The decision follows months of debate over whether India should prioritise the Asian Games, which offer direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, over the World Cup. Earlier this year, Give Me Hockey examined the implications of that choice. Read: India’s Big Call: Chase World Cup Glory or Secure Olympic Qualification?

While speculation continues about whether India may field two separate men’s teams for the two tournaments, chief coach Sjoerd Marijne has confirmed the women’s core group will remain the same across both.

“We have thought about this process. We have experience from 2018, it was the same. So what I see is one tournament is going to help the other one. The Asian Games is the most important for us as it is a direct qualifier for the Olympics,” he told PTI.

“There is nothing better than playing matches under pressure at the World Cup and use that knowledge in the Asian Games.”

Salima Tete continues as captain after leading India to the FIH Nations Cup title last month with an unbeaten run in New Zealand. Savita and Bichu Devi Kharibam are the two goalkeepers, with Savita having recently received the Padma Shri.

Baljeet Kaur and Beauty Dungdung replace Sonam and Annu in the only two changes from the Nations Cup-winning squad. Both bring considerable international experience to a squad preparing for back-to-back major tournaments, with the Asian Games offering direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“This group of players has shown that they have the right form and fitness in recent months. We are confident that this team is ready for the challenge at the Asian Games,” Marijne said in a statement released by Hockey India.

Taeke Taekema joins India coaching staff for Asian Games 2026

Dutch penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema will be with the squad for both the World Cup and the Asian Games.

Taekema served as assistant coach of China’s women’s team from 2022 to 2024, helping the side win the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This is going to be Taekema’s second stint with the Indian women hockey team. Back in 2025 under coach Harendra Singh, Taekema, conducted a seven-day camp from February 10 to 16 ahead of India’s FIH Pro League matches in Bhubaneswar, where the team faced England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The camp, attended by Deepika, Manisha Chauhan, Sonam, Annu, and a few junior players, focused on refining technique and improving drag-flick accuracy.

Deepika finished as the top scorer at the FIH Nations Cup with six goals, all from penalty corners. Taekema’s arrival adds one of the game’s most accomplished drag-flick specialists to India’s coaching staff ahead of the World Cup and Asian Games.

India’s 20-member squad for the 2026 Asian Games

Goalkeepers: Savita, Bichu Devi Kharibam

Defenders: Ishika Chaudhary, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Lalthantluangi, Jyoti, Shilpi Dabas

Midfielders: Nikki Pradhan, Sakshi Rana, Sunelita Toppo, Salima Tete (C), Neha, Deepika Soreng

Forwards: Lalremsiami, Rutuja Dadaso Pisal, Navneet Kaur, Deepika, Ishika, Baljeet Kaur, Beauty Dungdung

While we wait for India’s World Cup squads, you can make your own selections using the Give Me Hockey Squad Selector. Pick your India men’s and women’s squads, share them on social media, and compare your choices once the official teams are announced.

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<p>The post Hockey India Names 20-Member Women’s Squad for 2026 Asian Games first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

The challenge ahead is significant. India are placed in a tough group that includes the host nation and world champions, the Netherlands. But this squad has shown it can compete, and the Nations Cup title is proof that tactical belief and conditioning are not in short supply.

While Marijne and his selectors finalise their twenty-man tournament roster, you have a chance to have your say.

Have Your Say: Build the 20-Player Squad

Use the Give Me Hockey Squad Selector below to choose your 20 players based on their positions. Balance your backline depth, choose your midfield anchors, and select the clinical goal-scorers who can find the net in Europe.

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Missed the chance to build your men’s team? Check out our Men’s World Cup Squad Selector and pick your 20-member Indian team for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup.

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<p>The post You’re the Coach: Pick India’s 2026 Women’s World Cup Squad first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

After a difficult start in Rourkela and an uneven set of results in Hobart, the European leg brought a genuine shift. Confidence-boosting wins over Germany and the Netherlands showed a team finding its defensive composure and rapid transitions at the perfect time. With the ultimate test in Amstelveen and Wavre now directly in sight, Coach Fulton’s vision is rounding into form.

While coaches and selectors work on finalising their twenty member squad, you have a chance to have your say.

Have Your Say: The 20-Member Roster

Use the Give Me Hockey Squad Selector below to pick your 20 players based on their positions. Balance your defence, lock in your midfield anchors, and select your clinical goal-scorers.

Share and Debate Your Squad

Once your roster is locked in, download your custom graphic and let the debate begin:

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Tag us, share with your friends, and back up your selections in the comments. Who makes your cut for the plane to Europe?

