Hockey World Cup 2023: Top 3 players to watch out for in the tournament

The 15th edition of the Hockey World Cup is going to start on 13 January 2023. The tournament will run until 29 January in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The tournament will happen in two different stadiums. Belgium are coming to this tournament as the defending champions of the previous edition.

Australia, Netherlands, and Belgium will be the top three teams to watch out for in this upcoming tournament. However, there are several players who can be very impressive in this upcoming edition of the tournament. Those players have enjoyed great Hockey Pro League seasons in recent years.      

Here are the top 3 players who can perform well in the upcoming Hockey World Cup 2023:

Harmanpreet Singh, India

Harmanpreet Singh (Image Source: Twitter)

This player can impress everyone again in the upcoming Hockey World Cup in 2023. Harmanpreet Singh is the captain of the side. Recently, he won the player of the year award in the 2021-22 season. Thus, he became the fourth player to win the Player of the Year award (men's category) in consecutive years.

He had an incredible Hockey Pro League 2021-22 season with 18 goals from 16 games, including two hat-tricks. Thus, Harmanpreet was the highest scorer for the Men in Blue. He also holds the record for scoring the most goals by a player in a single season of the Hockey Pro League. However, in the ongoing 2022-23 season, he has six goals to his name so far.       

Thierry Brinkman, Netherlands

Thierry Brinkman (Image Source: Twitter)

This player has impressed everyone in recent tournaments across all Hockey tournaments. Thierry Brinkman is the captain of the side. Brinkman was instrumental in Netherlands’ Hockey Pro League victory in the 2021-22 season. He had seven goals in that season. Thus, he finished in the second position in the race to win the player of the year award in the 2021-22 season.

However, in the ongoing 2022-23 season, he has two goals to his name so far. Ahead of this World Cup, he opened up about the impactful players the Oranje have this time around. He said: “We have a lot of key players in our team who can light up the tournament. Jorrit Croon, Jonas de Geus, and goalkeeper Pirmin Blakk are really exciting to watch and I will look to score a few goals myself to entertain the fans during the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.”          

Tom Boon, Belgium

Tom Boon (Image Source: Twitter)

This forward of the Red Lions can impress in this upcoming Hockey World Cup in India. Tom Boon was the second-highest goal-scorer in the Hockey Pro League 2021-22 season. He scored 12 goals in that season. However, in the ongoing 2022-23 season, he has one goal to his name so far.

He finished in the third position in the race to win the player of the year award in the 2021-22 season. In the Hockey Pro League 2021-22 season, Belgium finished in the second position with 35 points from 16 games. Belgium are coming to this World Cup as the defending champions. In the last World Cup, Boon scored three goals in seven appearances.