Rotterdam: India's hopes of securing a direct berth in next year's World Cup went up in smoke after they were handed a humiliating 1-5 defeat by Australia in the quarter-final of the men's competition of the FIH World League Round 3, here Wednesday.
Six top teams -- three each -- will qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Hague, The Netherlands from the two editions of FIH World League Round 3 -- the ongoing event in Rotterdam and then the next one to be held in Malaysia from June 29 to July 7.
An error-prone India needed a miracle to topple Australia in what was the 100th international fixture between the two sides. But it was not be as the Kookaburras dished out a clinical performance to make short work of the Sardar Singh-led side.
The Australians took the stuffing out of India in the first 35 minutes by scoring as many four goals -- Glenn Simpson (2nd minute), Matt Gohdes (20th, Russell Ford (22nd) including an own goal by Indian defender Sandeep Singh while their fifth goal was scored by Matthew Swann in the 39th minute....
more
10:31 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Catch the live updates from the hockey encounter between India and New Zealand at Rotterdam An error-prone India need nothing short of a miracle to secure a direct berth in next year's hockey World Cup as they take on formidable Australia in the quarterfinals of the men's competition of the FIH World Round 3, here on Wednesday. Six top teams - three each - will qualify directly for the 2014...
03:19 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Rotterdam: The Indian women's hockey team put up yet another disappointing show to crash out of the semi-final race with a 1-8 drubbing at the hands of top-ranked Netherlands in the FIH World League Round 3 here. The Indian eves started the match on a bright note and dominated the early exchanges before fizzling out against the Dutch girls late on Tuesday night. It took the hosts 21 minutes to...
09:55 AM, Jun 19, 2013
Tashkent: Uzbekistan narrowly missed out on direct qualification for the 2014 World Cup despite routing Qatar 5-1 on Tuesday. Uzbekistan finished level on points with South Korea for second spot in Group A of Asian qualifying - which yielded automatic qualification for Brazil - but were one behind on goal difference. Uzbekistan will go into a sudden-death playoff against either Oman or Jordan, who meet later Tuesday. Qatar took the...
08:42 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Sydney: Australia, Iran and South Korea all secured berths at the 2014 World Cup on a dramatic final day of Asian qualifying on Tuesday. Australia beat Iraq 1-0, waiting until the 83rd minute before Josh Kennedy headed home the winner that secured second spot in Group B. Iran booked their place with a disciplined counter-attacking game that produced a 1-0 win at South Korea. While Iran finished top of Group...
07:59 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Rotterdam: An error-prone India need nothing short of a miracle to secure a direct berth in next year's hockey World Cup as they take on formidable Australia in the quarterfinals of the men's competition of the FIH World Round 3, here on Wednesday. Six top teams - three each - will qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Hague, The Netherlands from the two editions of...
02:51 PM, Jun 18, 2013
London: Indian tennis pair Purav Raja and Divij Sharan advanced to the men's doubles second round of the Wimbledon qualifiers here by winning their match in straight sets. The qualifying fourth seeds on Monday defeated Italian-American pairing Flavio Cipolla and Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 6-2 on the lone grass court major. In the second and final qualification round, they will face Austro-Czech duo Andreas Haider-Maurer and Jiri Vesely for a place...
02:40 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Rotterdam: India paid the price of poor defending as they conceded a goal four minutes from time to play out a 3-3 draw in a thrilling match in their last pool fixture of the FIH World League Round 3 match here Monday. India, who dominated the match throughout, fought back in a remarkable fashion from a goal down in the first half and took the lead twice only to be...
10:18 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Johannesburg: FIFA is investigating Ethiopia and Togo for allegedly fielding ineligible players in World Cup qualifying. Possible sanctions against the pair would significantly affect Africa's qualifying competition for Brazil 2014 and give boosts to South Africa and Cameroon. Ethiopia qualified for the final playoffs Sunday with a 2-1 win over South Africa, but potentially faces being stripped of its 2-1 win in Botswana on June 8 for allegedly fielding an...
