India move up to third spot in men's hockey rankings after Asian Champions Trophy triumph

Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) The Indian men's hockey team moved up one place to third in the FIH World Rankings following its brilliant comeback triumph in the Asian Champions Trophy, overtaking England in the latest upgrade to the list.

The men's hockey team was ranked fourth with 2746 points, just 15 behind England's 2761. World No.1 Netherlands (3133) had pulled away from second-ranked Belgium (2918) when the list was upgraded on July 7 at the end of the FIH Pro League season.

India's triumph in the Asian Champions Trophy earned them enough points and the team took their tally to 2771.35, moving up to the third in the rankings ahead of England, who now have 2763.50 points.

The Netherlands retained the No.1 ranking with 3095.90 points followed by Olympic champion Belgium at 2917.87. World Champion Germany are fifth with 2680.04 points with Australia (2517.86), Spain (2492.9), Argentina (2350.07), Malaysia (2041.37) and New Zealand (1965.30) occupying the sixth to 10th places respectively.

Malaysia, who have lost to India in a tumultuous Asian Champions Trophy final in Chennai despite enjoying a two-goal advantage at half-time, too moved up the rankings overtaking New Zealand to jump one place up to ninth. They now have 2041.37 points as compared to 1953 points on July 7.

Seasoned forward Akashdeep Singh scored the winner when it mattered as India fought back brilliantly from a two-goal deficit to beat Malaysia 4-3 in a high-octane final to bag the Asian Champions Trophy title for a record-breaking fourth time here on Saturday.

This is India's fourth title in the event as they broke the record of three titles (two outright and one shared) with archrivals Pakistan, becoming the most successful team in the event. India had previously won the title in the inaugural year in 2011 and then in 2016. In 2018, they shared the title with Pakistan in Muscat, Oman as the match was rained off.

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