Indian Blues and Eves handed tough draws at Rio 2016
The senior Indian men’s hockey team has been given a tough group to deal with at the 2016 Rio Olympics as the 8-time Olympic Gold winners were grouped alongside two heavyweights of world hockey -Germany(world ranking- 3) and Netherlands(world ranking- 2) in Pool B.
The Indian Blues led by charismatic Sardar Singh will also have to look up to the challenge posed by Argentina(world ranking- 6), Ireland(world ranking- 12) and Canada(world ranking- 14) in order to progress through the group stage. The men’s team jumped 2 places to 7th in the world rankings after clinching the Bronze medal at the recently concluded Hockey World League Finals in Raipur.
The Hockey World League Finals Champions Australia(world ranking- 1) and the runners-up Belgium(world ranking- 5) are grouped together in Pool A. The other teams which complete the roster are Great Britain(world ranking- 4), New Zealand(world ranking- 8), Spain(world ranking- 11) and hosts Brazil(world ranking- 32).
Tough Road for Indian Eves
While the Indian Eves who have qualified for the Summer Games after a gap of staggering 36 years by finishing 5th at the Hockey World League semis at Antwerp are grouped with Argentina(world ranking- 2), Australia(world ranking- 3), Great Britain(world ranking- 6), USA(world ranking- 7) and Japan(world ranking- 10) in Pool B. The Indian eves are the lowest ranked team in the pool ranked 13th in the world rankings.
While the other pool consists of world leaders Netherlands, New Zealand(world ranking- 4), China(world ranking- 5), Germany(world ranking- 8), Korea(world ranking- 9) and Spain(world ranking- 14).
Spain women and New Zealand men were invited to participate following the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee's (SASCOC) decision to reject invitations for their men's and women's hockey teams after they failed to qualify for the Summer Games via a qualification tournament instead of qualifying through winning the African Championships.
Men’s
| Pool A | Pool B |
|---|---|
| Australia(1) | Netherlands(2) |
| Great Britain(4) | Germany(3) |
| Belgium(5) | Argentina(6) |
| New Zealand(8) | India(7) |
| Spain(11) | Ireland(12) |
| Brazil(32) | Canada(14) |
Women’s
| Pool A | Pool B |
|---|---|
| Netherlands(1) | Argentina(2) |
| New Zealand(4) | Australia(3) |
| China(5) | Great Britain(6) |
| Germany(8) | USA(7) |
| Korea(9) | Japan(10) |
| Spain(14) | India(13) |