08:43 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Catch the live updates from the hockey encounter between India and New Zealand at Rotterdam A poor India will have to plug in the loopholes in defence as well as improve their finishing as they take on New Zealand in their last FIH World League Round 3 group match today. After missing out on a point against Ireland in their tournament opener, followed by Saturday's 0-2 reverse to the Netherlands,...
07:40 PM, Jun 17, 2013
London: Somdev Devvarman missed chances galore, including a match point, as he crashed out of the Wimbledon qualifiers after losing a gruelling and energy-sapping first round match against Australia's Matt Reid, here on Monday. Somdev, who is ranked 78 places above the Reid at 135, frittered away a good start to lose 6-7 (4) 6-4 16-18 in his opening round of the only Grass Court Grand Slam of the season....
07:36 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Maputo: Ethiopia ended the hopes of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa from making next year's finals in Brazil after a dramatic round of African group stage qualifying matches on Sunday. The Ethiopians join Algeria, Egypt, the Ivory Coast and Tunisia through to the third and final phase of the African preliminaries. Five places are yet to be decided with the last cycle of Round 2 group matches remaining. The...
10:37 AM, Jun 17, 2013
Indian defence once again buckled under pressure to conceded soft goals and go down 0-2 to a dominating Netherlands side. India proved to be no match to the Dutch team that was relentless in attack and scored early through Billy Bakker (2nd minute) and Jeroen Hertzberger (18th). The win took Netherlands to 4 points while India, who next take on New Zealand on Monday, have 1. ...
07:32 PM, Jun 15, 2013
Zurich: FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina captain Javier Mascherano after he was sent off for kicking the driver of a medical cart in a World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on Tuesday. The Barcelona midfielder was shown a red card by Paraguayan referee Enrique Caceres with four minutes to go in Quito after the player lost his temper with the driver who he thought was going too fast in...
09:07 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Rotterdam: Held to a draw by lower-ranked Ireland in their FIH World League Round 3 opener, the Indian men's hockey team will have to regroup quickly and come up with something special against formidable Netherlands in their next Pool B match here on Saturday. Ranked four places ahead of their rivals, India (11) started as overwhelming favourites against Ireland (15) on Thursday, but it didn't really show in their game...
02:38 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Rotterdam: Rupinderpal Singh scored two goals as India survived a scare before eking out a 4-4 draw against lower-ranked Ireland in a hard-fought Pool B match in the men's competition of the FIH World League Round 3, here on Thursday. Rupinderpal (40th, 66th minute) converted two penalty corners in the second half to save India the blushes after Akashdeep Singh (21st) and Shivendra Singh (47th) scored two field goals. For...
08:52 PM, Jun 13, 2013
A spiriting Ireland outfit held India to a 4-4 draw in the opening match of the FIH Hockey World League Round 3, which also doubles up as the World Cup qualifier, at Rotterdam on Thursday. Rupinderpal Singh (40th and 65th) scored two goals for India off penalty corners, with Shivendra Singh (47th) and Akashdeep Singh (22nd) being the other two marksmen. For Ireland, Alan Sothern (25th), Peter Caruth (30th), Conor...
06:26 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Rotterdam: India women's hockey team made a horrific start to their campaign in the FIH World League Round 3 as they were mauled 0-7 by higher-ranked New Zealand in the opening match of Pool B, here on Thursday. Ranked third in the world, New Zealand entered the tournament as the second-highest-ranked squad in the eight-team field and the top team in Pool B. And expectedly, the Black Sticks had no...
03:11 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Rotterdam: With their eyes firmly set on next year's World Cup, a new-look India will start as overwhelming favourites against minnows Ireland in their opening match of the men's competition of the FIH World League Round 3, here on Friday. However, it won't be easy for the Indians as they have been grouped along side mighty Netherlands and New Zealand apart from Ireland in Pool B of the World League...
07:51 AM, Jun 13, 2013
