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Hockey Rankings: India women achieve best-ever sixth place; men slip one spot to fourth

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The Indian women’s hockey team has moved up one place in the FIH Rankings to sixth — the best-ever placing the team has achieved in the history of the rankings.

The team, which had jumped two places at the start of May following its superb performance against the top-ranked Netherlands at the Kalinga Stadium, climbed to sixth as Spain dropped one place after losing both their FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 matches to Argentina. They have also lost one match each to Belgium and England this month.

With 2029.396 points, the Indian women’s hockey team is now placed sixth behind the Netherlands (3049.495), Argentina (2674.837), Australia (2440.750), England (2204.590), and Germany (2201.085). Spain are seventh with a rating of 2016.149.

The Indian women’s hockey team currently sits at the third position in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 table with 22 points from 8 games. India will be facing Belgium in a double-header in away games on June 11 and 12.

Speaking on the achievement, the Indian women’s hockey team chief coach Janneke Schopman said, “As a team, we aim to improve and grow and become a consistent contender in Women’s Hockey. The rise in the FIH World Rankings is a nice indicator that we are on the right path.”

“At the same time with the FIH Women’s Hockey Pro League and FIH Women’s World Cup coming up, things can change quickly and therefore we have to keep focusing on our own performance,” Schopman was quoted as saying by Hockey India in a release on Tuesday.

The Indian women’s team captain Savita, also expressed delight at the achievement. “This is the outcome of all the hard work our team has done over the past few months. We have worked together as a team against strong competition and achieved good results, and we are proud that we are growing and learning together as a unit.”

Savita added, “We hope to continue our growth as we prepare for tougher challenges in away games against Belgium and The Netherlands. We are confident we will be able to get good results as well and continue to improve.”

However, there was some setback for Indian hockey as the men’s team slipped one place to fourth after the Netherlands overtook them thanks to some good performance this month.

Netherlands (2465.707) regained the third spot, as they swap places with India (2366.990). Germany (2308.156) continue to hold the fifth place but England (2171.354) moved to sixth ahead of Argentina (2147.179) thanks to their recent wins against France and South Africa in the Pro League.

Australia retained the top spot in men’s rankings with 2842.258 points with World and Olympic champions Belgium snapping at their heels with 2764.735 points.

International

PM Narendra Modi Lays Foundation Stone For Rs.451 Crore International Cricket Stadium In Varanasi 

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new International Cricket Stadium in Varanasi on September 23rd (Saturday). The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Sunil Gavaskar were also present for the ceremony. The Prime Minister also went on to present an Indian team jersey to Tendulkar.

The state government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has remitted a whopping ₹121 crore for the purpose of land acquisition, while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shall put in ₹330 crore from their side for the iconic stadium’s construction. Some of the notable features that the stadium would have are trishul-shaped floodlights, drum-shaped media center, and crescent moon-shaped roof.

Meanwhile, the stone-laying ceremony witnessed some of the most top figures from the BCCI, including President Roger Binny, Vice-President Rajiv Shukla, and Secretary Jay Shah. This will also be the third international stadium in Uttar Pradesh, with Kanpur and Lucknow already having one.

“The sportspersons here will benefit from the construction of an international stadium” – Narendra Modi

Speaking at the ceremony, Modi stated that sports are no longer prohibited by the elders, unlike before, as it acts as an incentive in several ways. He said, as quoted by The Indian Express:

“This stadium in the city of ‘Mahadev’ will be dedicated to ‘Mahadev’ himself. The sportspersons here will benefit from the construction of an international stadium in Kashi. There was a time when parents used to scold their children for playing sports, but that is no longer true. When sports infrastructure is built in an area, it acts as an incentive not just for young sporting talent but also spurs the local economy.”

The stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 30000 and the construction of the same is likely to finish by December 2025.

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International

Legends Including Sachin Tendulkar And Ravi Shastri Leave For Varanasi For Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony For New International Stadium In UP

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Legendary Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, and Dilip Vengsarkar on Saturday headed for Varanasi for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the international cricket stadium in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the International Cricket Stadium in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Saturday afternoon.

The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has spent Rs 121 crores on land acquisition for the construction of the International Cricket Stadium in Varanasi. Moreover, the BCCI will spend Rs 330 crores on the stadium’s construction.

The former India head coach Shashti on Saturday took to social media ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote in a post, “Varanasi bound. Great to be amongst Greats and colleagues for Mumbai and India. Just a few international runs and wickets there. Pic of a lifetime. Gr8 memories.”

The thematic architecture of this stadium draws inspiration from Lord Shiva, with designs developed for crescent-shaped roof covers, trident-shaped floodlights, ghat steps-based seating, and Bilvipatra-shaped metallic sheets on the facade. The stadium will have a capacity of 30,000 spectators.
Veteran players like Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Shastri, Vengsarkar will be present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

Uttar Pradesh to have its 3rd international stadium:

The event will also have the presence of key figures from the BCCI, including President Roger Binny, Vice President Rajiv Shukla, and Secretary Jay Shah, the release stated. Furthermore, many veteran players are expected to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony. After Kanpur and Lucknow, this will be Uttar Pradesh’s third international cricket stadium. 

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International

IND vs AUS: ‘Always Well Looked After And Well Protected’ As David Warner Feeling ‘Great’ To Be Back In India

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The Australian cricket team has landed in India ahead of what will be their final dress rehearsal for the 2023 World Cup. Veteran Australian opener David Warner took to his official Instagram handle and expressed their gratefulness at landing in India. He also thanked GMR Aerocity for making their transit easy.

Warner will be one of the few players most in focus ahead of the ODI series, especially due to his inconsistency in the preceding rubber against South Africa. The left-hander made only two fifty-plus scores in five innings and threw away starts consistently.

The five-time World Champions will be keen to get back in the groove after missing an opportunity to win the series in South Africa despite a 2-0 lead. The middle-order batters, including Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis will be under pressure for consistently failing against the Proteas. With Steve Smith back in the side and Australia set to field a full-strength attack, they should be in a good stead.

The 36-year-old took to his Instagram handle and wrote:

“Always great to be welcomed back to india. We are always well looked after and well protected. Thanks so much. @gmraerocity always makes our transits so easy.”

Australia won the three-game ODI series in India earlier this year:

Pat Cummins and co. should draw confidence from their success against the Men in Blue in their backyard earlier this year under the captaincy of Steve Smith. Nevertheless, India are an in-form team, having won the Asia Cup 2023.

However, the men’s team’s chief selector Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has announced resting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the first two ODIs. KL Rahul will captain India in Mohali and Indore,

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