Indian Hockey Climbs to No. 5 in FIH Rankings, Best Since 2004

The upward trend in India's hockey graph has reached another milestone after the historic silver in the 2016 Champions Trophy in London.

The Indian men's team is now ranked No. 5 in the world for the first time since 2004.

After relinquishing in the lower half of the top 10, and sometimes out of it, since the International Hockey Federation introduced the ranking system in 2003, India are now ahead of teams like New Zealand, Belgium and Argentina

Australia remain on top, followed by Netherlands; who skipped the Champions Trophy; Germany; Great Britain and India. Only eight points separate the fourth-placed Great Britain and India (1689 points).

Ironically, India's best ranking in over a decade was achieved at the same venue, i.e. London, where they finished an embarrassing 12th in the 2012 Olympics.

The next best-ranked team from Asia is South Korea at No. 9