Lausanne: India have displayed excellent form in the FIH Hockey Pro League to move from fifth to fourth position - their highest placement since the creation of the FIH World Rankings in 2003. India’s ascension comes at the expense of Olympic champions Argentina, who are now in fifth place.
As per the men’s FIH World Rankings released late on Monday, Belgium – who in January defeated Australia in Sydney to wrestle top spot from their opponents – remain in pole position, with the Kookaburras (2) and the Netherlands (3) also holding their positions to complete the top three.
Germany and England occupy the fourth and fifth positions respectively, while New Zealand – who currently sit second in the FIH Hockey Pro League – have climbed from seventh to sixth place, moving ahead of Spain after claiming a draw and a win against Argentina at the weekend.
In the women’s, the Netherlands have retained their position at the top, but there been some changes beneath them. Argentina’s impressive 2-0 triumph over the reigning World, European and Pro League champions in Buenos Aires helped them rise up to second. However, the results of their double-header against New Zealand over the weekend, where Las Leonas claimed just two points from a possible six, has seen Argentina fall back to third position, with Australia returning to second place in the rankings.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) introduced its new match-based model for the calculation of the FIH World Rankings from the beginning of 2020.
