Indian women’s hockey team rise to ninth FIH world rankings

Following their heroics at the World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage, The Indian women’s hockey team has jumped a place high to be ranked ninth in the latest FIH Hero World Rankings published on Tuesday.

The Indian women’s hockey team lost 1-3 to eventual runners-up Ireland in the penalty shootout of the quarter-finals to produce its best finish at the World Cup in the last 44 years. The Sjoerd Marijne coached ladies earned 1138 points to be placed above South Korea (10), China (11) and USA (12) all of whom lost points after a poor performance at the elite competition.

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Previously ranked 10^th in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hero world rankings, India put up a solid performance at the World Cup, 2018 conceding just thrice in the five matches that they played.

Having jumped a place in the rankings, the India women will head to the Asian Games as the top-ranked Asian team in the world.

“One must note that we only conceded three goals in the whole tournament in London. The defence was very solid and that starts with our forward-line as your entire team contributes to a strong defensive structure. We have placed a special focus on our structure during matches and now we can see that the girls have come a long way in the past two years. They are now fully aware of their capabilities on the turf and I’m sure the new ranking will surely motivate them to excel at the Asian Games,” said head coach Marijne quoted the Hindustan Times.

India has been placed in Pool B along with South Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan and hosts Indonesia in the Asiad.

Meanwhile, runners-up Ireland improved eight places to be placed at the eight position, while champions Netherlands held onto their top position. The eight-time World Cup winning Dutch women have been the top-placed side since October 2011.

England too held on to their second position, while Australia leapfrogged Argentina to third, who dropped a place down to fourth. Spain, who recorded their highest ever finish at the tournament by finishing third moved up to seventh.