India's latest rankings in various sports
INDIAN VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Volleyball is quite a popular sport in India at the school and college level and many tournaments are organised every year to promote the game. But unfortunately, at the higher level, not many youngsters want to make their career in this game. Indian men’s Volleyball Team, who are currently sponsored by Sahara India Parivaar, failed to qualify for the London Olympics last year. Indian team, with a total of 21.75 points, are currently ranked 30th in the world and are 4th in Asia. London Olympics Silver medallists Brazil are at the no. 1 spot in the latest FIVB men’s World Rankings. In Junior World Rankings, Indian boys are currently at no. 12 in the world. Indian Women’s Volleyball team doesn’t even feature in the top 100, and are currently ranked at the 103rd spot.
INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM
The Indian men’s Hockey team who finished last at the 2012 London Olympics are currently at the 11th position in the latest FIH World Rankings with 1418 points. The Germans are at the top spot with a total of 2528 points. Indian team who recently lost to Pakistan in the Final of Asian Champions Trophy, are at 3rd spot in the Asian region, behind Pakistan and Korea. In Women’s hockey, the Indian women are currently the worldno. 12, with a total of 1280 points. The Indian women’s hockey team were unable to qualify for the London Olympics when they lost to South Africa in the finals of Olympic Qualifiers at New Delhi.
INDIAN CRICKET TEAM
After being thrashed 0-4 by Australia and 1-2 by England last year, Team India’s Test ranking has suffered a lot. Indian team is currently at the 5th position with a total rating of 118 in the latest ICC World Test Rankings. South Africa is at the top of the chart with a total rating of 124, while English team is at the second spot with 118 rating points. In the ICC ODI Rankings, the Indian team is currently at 3rd place with a total rating of 116. English team are at the top with 122 rating points. In the T20 format of the game, Indian team is at the 3rd position behind Sri Lanka and West Indies. Indian Women’s cricket team are at 4th place in ODIs and at 5th place in the T20 format.
INDIAN FOOTBALL TEAM
The Indian men’s football team, with a total of 96 points, are currently ranked 166th in the world out of 209 nations, while within Asia, India remain 31st amongst 46 nations in the rankings. Amongst the South Asian nations, the Blue Tigers are now second behind the Maldives (159th), ahead of Bangladesh (168th), Nepal (171st), Afghanistan (186th), Pakistan (189th), Sri Lanka (190th) and Bhutan (207th). With no international friendlies planned for January, India’s rankings could fall further. World champions Spain stay at the top with 1,606 points while Germany and Argentina are at second and third place respectively. Indian women’s football team are at the 52nd position with a total of 1441 points in the latest FIFA World Rankings. USA, Germany and Japan are at 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
INDIAN BASKETBALL TEAM
The Indian Men’s Basketball Team, which qualified for the Olympics in 1980, have really not performed well in the recent years at the highest level. The Indian team is currently ranked 58th in the world out of the 82 countries. Team India is at 11th place in the Asian region. The Indian Basketball Team, with a handful of 6.6 points, are way behind the top teams of the world. Olympic Champions U.S.A. are at the top of the FIBA rankings with a total of 952 points, while Spain are at second spot with a total of 870 points. The Indian Women’s Basketball team are in a much better position and are currently at 40th position with 14.1 points. In the Asian region, the Indian Women’s team are at 6th position behind China, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia. In Junior World Rankings, Indian boys are currently at 43rd spot and girls are at 39th spot.
INDIAN ARCHERY TEAM
Because of the disappointing performance by the Indian archers at the London Olympics last year, their rankings have gone down badly. Indian women’s Recurve Archery team, who were at the second spot before the London Olympics, are currently at 6th position in the latest FITA world rankings, while the Indian men’s Recurve archery team are at 5th place. In compound section of the game, Indian men’s team is at 10th place while women’s team is at 9th place.
INDIAN TENNIS TEAM (Davis cup and Fed cup)
In the Davis Cup Rankings, the Indian team, previously at the 24th spot, have now moved down to the 25th spot in the latest rankings. The Indian team defeated New Zealand 5-0 in September 2012 to secure their place in Asia/Oceania Zone Group I. They will now play South Korea from 1-3 Feb 2013 to go through to the next round. It would be a tougher challenge this time around as the top players of the country, including Mahesh Bhupati, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman, will not be playing this tie. The 8 top players of the nation have revolted against the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for not completing their demands. In the Fed-Cup, the Indian girls have moved up 2 spots and are now at 45th position with 703 points. In the Davis Cup, Spain is at the No. 1 spot while in the Fed-Cup, Czech Republic held their no. 1 position.
INDIAN RUGBY TEAM
Rugby is not one of the popular sports in our country and as a result, the Indian team is one of the weakest. Talking about the latest world rankings by IRB, the Indian team is at 68th position in the world, out of the 100 playing nations, with 40.81 points and 12th in the Asian region. Indian team gave their best to qualify for the second leg of the World Cup Qualifiers in June 2012 but unfortunately, lost to Thailand 29-42. If Indian team would have won that match, they would have been promoted to Division-I of the World Cup Qualifiers. Their current record in IRB-recognised internationals is ten wins, one tie, and twenty four losses. However Indian Rugby team has really improved a lot in the last two years.
INDIAN NETBALL TEAM
Netball is also not one of the popular sports in India but slowly and steadily, Indian team is improving so that they can compete with the top teams of the world. Netball is basically a women’s game and as of 2006, the IFNA (governing body of Netball), recognizes only women’s netball. But from the last five or six years, men’s participation in the game has also increased. However, in India, it is only limited to women’s team. Indian team, who finished 5th out of the 10 teams in the Asian Netball Championship last year, are currently ranked 28th in the world with 67 points. Australia are at the top with 6,739 points. India is another netball nation bursting with potential. Many knowledgeable netball fans and experts have said that that the Indian team is very promising – suggesting India could be the number one netball side in Asia in the next decade, if the team is provided with sufficient funding.
INDIAN BADMINTON TEAM
In the Individual rankings, Saina Nehwal is currently at the 3rd spot but taking into account the team rankings, the Indian Badminton team is currently at the 10th place with 6855 points. China is at the top of the table with 17500 points and after China, comes Denmark, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Germany. There are a total of 102 nations.
INDIAN KORFBALL TEAM
Korfball is a sport which is very popular in European countries, especially in Netherlands and Belgium. It is a mixed gender team sport in which the team comprises of 8 players(4 male and 4 female). In India, Korfball is gaining popularity slowly and steadily. India, who organised the World Korfball Championships in 1995 are currently ranked 14th out of the 57 nations. Netherlands hold the first place while Belgium team is at the second spot.
INDIAN SEPAK-TAKRAW TEAM
Sepak-taraw is also not a well known sport in India but the game is very popular in the northeastern state of Manipur and some of the best players hail from there. It is quite similar to volleyball but instead of using hands, players have to use their their feet, knee, chest and head to touch the ball and also, the sepak takraw ball is made up of synthetic fiber or one woven layer. Indian team, who won the bronze medal in the 22nd King’s Cup International Sepak Takraw World Championships in 2007, are currently ranked 9th in men’s section and 8th in women’s section. Thailand is at the top spot in both the sections of the game.