Indian hockey

In recent years, India has hosted some of the biggest hockey events globally, and with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) awarding Hockey India with the hosting rights for the Junior Men's World Cup 2021, the apex body for the sport in India is also looking forward to hosting the much-awaited tournament towards the end of the year.

Clark in his 11-year long career as a hockey player for the South African national team has 250 international caps and has appeared in two World Cups ('94 - Sydney & '02 - Kuala Lumpur), two Commonwealth Games ('98 - Kuala Lumpur & '02 - Manchester) and two Olympic Games ('96 - Atlanta & '04 - Athens).

33 members of the core probable group will return to the coaching camp scheduled at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru beginning Tuesday. The core probable group includes three goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan B Pathak and Suraj Karkera, defenders Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess.

They made an emphatic start, beating Olympic silver medallists the Netherlands 5-2 and 3-3 (3-1) and following that up with a 2-1 win over reigning world champions Belgium before losing 3-4 in the second leg of the tie. They then fell to a 3-4 loss to Australia, but then went on to beat them 2-2 (3-1) in the second leg.

The stadium, with a sitting capacity of 20,000, will serve as the second venue for the Men's Hockey World Cup scheduled to be played in 2023. Another venue is Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Spread over 15 acres of land, the stadium will be constructed in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus, Rourkela.

Belgium men and the Netherlands women will finish the year at the top of the rankings, confirmed the International Hockey Federation on Monday. In the men's rankings, reigning world and European champions Belgium (2496.88 points) sit at the summit in front of Australia (2nd place - 2385.70), Netherlands (3rd place - 2257.96) and India (4th place - 2063.78).

"Our fitness tests in the strength, weight, speed and muscle components show that we are on target. Our training sessions output data are approaching our February figures. I believe, we are close to the level we showcase in our international matches," he added.

"If I look back at how we played then in 2014 and how we play now as a team, I feel we have come a long way and have grown from strength-to-strength. We don't choke in tense moments anymore and we have learnt to put up a fight-back if required," Lalit said.