Скачать или смотреть Are India sending a B team for Hockey World Cup 2026? Report suggest Asiad priority due to Olympics

India has planned to send its second-best men’s hockey team to the FIH World Cup (WC) in Aug next year. The decision has been influenced by the limited competition window between the WC and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, a qualifying platform for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, sources told TOI. At the Asiad, winners in both men’s and women’s categories get an automatic berth for the Olympics. During the Hangzhou Asiad in 2023, the men’s hockey team won gold after defeating Japan, ensuring qualification for the Paris Games. In contrast, the women’s team finished third with a bronze and were unable to qualify for the Summer Games. It has emerged that the sports administrators are prioritising the Asiad over the men’s World Cup, since the two events are separated by only 20 days. Thus, fielding the main set of senior players at both events would not be feasible, sources added.

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