Bhubaneswar: The India men’s hockey team will take on table-toppers Germany in the FIH Pro League at the Kalinga Stadium here April 14 and 15 after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced fresh dates for the double-header following its cancellation last month.
India and Germany were scheduled to clash March 12 and 13 but the double-header was postponed because of high number of Covid-19 cases in the German team.
The last time the two teams met was during the bronze-medal match at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 where India beat Germany 5-4 in a thrilling encounter to win the historic Olympic medal for the first time in 41 years.
Welcoming the German men’s hockey team’s decision to travel to India for the matches, Hockey India president Gyanendro Ningombam said, “As hosts, we are happy to welcome the German National Men’s Team to participate in the FIH Pro League matches here in Bhubaneswar, Odisha in April. No doubt, there is a lot of excitement among the Indian hockey fans to watch these two teams who played the Bronze Medal match at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.”
The German team has so far played eight matches out which they have won five, won a game in shootout and lost two matches, India, who are placed second in the pool standings behind Germany by only a point, have also played eight matches, won five, and lost two matches in regulation time and lost one shootout.