World Hockey: India remains at number 6 while Australia takes no 1 spot
World Cup champions Australia on retaining the Odisha Hockey World League Title for the second successive time has jumped to number one position in men's ranking, International Hockey Federation, said today. In the new rankings announced today, India continues to retain its number six ranking even after winning a bronze medal in the just concluded Odisha Hockey World League Final at Bhubaneswar last Sunday. Tehe latest International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hero World Rankings reveal that in men's hockey, Australia’s 2-1 gold medal win over Argentina in the Odisha Men's Hockey World League Final has helped the Kookaburras to knock the Pan American champions off the top for the first time since the Rio 2016 Olympics. Number one in the world is a familiar place for the Australians who, until the Olympics in Rio, had held top spot since January 2014 Belgium, Netherlands and Germany remain unchanged at third, fourth and fifth spot respectively, while India’s third-place finish in Bhubaneswar has seen the gap between the sixth position, and fifth-placed Germany reduces significantly. The other movers in the men’s world rankings are Spain who have moved up one spot to eighth in the world, over-taking New Zealand in the process. In the women's competition Netherlands retained their position at the top after they claimed the Sentinel Homes Hockey World League Final title late last month. England and Argentina remain in second and third place respectively following their involvement in the Auckland competition. New Zealand's silver medal at this event combined with Australia's failure to qualify for the Hockey World League Final and therefore earn points, meant that the Black Sticks overtook their Oceania neighbours into fourth place. Korea’s bronze medal in Auckland means that the Asian team remain in ninth place in the rankings but they have closed the gap markedly on China, with only 35 points now separating the continental rivals. Germany, USA and China remain in sixth, seventh and eighth place in the world rankings respectively.
