Hockey World Cup: 17 Days, 44 Matches, One Winner; India’s Tough Fight with Australia-Belgium

Hockey World Cup 2023: The Hockey World Cup is going to start once again from January 13. It is a matter of great pride for India that it has got the opportunity to host the World Cup for the second time in a row. There is a stir of this tournament in the country and Indian fans want that this time the drought of 47 years should end. Actually, India won this title for the first and last time in 1975. Even in the year 2018, India performed well, although the trophy still remained away from India, which this time Team India would definitely like to win.

Australia-Belgium are strong contenders

Looking at the performance of the last few years, Australia and Belgium are the biggest contenders for the trophy. The final match of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was played between these two teams. Where Belgium won the gold medal by defeating Australia. At the same time, India was occupying the third number. three-times world champion Australia is also a strong contender for the title. The team won the silver medal in the last Olympics. At the same time, they had also won the gold medal of the Commonwealth Games for the 7th time in a row. India is also a contender to become the champion. Team India has also won the silver medal of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the past. At the same time, India won the bronze medal of the Tokyo Olympics after 41 years by defeating Germany.

Team India will fulfill the deficiency of 2018 this time.

In the 2018 World Cup held in Bhubaneswar, the Indian team raised hopes with its performance, but could not reach the finish line. Although it is not a big deal for any team to finish in sixth position, but looking at the record of the last few decades, this performance of the Indian hockey team was better. Even in the last few years, the Indian team got its iron across the world with its power. In such a situation, this time Team India is being counted among the contenders for the trophy.

Final Match of 2018

An exciting final match was played between Netherlands and Belgium from the 2018 World Cup. Belgium won the match decided by shoot-out.

Indian hockey team will compete with Belgium

The Indian hockey team gave the biggest surprise in the World Cup 2018 when it ended the match against Belgium on a 2-2 draw. This match was so exciting that the memories of that match are still fresh in the minds of the fans. Even after this, there was a collision between the two teams many times. One of them is the FIH Pro League match in which India defeated Olympic champion Belgium 5-4 in the first match.

Belgium-Australia Favorite

Also Read : India Vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI: Batting First India Witnesses Virat Ton with 374 for Sri Lanka To Win

Team India is as follows –

Goalkeepers: Krishan B Pathak and PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh and Akashdeep Singh

Midfielders: Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Neelakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh and Akashdeep Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Abhishek and Sukhjit Singh

Substitute players: Rajkumar Pal and Jugraj Singh.