CWG 2022: Will India stop the Aussie juggernaut in men's hockey?

08.08.2022 - 07:59 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India challenged the Australian title charge twice - 2010 and 2014 - but fell woefully short. Come Monday, will India be third time lucky?

A lot has changed since the teams last met in a CWG final. When Australia blanked India 4-0 in Glasgow 2014, India's current chief coach, Australian Graham Reid, was in the champions dugout then.

This time round, he will play a pivotal role as India look to dethrone the mighty Aussies. The odds are stacked against India, who lost the last meeting between the two sides 1-7 in a group match at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

But current form and not history will decide the winners and to win that elusive gold, Manpreet Singh and his men will have to play out of their skins on Monday.

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cricket under former skipper Virat Kohli, according to South African legend Graeme Smith, who reckons only five or six countries may be playing the longest format in the coming years. Smith feels just a handful of nations are contributing to the development of Test cricket at the moment. "With Test cricket, it's just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment," Smith said on 'Sky Sports' during day three of the first Test between South Africa and England.

Have to improve as a team before the World Cup next year, says Indian hockey team's striker Abhishek

Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham, said the focus of the Indian hockey team is to stay in the best shape and form in the run-up to next year's World Cup. India ended up winning a silver medal, after a 7-0 hammering in the final against Australia. "We all are really eager to return to training and prepare ourselves for the upcoming competitions," Abhishek, who scored two goals in six games in Birmingham, said in a Hockey India (HI) release.

Watch: Yastika Bhatia Falls Awkwardly During CWG 2022 Final, Sends Indian Teammates In Splits

Indian women's cricket team played a nail-biting final match against Australia at the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Sunday. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side chased a target of 162 runs and was in a state of bother towards the final stages of the game. This is when Yastika Bhatia changed everyone's expression in the dressing room within seconds. While walking out to bat in the game, Yastika tried to go over the advertisement board to enter the ground but her right foot stuck on the board and the batter fell awkwardly on the ground.

CWG 2022: Capsule of India's gold medal winners

Commonwealth Games here, the Birmingham Games turned out to be one of the most memorable editions for the 210-strong Indian contingent. From athletics to racquet sports, cricket to hockey, boxing to wrestling, the Indian athletes finished with podium finishes in almost every event they took part in. Here's a look at gold medallists in the showpiece event.

CWG 2022: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy And Chirag Shetty Win Badminton Men's Doubles Gold

India's badminton men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the gold medal after defeating England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15 and 21-13 in what turned out to be a rather one-sided summit clash.