Pro League: India men up against Dutch

ROTTERDAM: Its eyes firmly set on a podium finish at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the India men’s team would look to utilise the final 2021-2022 FIH Pro League tie against the Netherlands, starting here on Saturday, to address the grey areas.

In the previous tie against Tokyo Olympic Games champion Belgium in Antwerp last week, India won the first match 5-4 (3-3) via a shoot-out before losing 2-3. India now occupies the third position in the standings with 29 points from 14 matches.

Belgium is top with 31 points from 14 games and is on par with the second-placed Netherlands, which has played only 12 matches. Still in with an outside chance of finishing at the top of the table, the India men would hope to sign off their campaign on a high against the mighty Netherlands team.

Besides the men’s team, the India women will be in action against Olympic silver medallist and World No.2 Argentina, which is on a 14-match unbeaten streak. The India women’s side had lost 1-2 and 0-5 to Belgium in Antwerp last week.

Despite the defeats, India is placed third in the standings with 22 points from 10 matches, behind table-topper Argentina (38 points) and the second-placed Netherlands (32 points).