A resounding year that saw Indian men’s hockey team retain Asia No.1 status
New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A resounding victory at the Asia Cup in Rajgir, Bihar reinstated the Indian men’s hockey team’s status as the No.1 side in Asia. The title victory after a gap of eight years was a highlight of 2025 for Craig Fulton and team as they trounced giants like Korea, China and Malaysia in the tournament.
The year started with a good outing at the home leg of FIH Pro League, soon after the revamped Hero Hockey India League (HIL) that saw some pacy performances from players on the fringes who were pushing for a place in the senior side.
The international season kicked off with the Pro League in Bhubaneswar, where India tasted good results against Spain, Germany, Ireland and England. The team led by Harmanpreet Singh won six out of the eight matches on the back of a long HIL season which began soon after the Olympic success where the team had won bronze in Paris and backed it up with an Asian Champions Trophy win in China.
However, the Pro League ended on a dull note for India in Europe, where they could only muster one consolation win against Belgium and lost their matches against Australia, the Netherlands and Argentina in June.
But they rewrote the script in August by lifting the Asian crown. Another highlight for this squad was their outing in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where India ‘A’ side, with most of their star players such as Harmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh and Hardik Singh rested, put up a valiant show. They lost the title by a whisker (0-1) to Belgium but beat Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Canada in an inspiring fashion.
“Winning the Asia Cup was definitely a highlight for the Indian team, but I think Azlan Shah was one of the highlights of the year for the Indian team, where many of us from the main team were rested, but the development squad ended up doing well.
“This puts us in good stead for a busy year in 2026 with the Asian Games and the World Cup being close to eachother and we can have different options in the squad,” expressed Captain Harmanpreet Singh, who capped off the year as the highest goal scorer for India.
