7 drubbing by the hands of Australia within the CWG ultimate.
It was once a nightmare day trip for Graham Reid‘s males as they have been bamboozled by way of the Kookaburras in all departments of the sport.
But the Indian males had their percentage of luck as neatly. They started the yr with a third-place end within the Asia Cup in Jakarta and adopted it up by way of profitable the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s event in Lausanne, the place they beat Poland 6–4 within the ultimate.
In between, India additionally gained the tenth Sultan of Johor Cup, a world males’s underneath–21 event, beating Australia 4–5 on consequences after each groups have been locked 1–1 on the finish of legislation time.
India performed 3 Pro League suits, two towards New Zealand and one towards Spain, on the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. While India defeated New Zealand 4-3 and 7-4, they misplaced 2-3 to Spain.
Towards the top of the yr, the lads’s crew toured Australia for a five-Test collection, the place it challenged the arena no.1 aspect in all departments of the sport.
The Indians would possibly have misplaced the high-scoring collection 1-4, however they proved that they’ve advanced by way of leaps and boundaries after the CWG ultimate drubbing and will likely be a power to reckon with within the World Cup to be co-hosted by way of Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29 subsequent yr.
Silver medalist Indian crew on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. (PTI Photo)
exchange of guard
The yr additionally witnessed a transformation of guard within the nationwide federation with former skipper Dilip Tirkey changing into the president of Hockey India, with Hockey Jharkhand‘s Bhola Nath Singh taking on as secretary.
But it was once now not easy crusing in the case of management of the sport within the nation. Hockey India was once put underneath a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) by way of the Delhi High Court after watching that the federation had violated the National Sports Code.
The courtroom ruling got here on a petition filed by way of former India participant Aslam Sher Khan, who had challenged Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narendra Batra‘s appointment as existence member of Hockey India.
At one time limit, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) had issued a risk to the nationwide frame to habits elections and set the home so as or else “jeopardise” the lads’s World Cup.
But the CoA and the sports activities ministry labored along side FIH and controlled to avoid wasting India from a big embarrassment.