Men’s hockey team slips to sixth in rankings
NEW DELHI: Indian men’s hockey team slipped one place to occupy sixth in the FIH rankings after their lackluster show in Rio Olympics while their female counterparts surprisingly gained one position to be at 12th in the latest charts.
The Indian men’s side crashed out of the Olympics in the quarterfinals by losing to eventual runners-up team Belgium 1-3 while the women’s team failed to get past the group stage.
Roelant Oltman-coached side went into the Olympics as fifth in the rankings but two wins, two losses and a draw in the group stage and a defeat to Belgium in the last-eight stage saw them pushed down to sixth in the latest rankings.
Australia’s Kookaburras -who finished in sixth place in Rio -- remain in first place, but newly crowned Olympic champions Argentina earned enough points to move up five places to second.
Argentina’s Los Leones sit just ahead of fourth place finishers and now third ranked Netherlands, with Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallists Germany moving down one place to fourth in the rankings.
Olympic silver medallists Belgium move up one place to fifth, with India being pushed down into sixth and England (Great Britain) down from fourth to seventh.
Spain’s excellent performances at Rio 2016 saw them finish in fifth in the Olympic standings, enough to see them re-enter the top 10 to sit ninth in the rankings.
Ireland’s history making Olympic performances have also paid off, with a 10th place finish in Rio moving them up to 10th in the rankings table.
On the women’s side of things, Great Britain’s shoot-out victory over the Netherlands saw them claim gold and move up to third in the FIH Hero World Rankings (as England), just behind top ranked Netherlands and Argentina, who remain in second place despite a seventh place finish in Rio.
Australia, New Zealand and USA all move down one place to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.