Indian men's hockey team to begin 2024 Paris Olympic campaign against New Zealand
The Indian men's hockey team will begin their Paris Olympic campaign against New Zealand as per an announcement made following the release of the match schedules during a ceremony in Lausanne.
Placed in Pool B, the Indians will then endeavour to make it to the knockout stages after locking horns with 2016 Rio Gold medallists Argentina, Ireland, defending champions Belgium, and 2004 Olympic champions Australia.
The Indians who won the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games currently occupy the third spot in the FIH rankings behind the Netherlands and Belgium.
After taking on New Zealand in Paris on July 27, the Indians will face Argentina a couple of days later. The eight-time Olympic gold medallists will then play Ireland on July 30. Two ominous back-to-back encounters await the Indians towards the end of their preliminaries.
Craig Fulton's team take on Tokyo Olympic gold medallists Belgium on August 1 and Australia the next day.
Pool A features the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South Africa. The top four teams from both pools will advance to the quarterfinal stage.
The quarter-finals of the men's hockey event begin on August 4 while the gold medal game will take place on August 9.
The Indian men earned a direct ticket to the men's hockey event at the Paris Olympics after winning gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
What lies ahead for the Indian men's hockey team in Pool B at the Paris Olympics?
The Indian men's hockey team is in for a stern test during the pool stages of the men's hockey event at the upcoming Olympics with sides like Australia striking form recently even as minnows Ireland make their mark on the world stage.
While the Australians finished a disappointing seventh in last season's FIH Pro League and ended the year 2023 ranked sixth as per the FIH their recent performances have sounded the alarm bells to rival teams.
The Aussies played eight matches at the mini-tournament of the FIH Pro League hosted in India earlier this year, winning six and losing just one. The wins included a 6-4 victory over India at the Kalinga Stadium, followed by a shootout win in Rourkela.
Ireland stunned the hosts by going toe-to-toe with the Indians until the 59th minute before Gurjant Singh's last-minute goal gave the Tokyo bronze medallists a 1-0 win in Bhubaneswar.
The Indian men's hockey team did, however, beat Ireland by a more comprehensive 4-0 margin in the second leg of the Pro League mini-tournament last month.
Meanwhile, a young Belgian side is struggling in the Pro League with just one win from 4 games while Argentina has just a couple of wins from eight matches.
New Zealand are not part of the ongoing Pro League this season.