Five Nation Men's and Women's Tournament, Valencia Spain, 2023

[prasen9]

So, the five nation tournament starts today. Don't know if the other teams are sending their full teams or experimenting.

Valencia 5-Nations Event

[sameerph]

No idea of other teams as it seems there is no live telecast anywhere of these matches.

But, our womens team lost 2-3 to hosts Spain in first match. Spain are ranked 8th as against our 6th. So, on paper that is an upset but for me we appear a little overranked and at home in any case, Spain would be slight favorities, so this result is not a surprise.

[sameerph]

Our mens team too lost to Spain 0-1 . Our team is ranked third and Spain eighth, so that is more of a disappointing loss.

[prasen9]

It is a round-robin league tournament. So, we are already behind wrt winning it.

BTW, there is surely some money to be made by broadcasting these in India. But, the federations seem oblivious to that. Fans in India, at least are not happy. Fans frustrated

[ssp]

No new players being tried out. Yet again. I mean this tournament has nothing riding on it. Why not try some new players. We're going to lose anyway

Won't surprise me if we lose all matches here. Men and women

[sameerph]

Both teams lost against Belgium. Mens team got thrashed 2-7 while Women team lost 1-2 in a close match.

[kaustav]

Mens lost to Germany 1-2 ...Third consecutive losses for us... What happened to them

[Sin Hombre]

Barely beat France 5-4 so at least don't end at zero.

[sameerph]

Our womens team also beat Ireland 2-1 in fourth match and did not end up at zero.

So, 3 losses to both teams ( Germany, Belgium and Spain) and 1 win each. If they used this trip for some experimentation it is ok but if they have played with full intensity and set pattern, than these are disappointing results.

[Sin Hombre]

The losses to Germany and Spain stung. Belgium has become the new Australia for us. 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss would have been an acceptable result for the men.

For the women, the losses to Germany and Belgium are not surprising, and Spain had the home advantage. Honestly, the women didn't play that badly compared to the men who lost to Germany after leading 2-0 at the half.

[ssp]

Men's results were pathetic. Maddening to see us wasting so many opportunities to try out new players during the Pro League and here. We are not genuinely No 3 in the world. 6-7 is more realistic, with the capability of losing to 8-10 ranked teams on any given day. We have very little chance of a medal in Paris.

The women are also ranked incorrectly. 8-10th is more accurate. I think they had some new players and so, narrow losses to Spain and Belgium are not a disaster. Let's hope they make to Paris!

[prasen9]

Jyoti Chhatri is eyeing selection to the quad for the hockey olympic qualififers. The 19-year old played well in the Valencia tournament. For those of you who have seen matches or followed things more closely, ssp, Sameer, etc., is she a great find? Should she be in the main team?

[Sin Hombre]

The men are in south africa and have beaten France and hosts easily so far.