New Delhi: The Indian men's hockey team slipped one place to occupy sixth in the FIH rankings after their quarterfinal loss to Belgium in the Rio Olympics 2016, while their the Indian women’s team gained one position to be at 12th in the latest charts released by the International Hockey Federation on Tuesday.
India went into the Olympics as fifth in the rankings. The men’s side won two games, lost two and a drew a match in the group stage to move into the quarters at Rio Olympics. However, the crashed out of the tournament after losing to eventual runners-up Belgium.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallists Argentina (men) and Great Britain (women) both entered Rio 2016 sitting seventh in the rankings, but their stunning title successes has seen both climb rapidly up the table.
In the men’s FIH Hero World Rankings, Australia’s Kookaburras – who finished in sixth place in Rio – remain in first place, but newly crowned Olympic champions Argentina earned enough points to move up five places to second. Argentina sit just ahead of fourth place finishers and now third ranked Netherlands, with Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallists Germany moving down one place to fourth in the rankings.
Olympic silver medallists Belgium move up one place to fifth, with India being pushed down into sixth and England (Great Britain) down from fourth to seventh. Spain’s excellent performances at Rio 2016 saw them finish in fifth in the Olympic standings, enough to see them re-enter the top ten to sit ninth in the rankings. Ireland’s history making Olympic performances have also paid off, with a 10th place finish in Rio moving them up to 10th in the rankings table.
On the women’s side of things, Great Britain’s shoot-out victory over the Netherlands saw them claim gold and move up to second in the FIH Hero World Rankings (as England), just behind top ranked Netherlands, while Argentina drop down to third place after a seventh place finish in Rio.
Australia, New Zealand and USA all move down one place to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, with Olympic bronze medallists Germany climbing two places from ninth to seventh. Another climber is Spain, moving up from 14th to 11th thanks to their eighth place finish at the Olympic Games.
