Hockey World Cup

The Hockey World Cup was held from 28 November to 16 December 2018, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India. The inauguration ceremony which was held on 27 November 2018, witnessed the biggest ever drone flying show in India.

Belgium won the tournament for the first time after defeating the Netherlands 3–2 in the final on a penalty shoot-out after a 0–0 draw. Defending champions Australia won the third place match by defeating England 8–1.There were 157 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 4.36 goals per match.

The following awards were given.

•  Player of the tournament – Arthur Van Doren, Belgium
• Goalkeeper of the tournament – Primin Blaak, The Netherlands
• Young Player of the tournament – Thijs van Dam, The Netherlands
• Top Goalscorer – Alexander Hendrickx, Belgium and Blake Govers, Australia
• Fair Play Award – Spain

The Indian team meanwhile lost in the quarter finals and could not end their 43-year old wait to enter the hockey world cup semi-finals.

Before the Odisha edition, the Indian men were ranked fifth on the FIH charts. In Bhubaneswar, India couldn’t pull off something remarkable to jump up the ladder but they more or less maintained status quo.