The FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2025 will be hosted in Chennai and Madurai, as announced by Hockey India on Friday. The tournament starts on 26 November and ends on 10 December 2025. It marks the third consecutive time India has been selected to host the prestigious event, as the previous edition in 2021 was held in Bhubaneswar, and the 2016 edition was held in Lucknow. The tournament will take place at the Mahoy Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai, primarily, while Madirai will host an international hockey event. 

Dilip Tirkey, the president of Hockey India expressed his gratitude and said, “It is a matter of great pride for Hockey India to host the forthcoming FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup and I express our gratitude to the Chief Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri MK Stalin and Sports Minister Shri Udhayanidhi Stalin who have extended unparalleled support to successfully host the event.

For the first time in the history of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, 24 teams will be playing, which marks a significant milestone, regarding which, he added, “With 24 teams playing the Junior Hockey World Cup this time, we will have the event in two cities – Chennai and Madurai. While Chennai has hosted the Asian Champions Trophy in 2023, Madurai will be hosting an international event of this magnitude for the first time, and we are happy to take hockey to different parts of the country.”

Secretary General of Hockey India, Bhola Nath Singh, said, “It is our endeavour to take hockey to different venues across India and promote the game. It is with this vision that we chose Chennai and Madurai as the venues.”

Sekar Manoharan, Hockey India Treasurer and President of Hockey Tamil Nadu, also shared his thoughts and said, “I am grateful to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri MK Stalin and Sports Minister Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin for their passion and support for hockey. We in Tamil Nadu want to bring back the glory days of hockey in the state, and Chennai, for long, was one of the most popular venues for international hockey events. We look forward to welcoming global hockey fans to our great state and enjoy our hospitality.”

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The World Cup of Hockey is an ice hockey tournament that was inaugurated in 1992. It had only been held twice since 2004 and 2016. It was uncertain if the tournament would be held again, however, after a gap of 12 years the National Hockey League (NHL) announced its comeback on Wednesday, 12 February.

The World Cup of Hockey will be returning in 2028, and at least eight teams will be competing for the trophy. The teams will be based on individual countries this year, unlike the earlier format which was a blend of several countries.

While the other details remain unknown, what we know is that the NHL and NHLPA will be working together on the successful completion of the 4 Nations Face-Off where they will also be discussing the World Cup of Hockey. Other details like the teams that will take part, the venue, and locations will be disclosed later this year.

According to the announcement, the World Cup and the Olympics will take place every two years in rotation starting from the Winter Olympics in 2026. The NHL has not appeared for a single Olympics since 2014 and they are set to make a comeback in the next edition.

“We’re going to the Olympics, the agreement’s on paper. We haven’t signed it yet. We’re still working through it. It’s a large agreement. There’s no obstacle. There’s no real big obstacle. It’s just a matter of putting pen to paper.” Walsh said regarding the NHL’s participation.

Marty Walsh, the executive director of the NHL told the media, “We couldn’t be more excited about making a reality Olympics, World Cups, Olympics, World Cups on a regular schedule of the best hockey players in the world representing their countries,”

“We know the full-blown World Cup, this is simply a sampler, is going to be sensational,” he added

There is uncertainty about whether the Russian players will be joining the league because of the ongoing war, the director shared his thoughts regarding the matter, “I’d love to see our Russian players paying in these tournaments again,”.

“They’re incredible hockey players. The issues are political. Not political as far as the NHLPA; it’s world politics we have to get through. I’m hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing Russian athletes back in the competition.” he added.

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Paris Olympics 2024, Day 1: It was a wonderful day for Indian fans across many sporting events at the Paris Olympics 2024, as Team India won convincingly in badminton, boxing, shooting, and hockey. Manu Bhaker became the country’s first shooter to qualify for the final, shooting in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Event.

Manu Bhaker qualifies for the 10m Air pistol finals 🥳🎉

The 22-year-old finished 3rd in the qualifiers with a tally of 580 points 🔥#OlympicsonJioCinema #OlympicsonSports18 #JioCinemaSports #Cheer4Bharat #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/HoVBNpRgLD

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) July 27, 2024

India showed their dominance in badminton as well, with Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy winning in consecutive games to begin their group campaign on a high note.

🚨 Badminton – @satwiksairaj and @Shettychirag04 register a comfortable win in the first group stage match 👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/Eb4usRfQxE

— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 27, 2024

On the first day of the group stage, hockey provided a tonne of entertainment as India pulled off a thrilling 3-2 victory over New Zealand to begin their campaign.

Congratulations #TeamIndia for the fantastic victory against New Zealand. Your hard work, dedication, and skill on the field have truly paid off.

Keep up the great momentum as you continue to make us proud.

#TeamIndia #OlympicHockey #proudmoment @TheHockeyIndia #Paris24… pic.twitter.com/ZQ2ChDUe7z

— Dilip Kumar Tirkey (@DilipTirkey) July 27, 2024

Preeti Pawar dominated her opponents in boxing, advancing to the Round of 16 following an overwhelming win in the Round of 32 on Saturday.

Punching her way into the next round! 🥊
Preeti advances into the next round after a convincing 5-0 win in the Women’s 54kgs Boxing Round of 32. 💪🏼#JeetKiAur #Cheer4Bharat pic.twitter.com/HTj5XfyVOe

— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 27, 2024

Here is the complete list of results of Team India on Day 1 of the Paris Olympics 2024:

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