The Indian men’s hockey team qualified for the Super 4 stage of the 2022 AHF Hero Asia Cup currently underway at the GBK Hockey Field in Jakarta, Indonesia. India’s Super 4 qualification also ended Pakistan’s hope of qualification for the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup which is scheduled to be held in India.
India thrashed Indonesia 16-0 which assured their birth for the super 4 stage. There were 8 different goal scorers for India in the match with Dipshan Tirkey being the highest scorer with four goals.
This also resulted in Pakistan being knocked out of the tournament, which also ended their hopes of qualification for the next year’s World Cup. The World Cup spots were available for the top 3 teams of the tournament other than India, who had already secured their place courtesy of being a host.
The defending Champions had picked the second string squad for the tournament. The Indian team were held to a 1-1 draw against Pakistan in their tournament opener before losing to Japan by 2-5. They needed to beat Indonesia by a margin of at least 15 goals to go past their arch rivals’ goal difference and advance to the super 4 of the tournament.
India’s thumping victory assured Japan, Malaysia and South Korea of earning their places in the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. The top four teams will play at the super stage which will begin on the 28th with the top 2 making it to the final. While Pakistan will play classification matches for the 5th to 8th spot.
