The upward trend in India's hockey graph has reached another milestone after the historic silver in the Champions Trophy in London. The Indian men's team is now ranked No. 5 in the world for the first time since 2004.
After relinquishing in the lower half of the top 10, and sometimes out of it, since the International Hockey Federation introduced the ranking system in 2003, India are now ahead of teams like New Zealand, Belgium and Argentina
Australia remain on top, followed by Netherlands; who skipped the Champions Trophy; Germany; Great Britain and India. Only eight points separate the fourth-placed Great Britain and India (1689 points).
Ironically, India's best ranking in over a decade was achieved at the same venue, i.e. London, where they finished an embarrassing 12th in the 2012 Olympics.
The next best-ranked team from Asia is South Korea at No. 9.
The FIH will release the revised rankings once the women's Champions Trophy concludes.
India lost their maiden Champions Trophy final to Australia under controversial circumstances. The teams were locked 0-0 at the end of regulation 60 minutes after which Australia clinched the title 3-1 in shootout.
India protested against a referee's decision in one of Australia's goals, but it was later turned down.
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