Indian men’s hockey team achieves all-time highest FIH ranking
What’s the story?
The Indian men’s hockey team achieved its all-time highest ranking when it moved up a place from fifth to fourth in the recently released FIH world rankings.
In case you didn’t know
The new model for calculating the FIH world rankings was implemented on January 1, 2020. This is not the same as the previous tournament-based rankings system. The current system is a match-based model in which teams exchange points in FIH sanctioned games.
The number of points exchanged depend not only on the result of the match but also on the importance of the match.
The heart of the matter
The Indian team has performed very well in the first three rounds of the second edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League which helped them get to their all-time best ranking. Argentina, who were on the fourth spot, have now moved down to fifth.
World champion Belgium top the list, followed by Australia on the second and the Netherlands on the third position. Germany and England remain in sixth and seventh position, respectively, while New Zealand at the eighth place and Spain at ninth.
As for the Indian women’s team, they occupy the ninth spot. The list is headed by the Netherlands and followed by Australia, Argentina, Germany and England.
What’s next?
Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the all-time best ranking will come as a huge boost for the Indian team. In 1928, the Indian team won its first Olympic gold medal and until 1960, it remained unbeaten in the Olympics, winning six gold medals in a row.
However, there has been a drought of medals since and the team will be hoping to do something substantial in this edition.