<p>The post You’re the Coach: Pick India’s 2026 Men’s World Cup Squad first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

For years, European teams have treated tournaments like the Pro League as preparation, rotating squads, mixing youth with experience, managing minutes. The Champions Trophy was always a good example, European sides arriving with mixed teams while India treated every match as must-win. With Fulton, that has changed. India have started approaching these tournaments the same way, building toward the World Cup rather than chasing points in June.

From an analytical standpoint, the winless record was not alarming. From a results perspective, carrying zero wins into matches against Netherlands and Germany was a real concern. Results affect morale, and India needed something from this leg.

What Rotterdam showed, across all four matches, was a team building something. The counter-attacking urgency, the sharpness of the transitions, the defensive shape holding even when results did not go their way. These were not the signs of a team chasing points. The final match against Netherlands was where that plan looked complete.

Read More: Peaking at the Right Moment: The One Thing That Will Define India at the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup

Craig Fulton’s Blueprint: How India Defend and Counter

Craig Fulton’s India looks like a well-oiled machine. Accurate, sharp defending, followed by quick, deliberate counter-attacks. There is no panic. Ten years ago, watching India defend was a different experience, there was anxiety in the shape, uncertainty in the recovery runs, a sense that one good move from the opposition could unravel everything.

Fulton arrived after the 2023 World Cup with a clear idea. Defend in numbers, win the ball back, and counter before the opposition resets. It was a shift from the attacking hockey India had been known for. Paris 2024 answered the question of whether this approach was right. India had not beaten Australia in eight matches before that game, including a 7-0 at the Commonwealth Games and a 7-1 at Tokyo. At Paris, through control and structure, they won 3-2, their first Olympic win over Australia since 1972.

Paris was the answer.

There are anomalies. Germany’s second leg in Rotterdam, where India surrendered a lead in the final minutes, was a lapse in concentration. Five minutes of losing focus can change a game. But those are exceptions. The overall pattern, in Rotterdam and before it, has been a defensive performance getting sharper with each match.

Read More: Could Harmanpreet Singh Be More Effective in Midfield?

The Castle: How India Shut Netherlands Out

Netherlands did not get an inch in the final match. Every ball was contested and every piece of space had to be earned.

In a castle, the enemy sieges one door, and behind it they find another set of defensive positions already prepared. That is how India defended. If one player was beaten, at least two more were covering that same space. Netherlands worked for every ball, every inch of turf, and individual brilliance could not find a way through because another wall was always waiting.

Netherlands’ only real outlet was the wide wings, using pace to come in from wide corners. India’s zonal shift dealt with that too, tracking the movement, covering the angles, taking the ball before it became dangerous. Thierry Brinkman, one of Netherlands’ most dangerous players, could not find the space or the influence Netherlands needed from him across either Rotterdam leg. The castle had no door he could open.

The clearest proof came in the final minutes. Netherlands were reduced to ten men and threw everything forward, winning three consecutive penalty corners in the 58th minute. India blocked all three.

At the third quarter break, with India leading 2-1, the Netherlands bench told its own story. Delmee looked concerned. Players sat with lines on their foreheads, the look of a team asking itself why it could not unlock the Indian defence, why there was no space, and why even when space appeared, it was not working.

The Counter-Attacks That Unlocked the Game

India’s defensive structure was not built to absorb pressure and hold on. The second half of the plan was always transition, winning the ball back and moving into dangerous areas before Netherlands could reset.

In the third minute of the second quarter, Rajinder Singh stole the ball from a Dutch player in their own half. One touch to control, then a forward drive to the right, forcing a circle penetration. The sequence that led to India’s second goal started from that steal. The long corner that followed was played to Jarmanpreet Singh on the Dutch right wing. Finding no space, he played it back to Sanjay, also in the Dutch half, whose long slap shot found Abhishek, who finished with his trademark reverse stick first-time strike.

When Manpreet Singh was fouled near the halfway line, India had not even restarted play before Jarmanpreet had already gone long on the Dutch right wing and beaten his marker. The counter was already in motion before the restart.

Craig Fulton, speaking at half-time, said: “Ours is counter, getting the ball in their half and managing the ball better and taking chances.”

Netherlands coach Jeroen Delmee, also at half-time, said: “India has a quality to punish you through circle penetration. Tempo in turnover is what I was looking for.” India found it in the second half.

