Rourkela, 13^th February 2024: The Indian Women’s Hockey Team will play their sixth game of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 on 14^th February when they take on the Netherlands at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela.

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team has had a tough time at the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 having lost four of their five matches. After suffering a 1-2 defeat in their first match against China, the Indian Women’s Hockey team went on to lose 1-3 to the Netherlands and 0-3 to Australia before beating the United States 3-1 in their final match of the Bhubaneswar leg. In their first match of the Rourkela leg, India took the lead early in the game but China came back strongly to win the game 2-1.

“We haven’t got the results we have wanted but I believe we have what it takes to put on a good show and get a few points on our side. I think we are playing well in patches so if we can get more consistent with that, we can definitely go on to win more games,” said Indian Women’s Hockey Captain Savita.

While the World’s No.1 team the Netherlands has had the edge over the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, the latter has shown glimpses of what they’re capable of throughout the tournament. The results haven’t been in India’s favour but they will look to turn it around and go up the table when they play the Dutch on Wednesday.

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Janneke Schopman said, “The Netherlands is a quality side but we are not short on talent or ability. We will be patient while keeping the intensity of our hockey high and try to convert any scoring opportunities we have.”  

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team will face the Netherlands at 1930hrs IST on 14^th February.

All matches of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 will be streamed on JioCinema, additionally, all India matches will be telecast on Sports18 – Khel.

Bhubaneswar, 10th February 2024: The Indian Men’s Hockey Team started their FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 season with a dominant 4-1 over Spain in their opening match held on Saturday at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar.

Harmanpreet Singh (7′, 20′) starred with a brace, while Jugraj Singh (24′) and Lalit Upadhyay (50′) scored a goal each to help India seal a 4-1 win in their opening match of the season. Spanish Captain Marc Miralles (34′) was the lone goalscorer for the visitors.

Both teams were cautious in their approach, as they focused on maintaining their structure, with accurate passes in the midfield. It was India who came up with the first real attack as Hardik Singh made a stunning run from the right flank to draw the first penalty corner, which was duly converted by Harmanpreet with a fiery low drag-flick, making it 1-0 in the 7th minute.

Although Spain had better ball possession, India were disciplined in the defence. They did not allow the visitors to create spaces and ended the opening quarter with a narrow 1-0 lead.

In their bid to score an equaliser, Spain started the second quarter brightly. They created a couple of goalscoring opportunities, and also had a penalty corner, but Indian goalie PR Sreejesh stood tall to deny visitors from equalising.

India immediately responded as they had as many as three back-to-back penalty corners, with the third one being rewarded into a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet once again stepped up and slotted the ball home with ease, making it 2-0 for the hosts in the 20th minute.

India rode on the momentum as they extended their lead through Jugraj’s low drag-flick that went through Spanish goalie Luis Calzado’s legs, making it 3-0 in the 24th minute.

With less than two minutes to go for the first half, Spain earned their second penalty corner of the match, but missed out on converting it. They also made forays inside India’s circle in the dying seconds, but the home side survived the danger, ending the first half with a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Spain upped their ante and started the third quarter aggressively. They piled pressure on the Indian defence, and a stick tackle by Gurjant Singh gave away a penalty stroke to the visitors in the 34th minute. Miralles made no mistake in pulling a goal back for Spain as he slotted the ball into the top right corner of the goal.

The latter phase of the third quarter saw some end-to-end action, with both teams looking for spaces inside each other’s halves. India had their seventh penalty corner, but Jugraj’s drag-flick was off target.

Spain came out all guns blazing in the final quarter. They were relentless in their pursuit, and made dangerous runs inside, but Indian defence led by Sreejesh kept the visitors away from the goal.

India went on to add the fourth goal on the counter-attack. Sukhjeet orchestrated a fine run on the left, playing the ball to his teammate from the top of the circle. However, the deflection from Spanish defenders fell to Lalit, who was at the right place, at the right time, and hammered the ball into the nets through a reverse flick in the 50th minute.

Spain, on the other hand, had a glorious opportunity to pull a goal back in the 56th minute, but missed out on converting yet another penalty corner.

With less than two minutes to go for the final hooter, India were down to 10 men as Gurjant Singh was given the yellow card. Spain could make much of it as India ran down the clock to seal a comfortable 4-1 win. 

India will take on the defending Champions the Netherlands in their second match on  Sunday, 11th February.
 

All matches of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 will be streamed on JioCinema, additionally, all India matches will be telecast on Sports18 – Khel.

Bhubaneswar, 6th February 2024: The Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneshwar has witnessed some scintillating matches in the FIH Pro League 2023/24 so far. With the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela also scheduled to witness the Indian Hockey Teams in action against some of the best teams in the world soon, Hockey India will begin the sale of offline tickets for the Rourkela leg of FIH Pro League 2023/24 on 8th February.

Starting Thursday, the offline tickets for North Stand and East Stand will be on sale at Gate No. 2 of the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium while the tickets for West Stand and South Stand will be sold at Gate No. 6 between 11.00 AM and 6.00 PM. The tickets for the West Stand and East Stand are priced at Rs.500 and Rs.200 respectively. Meanwhile, North Stand and South Stand tickets are priced at Rs.100.

The Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium will host 10 matches of the Women’s teams from 12th February to 18th February, followed by 10 matches of the Men’s teams from 19th February to 25th February. The Women’s teams participating in the mini-tournament are the United States of America, China, the Netherlands, Australia, and India and the Men’s teams that would be participating are the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Ireland, and India. Each team is scheduled to compete against each other once in this mini-tournament being held in Rourkela.

Commenting on the launch of the sale of physical tickets Dr. Dilip Tirkey, Hockey India President said, “Pro League action is set to continue in the state-of-the-art Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela and I am certain that the matches there will be just as entertaining. I implore hockey fans to turn up in droves and support the Indian Hockey Teams as they take on the best teams in the world.”

Details of the tickets for sale are as under for all days:

STANDS	TICKET PRICE PER DAY (Rs.)
West Stand First Floor	Rs.500/-
East Stand First Floor	Rs.200/-
North Stand First Floor	Rs.100/-
South Stand First Floor	Rs.100/-

Earlier, Hockey India announced online ticket sales for all the Women’s and Men’s matches in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Fans can avail of the match tickets from www.ticketgenie.in, and there will be no need for redemption for physical tickets of online purchases.

All matches of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 will be streamed on JioCinema, additionally, all India matches will be telecast on Sports18 – Khel.