India men climb to third spot, women placed 7th

LAUSSANE, Sep 18:The Indian men’s hockey team has climbed to the third spot in the latest world rankings issued by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Monday.
India (2771) are back into the top-3, after more than year since dropping out in May 2022. The elevation happened due to their undefeated run in the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 in Chennai last month.
The Indians have won six and drew one of their seven matches. England (2745), who fell just short of winning the EuroHockey title with a 1-2 loss to the Netherlands in the final, are out of top three.
Netherlands (3113) continue to lead the way with a strong defence of their title at the EuroHockey Championships, to add to their FIH Hockey Pro League title and the bronze medal at the FIH Hockey World Cup in 2023.
Netherlands’ dominance has seen them pull off a comfortable lead over Belgium (2989) in second place.
Germany (2689) and Australia (2544) hold on to the fifth and sixth positions respectively, while Argentina (2350) climbed up one spot to seventh ahead of Spain (2347).
In the women’s rankings, Netherlands (3422) are perched at the top spot, remain well clear of the chasing pack, continuing their dominance. Australia (2818) and Argentina (2767) stay put in the second and third places respectively.
However, Belgium (2609) won the silver medal that propels them ahead of Germany (2574) as the two teams occupy the fourth and fifth spots in the world rankings.
Indian women (2325) have climbed one spot to the seventh position, at the expense of Spain (2173).
New Zealand (2001) and Japan (1900) continue to hold their ninth and 10th spots, with China (1894) marginally behind Japan in the 11th spot. (PTI)