How India’s Fitness Made the Blueprint Work

India pressed high with their attackers as the first line of defence in the opening quarter, shifting to a mixed press as the match developed. The shape held from the first minute to the last.

There were lapses. The goalkeeper was called into action in the 3rd minute. A defensive error in the 13th minute briefly gave Netherlands an opening. The recovery was immediate, and the lapse in the 13th minute was converted directly into a turnover before Netherlands could capitalise, even inside the D.

Sumit, a centre-back, was on the wings in the second quarter, accepting high balls and joining India’s attack. Jarmanpreet, a right-back, was already in the Dutch half before India had even restarted after Manpreet’s foul. Defenders contributing in attack, recovering from lapses instantly, still available for the counter. Sixty minutes of this demands serious conditioning. And when the structure holds that well, the goalkeeper becomes the last wall rather than the first line of defence. The saves came, but they were standard ones. The hard work was done long before the ball reached him.

What Rotterdam Means for India’s World Cup Preparation

India head to London next, with matches against Pakistan and England. The World Cup is two months away.

The tactics, the defensive shape, the counter-attacking urgency, the fitness to sustain it across four matches against two of the world’s best sides. Rotterdam may not have delivered every result India wanted. But the blueprint is clearer now than it was when they arrived. That matters more than the points.

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<p>The post Fulton’s Blueprint Comes to Life: How India Shut Netherlands Out in Rotterdam first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

The FIH Nations Cup 2026 Final

Both goals came in the first quarter. Navneet Kaur opened the scoring in the 4th minute, converting a penalty corner. India doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Sunelita Toppo deflected in a Deepika penalty corner strike.

What followed was a defensive masterclass. India conceded just one penalty corner in the entire match, as New Zealand spent the rest of the game chasing the contest without ever threatening a way back. By the third quarter, the frustration on the hosts’ faces was visible. India’s defence gave them nothing.

Lalremsiami was named Player of the Match. Deepika Soreng stood out across large parts of the game, her composure in defence repeatedly breaking up New Zealand’s attempts to build pressure.

Read More: Tim White Gets His First Real Test: India Junior Women Head to UK for Seven-Match Tour

An Unbeaten Campaign

India won all five matches in the tournament. They opened with a dramatic comeback against the USA, coming from 0-2 down to win 3-2. A 2-1 win over Japan followed, before a 3-2 win over Uruguay sealed top spot in Pool A. India then routed Chile 6-0 in the semi-final before completing the campaign with the win over New Zealand in the final.

Tournament Results

The Standout Performers

Navneet Kaur was, as usual, the heart of this Indian team. She finished the tournament with 4 goals, 3 from penalty corners and 1 from open play, scoring in the wins over USA, Chile, and New Zealand.

Deepika was officially named the tournament’s top scorer with 6 goals, all from penalty corners. Her goals helped India in crucial moments during the tournament.

But it was India’s defence that left the strongest impression. Across five matches, India conceded only a handful of goals, and in the final against New Zealand, they limited the hosts to a single penalty corner in 60 minutes. Deepika Soreng was the standout among India’s defenders, composed under pressure and rarely beaten throughout the tournament.

Promotion to FIH Pro League

India had been relegated to the Nations Cup after finishing bottom of the 2024-25 FIH Pro League table. This win takes them straight back into the top tier of international hockey, FIH Pro League. With the 2026-27 Pro League season doubling as an Olympic qualifying route, this would give India much needed match practice.

Hockey India Announces Cash Award

Hockey India announced a cash award of INR 3 lakh for each player in the title-winning squad and INR 1.5 lakh for each member of the support staff.

What’s Next for Team India

This Nations Cup campaign was always about more than the trophy. With the FIH World Cup in August and the Asian Games in September both approaching, this unbeaten run in Auckland is exactly the kind of form India will want to carry forward. A team that conceded so little across five matches, including just one penalty corner in the final against a senior host nation, will go into the World Cup with real defensive confidence.

2026 is a big year for Indian hockey. Nations Cup. World Cup. Asian Games. Subscribe to the Give Me Hockey newsletter and follow every step of it. We will be covering every important moment of this journey, from squad announcements to match reports to the bigger questions about where this team is heading. India’s women just won the Nations Cup unbeaten and secured Pro League promotion. The men’s team is fighting for results in the European leg of the Pro League ahead of the World Cup. With both teams building toward August and September, this is the year to be following Indian hockey closely, and we want you with us for all of it. Subscribe and stay informed.

