After a shaky start to their FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 campaign, the Indian men's hockey team bounced back and will now be aiming for back-to-back wins. However, on their road to victory, they will face a stern challenge from Paris Olympics silver medalists Germany in their next match on Tuesday (February 18).
The FIH Pro League 2024-25 will serve as a qualification pathway for the upcoming Men's and Women's Hockey World Cups 2026. The highest-ranked team at the end of the season, excluding those already qualified as hosts or through the Pro League 2023-24, will secure a spot in the World Cup.
Indian fans eager to watch the clash in Bhubaneswar at 7:30 PM IST can stream it live on JioCinema and the Disney+ Hotstar app and website. The match will also be broadcast live on Star Sports Select 2, Star Sports 3, and DD Sports in India.
India had a tough start to their home leg, suffering a 1-3 defeat to Spain in the opener. However, they bounced back strongly with a 2-0 victory in the return fixture on Sunday. The team showed a marked improvement on Sunday through field goals from Mandeep Singh (32') and Dilpreet Singh (39').?
With three points from two matches, India currently sits in eighth place and will be eager to climb the points table.
The visitors, playing their first match of the India leg, currently sit just above India in seventh place with four points from four games. Despite having only one win in the tournament, they pose a formidable challenge with Raphael Hartkopf, Gonzalo Peillat, and Thies Prinz leading the attack¡ªeach scoring twice so far.?
With both teams eager to climb the standings, Germany will look to turn their fortunes around, while India aims to continue their resurgence.?
The two sides last met in a two-match Test series in New Delhi in October 2024, where Germany took the first game 2-0 before India responded with a thrilling 5-3 victory. However, Germany ultimately clinched the series through a shootout win.
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Princedeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Sumit, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Yashdeep Siwach?
Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Rajinder Singh
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Boby Singh Dhami, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Arshdeep Singh?
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