In a bizarre series of events, Russian hockey goalkeeper Saveli Kononov was presented an AK-47 rifle for his match-winning performance in Izhstal Izhevsk's 3-2 victory over rivals Chelmet.
The Hockey India has announced a list of 33 probables who will join the senior men's coaching camp to prepare for the Belgium tour and Olympic qualifiers.
Harmanpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Gursahibjit Singh and Mandeep Singh scored for India in their 5-0 hammering of New Zealand in the Olympic Test Event.
The test event of the Tokyo Olympics will be held between August 17-21 at the Oi Hockey Stadium in the city.
Besides Manpreet and Sreejesh, also rested from the 18-member men's squad for the August 17 to 21 event is defender Surender Kumar.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has released an assistance amount of Rs 5 lakh for the treatment of triple Olympic gold medallist hockey Olympian Balbir Singh Senior, who is undergoing treatment at PGI
Akashdeep's goals came in the 11th, 26th and 53rd minutes, while Varun Kumar (4th, 22nd) and Mandeep Singh (30th, 60th) scored a brace each for India.
Rejecting speculation that the June 6-15 tournament might be shifted out of the Odisha Capital to either Lucknow or Raipur, a top Hockey India official said no such decision has been taken and the national body is committed to host the event in Bhubaneswar.
Hockey India has also recommended RP Singh and Sandeep Kaur for the Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The former Australian forward Kieran Govers has joined the national camp at the SAI centre in Bengaluru to help the Indian men’s hockey team strikers prepare for the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers.
With three wins and a draw, India are currently leading the six-team league table with 10 points and a goal difference of eight.
Continuing its winning run, the Indian men's hockey team hammered Canada 7-3 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to move one step closer for a place in the final.
India took the lead in the 28th minute through Mandeep Singh and looked set to earn their second consecutive win of the six-team tournament, but a defensive error led to Jonghyun Jang scoring from a penalty corner.
India begin their campaign against Japan on March 23 and will be looking to continue their winning form against the Japanese side.
Manpreet led the Indian team to an unbeaten streak at the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat where the team was declared joint winners with Pakistan.
Hockey India has retained all 18 players in the Indian team that took part at the World Cup last December.
While de Goede, 29, was named the Female Player of the Year, world champions Belgium's Van Doren, 24, was picked up as the Male Player of the Year for a second consecutive time.
Bhola, who breathed his last on Monday, represented India in the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics, winning a gold and silver medals respectively for the country.
The Pakistan team, which almost missed the 2018 hockey World Cup in India last December due to lack of funds, is scheduled to play its first phase matches of Pro Hockey League next month.
Having topped their pool featuring eventual champions Belgium, the hosts made a quarterfinal exit, going down to the Netherlands 1-2 in the World Cup.
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