Jimmy Bhogal is the founder of Give Me Hockey

<p>The post Indian Women Win FIH Nations Cup 2026, Beat New Zealand 2-0 in Final to Secure Pro League Promotion first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

Scotland’s senior team alone is a serious litmus test. Ranked 14th in the world, they recently qualified for their first World Cup in 24 years and held India’s senior side to a 2-2 draw in Hyderabad earlier this year. England and the United States bring their own established junior pathways. With Hockey India looking to accelerate the development of these players toward the senior team, this tour is a real opportunity to understand the group’s strengths and areas that need work.

The Schedule

India open in Edinburgh against Scotland’s senior women’s team before moving to Lilleshall for five matches against the United States U-21, England U-21, and Belgium U-21.

Why This Tour Matters

In May, this site flagged a structural problem facing Indian junior hockey. Hockey India had appointed two well-credentialed foreign coaches, Tim White for the junior women and Frederic Soyez for the junior men, but the 2026 calendar gave them almost nothing to work with. At the time, only the Junior Asia Cup was confirmed for either programme.

This UK tour is the first real sign of that gap closing. Seven matches against three different national programmes in nine days is exactly the kind of calendar density that was missing. It will not fix the broader pattern on its own, junior India has gone from playing four to six tournaments a year in World Cup cycles to just one or two in off years, but it is a meaningful start for a coach who arrived with a clear mandate and very little to execute it against.

Read More: Why Hiring Tim White and Frederic Soyez is Only a Half-Battle

Facing a Senior Side

Facing Scotland’s senior team rather than an U-21 side is the standout decision in this schedule. India’s own senior side is ranked 9th in the world. Scotland sit at 14th, and the two teams already know each other well, having played out a 2-2 draw in World Cup qualifiers in March, a result that contributed to Scotland’s qualification for their first World Cup since 2002.

That gives White’s group senior-level physicality and game management earlier than most junior tours would offer.

White’s Approach

White has been clear about what he wants from this team. “I want to keep the game simple and focus on our collective and individual strengths. We will aim to be a team that values attacking hockey but remains disciplined in our defensive structures. My goal is to produce technically sound players ready to bridge the gap and push for spots in the senior team,” White said in a statement.

International hockey has shifted in recent years toward teams that defend in structured blocks and look to break quickly, rather than committing numbers forward and leaving space in behind. Teams that combine attacking intent with defensive organisation, rather than picking one over the other, are increasingly the ones that compete at the top of the world rankings. Building that habit into players at junior level, rather than trying to coach it in later, is a long-term bet on the kind of hockey India wants to play by the time these players are ready for the senior team.

What’s Next

Beyond this tour, the Junior Asia Cup is confirmed for later in 2026 in Moqi, China, though dates have not yet been announced. The UK tour gives White’s group a genuine measuring stick before that tournament arrives.

Speaking about the broader purpose of the tour, White added: “Tours like these are vital in helping young athletes adapt to international standards, build confidence and develop their understanding of the game in challenging environments.”

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<p>The post Tim White Gets His First Real Test: India Junior Women Head to UK for Seven-Match Tour first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

What is worth asking, with the World Cup two months away and India still searching for the right balance across the pitch, is whether the position he plays is actually the one that gets the most out of him.

This analysis is based on video review of India’s FIH Pro League matches against Netherlands and Germany in Rotterdam, alongside the goals conceded record from the Rourkela and Hobart legs earlier in the season.

His defensive role has always been straightforward on paper, the last man back, the player whose positioning underpins everything India do without the ball. But increasingly, the question is not whether Harmanpreet Singh matters to this team. It clearly does. The question is whether defence is actually the role he should be playing.

Harmanpreet Singh’s Defensive Positioning

The numbers from India’s home leg in Rourkela were stark. India lost all four matches, conceding 19 goals, including an 0-8 defeat to Argentina. Harmanpreet was rarely visible in the frame during defensive sequences, effectively playing India a man down at the back. His recovery runs were slow.

He then took personal time away from the squad and missed all four matches of the Hobart leg in Australia. India still could not win in regulation, but defensively the picture changed. India conceded just 6 goals across those four matches, compared to 19 in Rourkela. That swing does not prove Harmanpreet’s positioning caused Rourkela’s defensive collapse, a small sample across two legs against different opponents has obvious limits, but it is a real enough shift that it deserves notice.

A similar pattern showed up again against Netherlands in Rotterdam. India conceded an early goal in the second minute. From what was visible, Harmanpreet’s positioning looked partly responsible. Two minutes later, with India defending, he was seen standing next to Jarmanpreet Singh, more focused on watching the ball than actively engaging with the play in front of him. Two separate moments inside the opening four minutes, both pointing to the same concern.

