Hockey

Jarmanpreet Singh had missed out on a place in the Tokyo Olympics team, when India won the bronze medal after 41 years.

India have been grouped in Pool B with defending champions Belgium, former winners Australia, Argentina and New Zealand at Paris Olympics.

An Olympic bronze and Asian Games gold already in his kitty, Lalit Upadhyay is now focussed on changing the colour of the medal in Paris Games.

Bandurak Nicholas scored a brace, both field goals, as Calnan Will added the other goal for GBR, while Abhishek netted India's consolation.

The Belgium-leg of India's FIH Pro League campaign comes to an end with a 0-3 defeat to Argentina.

India will begin their Olympic campaign against New Zealand on July 27. The other teams in Pool B are Belgium, Australia, Argentina, and Ireland.

India took the lead through Jugraj Singh's penalty corner conversion in the 41st minute, but Jeremy Hayward (44th and 49th) dashed the visitors' hopes by scoring a brace to hand Australia their third win on the trot.

The midfielder has been pivotal in guiding the team and not just earning accolades for himself but also bringing immense pride and glory to the country.

Hockey India has roped in the services of Dutch goalkeeping expert Dennis Van De Poole and will join the ongoing national coaching camp being Bhubaneswar.

Forward Vandana Katariya opened the scoring in the game, but the Chinese women hit back through goals from Wen Dan and Bingfeng Gu to earn a come-from-behind win.

Skipper Uttam Singh netted a hattrick, while Mohammed Raheel found the back of the net twice. Manjeet, Pawan Rajbhar, Mandeep Mor, and Gurjot Singh chipped in with a strike each as India hit nine past Kenya.

Mariana Kujur and Deepika Soreng netted a brace each, while Mahima Choudhary, Mumtaz Khan, and Ajmina Kujur all added to the scoreboard as India hit seven past a hapless USA side.

The Hockey5s Women's World Cup will be held between January 24 and 27, while the men's event is slated from January 28 to January 31.

The Indians would be morally down but come Saturday, they can't afford to be wasteful against Spain, who defeated them 4-1 in the pool stages.

The victory means that India, who had earlier bowed out of the title contention after finishing third in Pool C, stand a chance to finish ninth in the tournament.

Ahead of the game against Spain, India's coach C R Kumar said that the side needs to be more clinical and avoid conceding unnecessary penalty corners.