The Indian Women’s Hockey team achieved their best-ever world ranking by climbing to the 9th spot in the latest FIH Hero World Rankings published today by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The Indian Women’s Hockey team achieved their best-ever world ranking. The ranking was based on the Indian team’s best finish in four decades at a Women’s World Cup. Previously ranked No. 10 in the World Rankings, the Indian team displayed some solid performances throughout the tournament in London, conceding only three goals in the five matches that they played, losing out to eventual silver-medalists Ireland 3-1 in the penalty shootout in quarters.
This ranking was released just before the Women’s team’s brief four-day National Camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru Campus. The camp is a preparatory ground for the Asian Games which will have a total of 25 Core Group members, including the 18-member squad.
Coach Sjoerd Marijne state, “The new ranking comes as added motivation to our team for the upcoming Asian Games, but what is even better to see is that the players are not satisfied. There is more hunger in the squad to improve the ranking further by performing consistently at the highest level. We do have plenty of positives from the World Cup as the girls produced very good hockey, showing their grit and character to get through to the last eight.”
Moreover, the new ranking also means that the Indian eves will go into the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia as the top-ranked Asian team. “We only have a few days in camp to prepare ourselves, but we will be looking to ensure that our passing is 100% accurate in our build-up play, and we must also improve our Penalty Corner conversion rate and take more shots on goal,” Marijne said. India is placed in Pool B along with South Korea, who have swapped places with the Indian team, to be now ranked World No. 10. Thailand, Kazakhstan and hosts Indonesia are also grouped in Pool B.