Read More: FIH Pro League 2025-26: 5 Things to Watch as India Heads to Europe

The Vision and the Passing

What makes this complicated is that in the same matches where his positioning was a concern, Harmanpreet Singh was also directly responsible for some of India’s best attacking moments.

In the sixth minute against Netherlands, he sent an aerial ball to Jarmanpreet Singh on the right with pinpoint accuracy, the kind of pass that requires real anticipation and vision to execute. Later in the same match, positioned between India’s own circle and the 5-metre line, he hit a long diagonal slap shot across the width of the pitch to the opposite flank, finding Dilpreet Singh open. Dilpreet scored India’s first goal from that pass.

Against Germany, the pattern repeated. In the sixth minute, India won a free hit near the halfway line. Harmanpreet Singh received it with his back to play, looking set to pass backward. Germany’s defenders shifted to cover that pass. Instead, he played a quick self-pass and released the ball forward with a stick movement too fast to track, beating at least two defenders who had been covering passing lanes. Later in the match, he hit another slap shot from just before the 25-yard line that cut through seven German defenders, the ball running through to Shilanand Lakra, who scored India’s second goal.

Four moments, two matches, the same skill on display each time, a long, accurate pass that finds a teammate in space and turns defence directly into a scoring chance.

Is a Defensive Midfield Role the Answer?

There is a tactical knock-on effect worth considering here. Right now, because India often struggle to progress the ball cleanly from the back, Hardik Singh has had to drop deep into India’s own half to get on the ball and start attacks himself. That takes Hardik further from the opposition’s defensive third, the area where his ability to create and finish matters most.

If Harmanpreet Singh were consistently doing the job of progressing the ball from deep, the long diagonal passes, the disguised forward balls, Hardik would not need to retreat as often. He could stay higher up the pitch, closer to India’s forwards, putting more direct pressure on opposition defenders instead of spending energy collecting possession deep in his own half.

That is not a small shift. It would change where India’s best playmaker spends most of his time on the pitch.

None of this means Harmanpreet Singh has solved his defensive positioning. He has not. The same issue that showed up in Rourkela showed up again against Netherlands. What it does suggest is that his value to this team right now is not really about being the last line of defence. It is about penalty corners, and increasingly, about the passing range that looks more suited to a defensive midfield role than a traditional back line position.

The World Cup is two months away. Nobody is going to shift a captain’s position mid-cycle based on two matches. But the question is worth sitting with, because right now, Harmanpreet Singh looks like he has more to offer India going forward than he does standing still.

2026 is a big year for Indian hockey. Nations Cup. World Cup. Asian Games. We will be covering every important moment of this journey. Subscribe to the Give Me Hockey newsletter and stay with us through all of it.

Jimmy Bhogal is the founder of Give Me Hockey.

<p>The post Could Harmanpreet Singh Be More Effective in Midfield? first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

India sit eighth in the standings with 4 points from 8 matches, ahead of only Pakistan. The European leg takes them to Rotterdam to face Netherlands and Germany, before moving to London for matches against Pakistan and England.

The World Cup is the priority. Asian Games gold offers direct Olympic qualification for 2028. Both tournaments demand a squad that is fit, settled, and scoring goals. There is also an open question of peaking at the right moment, something India have struggled with before. Right now, India are 0 for 8 with the lowest goal tally in the league.

With the World Cup and Asian Games in mind, here are five things worth watching as India begin this leg.

1. Results Now or a Plan for August?

India have not won a single match this Pro League season. Eighth place, ahead of only Pakistan, with Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan, and England waiting in Rotterdam and London.

Go all out, chase a result, end the winless run, give the squad something to build confidence on heading into the World Cup. That is one option.

But there is history here that complicates it. At the 2023 World Cup, India beat Spain on day one, then faded over the following nine days, eventually losing on penalties to New Zealand in the crossover after leading 3-1 with nine minutes left. India peaked too early. By the time it mattered most, the sharpness was gone.

The European leg sits two months before the World Cup. If India go all out here purely to get a result, they risk being in a similar position come August, sharp now, faded later.

The honest tension is this. Does India use Rotterdam and London to build combinations, fitness, and tactics with August in mind? Or does a winless season demand a result now, even if it means peaking at the wrong time again?

Read More: Peaking at the Right Moment: The One Thing That Will Define India at the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup

2. Where Are the Goals?

India have scored 9 goals in 8 matches this season, the lowest in the Pro League.

