Paris 2024: Why Indian Women's Hockey Team Is Not Playing In The Olympics?

India hold the record as the most successful hockey nation in Olympic history, boasting 12 medals: eight gold, one silver, and three bronze. However, only the men's hockey team, which has won all the medals so far, will represent the country at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The Indian women's hockey team, which had a historic fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020, will be missing from the Olympics 2024. Since they came close to a bronze medal in 2020, the Indian women's team have suffered a lot of setbacks, including the failure to qualify for the Olympics.

Why is Indian Women's Hockey team not playing in the Paris Olympics 2024?

At the Asian Games, which was the first qualifying event for Indian hockey teams for Paris 2024, the Indian women's team lost 4-0 to China in the semi-finals. This defeat cost them a direct berth for Paris 2024, which was reserved for the winners of the Asian Games 2023 men's and women's hockey tournaments.

Following their Asian Games setback in October 2023, they needed a top-three finish at the FIH Olympic Qualifiers held in Ranchi in January 2024 to secure an Olympic spot. Unfortunately, their campaign ended with a 1-0 loss to Japan in the bronze medal match.

On the aftermath of their failure to qualify for the Olympics in Paris via the Asian Games 2023, Janneke Schopman resigned as chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team earlier this year in February.

Schopman was the first female chief coach of the team and had a contract set to end in August after Paris 2024. She was replaced by former Indian hockey player Harendra Sing in April. Singh's appointment aims to bring new strategies and hope for future tournaments.

The Indian women's team's failure to qualify makes them the highest-ranked side to not be part of Paris 2024. Despite this setback, there is optimism that changes under new coaching could lead to better results in future competitions.

The journey towards qualification has been challenging for both the men and women's teams. While only one will compete at Paris 2024, efforts continue to strengthen both squads for upcoming international events.