Sri Lanka men's national field hockey team
The Sri Lanka national field hockey team represents Sri Lanka in international field hockey competitions. It is ranked as the fourth best nation in the South Asian region and ranked below 40th in the world.2017 Hockey World League rankings Sri Lanka was once considered as a better side in 1970s but failed to perform well at the international level for about four decades. The field hockey team from Sri Lanka participated in the Hockey World League for the first time in their history when they took part in the 2016–17 Men's FIH Hockey World League Round 1[2] and they performed really well by defeating every team that they had played in pool matches. They also qualified for the finals of the Hockey World League Round 1 in the Asian category. In the finals Sri Lanka played a draw in full-time against China, with 3 goals from each team. China went on to win the final by scoring 4-2 in the penalty shootout and Sri Lanka secured the silver medal at the end of Round 1 competition. After emerging as runners-up the Sri Lankan team qualified to play in the 2016-17 Men's FIH Hockey World League Round 2.[3] But Sri Lanka could not manage to win even a single game and crashed out from the FIH Hockey World League. In Round 2 Sri Lanka secured 7th place by beating Fiji in the 7th place playoff.
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| Association | Sri Lanka Hockey Federation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Confederation | AHF (Asia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Anuruddha Herath Bandara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Dr Lal Ekanayake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captain | Nalantha de Silva | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FIH ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current | 42  (21 December 2020)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest | 34 (2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest | 56 (2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2016, Sri Lanka made history by qualifying to play in the finals of the Asian Hockey Federation Cup. This was the first time Sri Lanka qualified to play in the finals of the Asian Hockey Federation Cup. In the finals Sri Lanka lost 0-3 to Bangladesh and secured the silver medal.[4]
Sri Lanka also qualified to compete at the 2018 Asian Games in the men's team event after a third place finish in the Asian Games qualification round [5]
References
- "FIH Men's and Women's World Ranking". FIH. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- "SL to take part in Hockey World League for the first time | The Sunday Times Sri Lanka". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- "Sri Lanka Men qualify for World Hockey League 2nd Round | The Sunday Times Sri Lanka". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- Caffoor, Inshaf (28 November 2016). "5th AHF Cup – Sri Lanka gets Silver". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- Asian Games qualification third place playoff field hockey