The forward line is the most obvious concern. Abhishek has played 7 matches and scored 0 goals. Sukhjeet Singh has played 3 and scored 0. Between them, India’s first-choice forwards have not found the net once this season.

Part of this could be a service problem. Watching India this season, the midfield has not consistently created chances for the forward line. If the ball is not getting to Abhishek and Sukhjeet in positions to score, the goal drought is not just a finishing issue, it becomes a question about how India build attacks through midfield.

Penalty corners tell a similar story. India have scored 4 PC goals from 21 attempts, a conversion rate of 19 percent. On its own, that is a respectable number. But when your forwards are not scoring from open play, the penalty corner unit needs to do more than be respectable. It needs to be the difference.

Read More: FIH Pro League: India’s Squad and Schedule for European Leg

3. If Not Harmanpreet, Then Who?

Penalty corner specialists hunt in pairs. Most top hockey nations have at least two recognised drag-flickers who can both occupy the top of the circle, giving the opposition two threats to defend rather than one.

India still relies overwhelmingly on Harmanpreet Singh. If he is off form, injured, or simply has a quiet day, the question becomes immediate: who else can step up?

Jugraj Singh has been the traditional second option but his numbers this season, 1 from 6, do not inspire confidence. Amandeep Lakra is an interesting case. He scored 9 goals in the Hockey India League for his franchise and 2 at the Junior World Cup, showing he has the ability. But he has played only 3 matches for India and is yet to convert at senior international level. Amit Rohidas can still contribute but mostly takes hits now rather than drag-flicks, a different kind of penalty corner threat altogether.

Rotterdam and London are an opportunity to find out if India has a genuine second option, or if Harmanpreet remains a one-man penalty corner unit heading into the World Cup.

4. Harmanpreet’s Form and Leadership in FIH Pro League

During India’s home leg of FIH Pro League in Rourkela, Harmanpreet Singh’s positioning was a concern. He was rarely visible in the frame during defensive sequences, raising questions about his role as the last line of defence. There was also a visible drop in how quickly he covered ground, a problem for a player whose entire role depends on being the last man back, covering spaces before attackers get there.

Harmanpreet then took personal time away from the squad and missed all four matches of the Hobart leg in Australia.

He returns as captain for the European leg. The question is which version of Harmanpreet shows up. The one whose positioning and pace were under scrutiny in Rourkela, or a sharper, more engaged defender and leader.

As captain, his presence on the pitch sets the tone for the rest of the side. Rotterdam and London will tell us a lot about where he stands.

5. The World Cup Audition

This is the last Pro League leg before the World Cup squad is announced. 22 players are in this squad. 18 will go to the World Cup. Four will not. The question is which 4 players will miss the World Cup bus. Here is how things look right now.

Several positions are settled. Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Sanjay, and Jarmanpreet look set in defence. Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, and Vivek Sagar Prasad are sure shots in midfield. Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, and Abhishek look set in attack.

But several spots remain open. In defence, Yashdeep Siwach, Amandeep Lakra, and Jugraj Singh are all competing, with Jugraj under the most scrutiny given his recent form. The midfield, Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem are fighting for the remaining spots, alongside Rajinder Singh, the least experienced of the group but talked about as a long-term successor to Sardar Singh’s role. In attack, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, and Selvam Karthi are all in contention for the remaining forward spots.

Goalkeeping has its own storyline. Suraj Karkera looks set to be India’s number one. The second spot is between Mohith and Krishan Bahadur Pathak. Pathak was expected to inherit the gloves after Sreejesh’s retirement in 2024. Instead, he finds himself on standby with others ahead of him in the pecking order.

Rotterdam and London are the last major opportunity for these players to make their case before the World Cup squad is finalised.

Read More: 411 Caps and Still Going: The Manpreet Singh Story

What FIH Pro League Need to Show

India head to Europe without a win and with more questions than answers. The World Cup is only two months away. Whether it is goals, penalty corners, Harmanpreet’s form, or the battle for World Cup places, Rotterdam and London should tell us whether India have learned from an ordinary Pro League campaign so far. They may not be looking to peak in June, but they will want signs that the pieces are beginning to come together before August.

2026 is a big year for Indian hockey. Nations Cup. World Cup. Asian Games. We will be covering every important moment of this journey. Subscribe to the Give Me Hockey newsletter and stay with us through all of it

<p>The post FIH Pro League 2025-26: 5 Things to Watch as India Heads to Europe first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

The tournament was already over for India. They had lost every single game. Manpreet was just 20 years old. He could have sat out the remaining 65 minutes and nobody would have said a word.

