Indian men's hockey team returns home from Dutch tour

The Sardar Singh-led Indian senior men’s hockey team returned home from their two week tour of the Netherlands. The national team arrived in New Delhi on Monday morning after playing five practice games – two against two Dutch club sides, one against the Belgium national side and two matches against the Netherlands national outfit.

India won one game, drew one and lost three games. India swamped Leiden Hockey Club 7-0 before settling for a 3-3 draw against HGC in their second game. The Blueshirts then lost to Belgium 1-2 in their third practice game before going on to lose 2-4 and 1-2 to the Netherlands in their fourth and fifth practice games respectively.

The Blueshirts will take a small break before kickstarting their final World Cup preparatory camp in New Delhi from April 26. The camp will run till the third week of May before the national team leaves for The Hague, Netherlands for the 2014 World Cup beginning May 31.