India slip a place in hockey rankings

India would consider themselves unlucky as England got a last minute entry into the elite tournament after it was moved from Pakistan to Malaysia due to security reasons.

India slid one spot to be ninth in the latest world hockey rankings after England moved up a notch by virtue of their sixth place finish in the Champions Trophy for men in Kuala Lumpur.

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England, who were earlier ranked ninth, displayed some good performances in the prestigious tournament to move ahead of India in the rankings issued by the International Hockey Federation today.

India would consider themselves unlucky as England got a last minute entry into the elite tournament after it was moved from Pakistan to Malaysia due to security reasons.

Their 4-1 win over Pakistan and a 2-2 draw against the Koreans helped them rise ahead of the Olympic qualifiers in Chile, where India has also been drawn.

Now England have 1092 points against India's 1078.

Meanwhile, the Champions Trophy victory put Germany back on top of the ranking. The world champions had lost the first position after finishing fourth at the European Nations Championships.

Germany is ranked first with 1921 points, while Champions Trophy runners-up Australia are second, 23 points behind the leaders. Netherlands come next while Spain are ranked fourth.

Top 10 teams:

1. Germany (1921)

2. Australia (1898)

3. Netherlands (1743)

4. Spain (1689)

5. Korea (1435)

6. Pakistan (1353)

7. Argentina (1115)

8. England (1092)

9. India (1078)

10. New Zealand (1020).