Instead, he came back for the second half with a large bandage around his head.

Nobody asked him to come back. He just did.

Thirteen years later, he stands one cap away from becoming India’s most capped player of all time. He has 411 international appearances, one short of Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey’s record of 412. The European leg of the FIH Pro League is where that record could fall. Thirteen years defined by running India’s midfield, supporting the attack, anchoring the defence, and never once stopping. Serious on the pitch, a prankster off it. Selfless when it mattered most. Still going.

The Korean from Mithapur

The nickname Korean was given to him by former India defender Jugraj Singh, who spotted Manpreet as a child playing village matches in Jalandhar. Similar to Korean players, Manpreet had quick feet, sharp movement, and a lightness to how he carried himself on the pitch. The name stuck.

Years later, when Jugraj recommended him to then India coach Harendra Singh for the national camp, he said simply: “That Korean kid has something about him.”

The nickname turned out to be more accurate than Jugraj perhaps intended. Korean culture is built on collectivism, on putting the needs of the group above personal desire, on loyalty that runs deeper than convenience. Those who have watched Manpreet would say that description fits him as well as any label ever has.

Manpreet’s first real inspiration was Pargat Singh, the former India captain who led the side at the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Pargat was a defender who carried the ball forward like a midfielder, covering the full length of the field and refusing to be confined to one role. Manpreet would build his career in much the same way.

He broke into the national team as a left half before eventually inheriting the central midfield role from Sardar Singh. For the next decade he became the engine of India’s midfield, linking defence and attack while covering every blade of grass in between. When India needed control, Manpreet provided it. When India needed intensity, he brought it. And when India needed someone to carry the ball through pressure, he was often the first option.

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Character First

The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is not the Olympics. It is not the World Cup. In the grand scheme of a hockey career, it is a preparatory tournament. Nobody would have questioned Manpreet Singh had he chosen to stay home after his father passed away during the 2016 edition in Ipoh.

He came back anyway.

After rushing home to Jalandhar for the funeral, he flew straight back to Malaysia, mid-tournament.

He didn’t return for a medal or a record; he returned for his teammates, the jersey, and a quiet, lifelong obligation to the group. Within four minutes of stepping back onto the pitch against Pakistan, he scored.

He has never made it a story about himself. That moment, like so many others in his career, belongs to the team in his mind. Not to him.

It was the same impulse that had driven him back onto the field in London with a bandage around his head. Not because anyone asked. Not because the result mattered. But because leaving the field early was simply not something he was built to do.

Faced with injury, he came back. Faced with personal loss, he came back. Whenever Indian hockey needed him, he came back.

Read More: India Beat Japan; Win Men’s U18 Asia Cup 2026

The Captain Who Ended 41 Years of Waiting

When Manpreet was appointed captain in 2017, Indian hockey was searching for consistency. There had been flashes of progress. There had been memorable victories. But one statistic still hung over the team. India had not won an Olympic medal since Moscow 1980.

At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Manpreet Singh carried the Indian flag. The last hockey player to have done so was Pargat Singh at Atlanta 1996. The same man who had inspired a young boy from Mithapur to pick up a stick. Twenty-five years later, his student walked in his footsteps.

India won bronze. For the first time in 41 years, India stood on the Olympic podium again. Manpreet was the captain.

In 2019, he had become the first Indian to win the FIH Player of the Year award since it was introduced in 1999. He dedicated it to his late father.

Selfless to the End

Elite sport moves quickly. New coaches arrive. The systems emerge. New players challenge for places. Few athletes survive long enough to experience multiple cycles. Fewer still remain important throughout them.

As Hardik Singh developed into one of the world’s best midfielders, Manpreet did not resist. He stepped back from the captaincy, shifted his role, and found another way to contribute. Not every senior player can do that. Most either fight for what they had or quietly disappear. Manpreet did neither. He simply found a new way to be useful.

At Paris 2024, India faced Great Britain with ten men after Amit Rohidas received a red card. The game stopped. The team huddled. Manpreet Singh, no longer captain, no longer the central midfielder, stood up and spoke. In Punjabi. Loud enough for everyone to hear. The message was simple. Nobody lets the ball into the D. Nobody drops their guard. Not now.

India held on, and beat Great Britain in penalty shootouts.

That is Manpreet Singh. Not the most capped player yet. Not the captain anymore. But still the one the team turns to when it matters.

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Manpreet Singh Career Honours

The Record

Dilip Tirkey’s record has stood for years. The former defender represented India 412 times across an era when international hockey looked very different from today.

Now Manpreet is about to join him. The next match will bring him level. The one after that will likely see him stand alone.

The willingness to play through pain in London. Returning to the team after losing his father. Leading India to an Olympic medal after a 41-year wait. Accepting new roles when younger players emerged. Showing up, year after year, whenever India needed him.

That is what 413 caps will mean.

The boy who came back with a bandage around his head in London 2012 has no intention of stopping.

Indian hockey is heading into its biggest summer in years. Nations Cup. World Cup. Asian Games. Manpreet Singh could make history before it even starts. Subscribe to the Give Me Hockey newsletter and follow every step of it.

<p>The post 411 Caps and Still Going: The Manpreet Singh Story first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>

Having lost to Japan in the group stage, India could not have asked for a better response. Sardar Singh’s side finished the tournament with five wins from six matches, including an impressive 5-3 comeback victory over Pakistan in the semi-final.

India’s U18 Asia Cup Stats

The Final

Having been beaten by Japan in the pool stage, India came into the final with something to prove. A penalty corner in just 90 seconds and Tani Purti, impressive from the top of the circle throughout the tournament, wasted no opportunity. 1-0.

Japan grew into the first quarter but the Indian defence denied them. The first quarter ended 1-0 in India’s favour.

The second quarter started brightly for Japan too. They won their first penalty corner and looked threatening. India defended well and struck back. Tani Purti stepped up again in the 28th minute to make it 2-0. Prahalad Rajbhar then broke forward and found Kushwaha in front of goal. The captain finished coolly. 3-0 at half-time.

The third quarter saw Tani Purti complete his hat-trick. Varinder Singh’s run at Japan’s defence drew another penalty corner and Tani Purti finished clinically in the 34th minute. India had a 100 percent penalty corner conversion record in the final.

Japan scored a consolation goal through Numada Gaku in the 52nd minute from a penalty corner. They won three more penalty corners in the closing stages but India, who converted all three of their penalty corners while limiting Japan to one goal from four attempts, were not going to let this one slip.

Tani Purti won Player of the Match for his impressive hat-trick.

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The Pool Stage

India opened with a 13-0 win over Kazakhstan and followed it up with a one-sided 13-1 result against Chinese Taipei. The goals were flowing but the real test had not arrived. When it did, India failed it. A complacent performance against Japan ended in a 4-2 defeat.

That defeat forced India to reset.

India beat South Korea 4-1 in their next match to respond strongly to the setback. Captain Ketan Kushwaha scored twice while Varinder Singh and Shahrukh Ali also found the net. Korea pulled one back through captain Yun Jaehyeok, but India were comfortable throughout.

The win ensured India finished the pool stage with three victories from four matches. However, Japan’s perfect record meant India had to settle for second place in Pool A.

The Semi-final

India vs Pakistan lived up to the hype.

India led 1-0 at half-time through a Tani Purti penalty stroke in the 12th minute. Pakistan fought back in the third quarter and led 3-2 going into the final quarter.

3-2 down going into the final quarter, India needed a response. Tani Purti scored three times in seven minutes, in the 49th, 53rd, and 56th minutes, all from penalty corners. India won 5-3. Shahrukh Ali had scored India’s second in the 35th minute.

U18 Asia Cup Results

Tani Purti and Kushwaha: The Standouts

Tani Purti finished the tournament with 13 goals, all but one from set pieces. Across six matches that is more than two goals per game. He scored 12 penalty corners and one penalty stroke.

Remarkably, he scored three hat-tricks across the tournament, against Chinese Taipei, Pakistan in the semi-final, and Japan in the final.

At under-18 level, he already looks like one of India’s most promising drag-flickers.

Kushwaha scored 8 goals across the tournament, five from field play and three from penalty corners.

India’s Top Scorers

Individual Honours

Ashish Tani Purti finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals and was named Player of the Match in the final.

Ayush Rajak was named Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

Cash Awards

Hockey India announced a cash award of INR 3 lakh for each player and INR 1.5 lakh for each support staff member.

Jimmy Bhogal is the founder of Give Me Hockey

2026 is a big year for Indian hockey. Nations Cup. World Cup. Asian Games. Subscribe to the Give Me Hockey newsletter and follow every step of it.

<p>The post India Beat Japan; Win Men’s U18 Asia Cup 2026 first appeared on Give Me Hockey.</p>