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News 04 July 2014

All the news for Friday 4 July 2014


Investec London Cup - Men's Head-to-heads


England Captain Barry Middleton in action against Ireland at the NOW: Pensions Nations Cup earlier this year - credit Ady Kerry

There's just six days left until the start of the Investec London Cup, and we've done some number crunching for England Men's match-ups over the four days of competition.

We've already picked out who to watch out for as England men go up against Scotland, South Africa and ireland at the Investec London Cup, and now we're looking at their team histories to give us a clue as to how the games might pan out. However, matches aren't won on stats alone, so you'll have to come down to the event yourself to see how the games play out on the day!

The last match of the first day on Wednesday 9 July sees England go up against Scotland at 19:30. Scotland recently hosted a Four Nations tournament in Glasgow and played England twice, and England twice came out on top with three goals in the first and five goals in the second. Every player who scored in that last game is named on the squad for the Investec London Cup, but look out for David Condon who scored a brace in that game and may well hunt for another.

On Thursday 10 July, again at 19:30, England face South Africa - the only team in the tournament that they haven't played this year. England haven’t played South Africa since Johor Bakru in Malaysia last year, which broke a losing streak for the South Africans as the game finished at a 3-3 draw. Of 38 games, England have won just under half of them, with the other half split evenly between draws and losses. Simon Mantell scored four in one game in 2006, and he may well be able to do it again this year in London!

England's last match of the round-robin is against Ireland on Saturday 12 July at 12:00. England have played Ireland 100 times, most recently at the Nations Cup in Reading earlier this year - back then it was a decisive 3-0 victory, but this weekend’s test matches will likely give a clearer indicator of how Ireland might play in London next week. England have scored 262 goals to Ireland’s 112, two of which came from Ashley Jackson at the Nations Cup.

After the round-robin comes the classification matches, and the results from these first games determines whether England will be fighting for third or first place.

England Hockey Board Media release



Investec London Cup - Women's Head-to-heads


Nicola White scored England's only goal in the 4-1 defeat to South Africa at the Rabobank World Cup - credit Ady Kerry

There's just six days to go until the start of the Investec London Cup, and we've done some number crunching for England Women's match-ups.

We've already picked out who to watch out for as England women go up against Wales, South Africa and Scotland at the Investec London Cup, and now we're looking at their team histories to give us a clue as to how the games might pan out. However, matches aren't won on stats alone, so you'll have to come down to the event yourself to see how the games play out on the day!

England first face Wales at 13:15 on Wednesday 9 July, and it'll be the first time these teams have faced each other in a capped match for almost four years. Ten of Wales' players also play for Swansea City, so they know how to play together, and over the years England have scored an average of five goals per game against the Welsh side, so expect a high-scoring game. Also, keep an eye out for England's Lucy Wood - she'll be making her senior international debut in this match!

On Thursday England are up against South Africa, again at 13:15. Most of you will remember how South Africa put four away to England's one at the recent Rabobank Hockey World Cup, and it'll be fresh in the minds of all of the players as well. Nicola White scored England's only goal in that match, but this time she'll be backed up by four players who scored against South Africa at the World League Semi-Final last year, so hopefully England can reverse their fortunes in this Investec Derby match.

After a rest day England will take on Scotland on Saturday, in the final match of the women's round-robin at 17:15. These two last played each other at the Trifinance EuroHockey Nations Championship in Belgium last year, where England defender Sam Quek scored the goal that gave England the victory. Out of 110 games, England have won just under 100 of them, so they stand a good chance of running out the victors in London.

After the round-robin comes the classification matches, and the results from these first games determines whether England will be fighting for third or first place.

England Hockey Board Media release



Investec Cup ideal preparation for games – Gregory

South African men’s coach Fabian Gregory says his team’s participation in next week’s Investec Cup will provide ideal preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Scotland later this month.

Previously reserved only for the women’s hockey side, the tournament included a men’s component and as a result, South Africa were invited to compete in both.

“It’s a fantastic event for us coming after the World Cup, where we had a strong finish to the event,” Gregory said on Thursday.

“This gives an opportunity to build again leading into the Commonwealth Games and we couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to make the necessarily improvements.”

Gregory and his team endured a disappointing World Cup campaign in the Netherlands last month, finishing 11th out of 12 teams, and last in their pool.

They did, however, put in a superb display in their playoff game against Malaysia, beating the Asian nation 6-2 and ending the tournament on a high, despite four losses from their five pool fixtures.

Looking ahead to the Investec Cup, which gets underway next week, Gregory said he and his team were relishing the opportunity to play Scotland, who featured in the same group as South Africa at the Games in Glasgow from July 24.

“Scotland are fortunate enough to be invited because they also twin with England when it comes to the Great Britain setup.

“Scotland is also in our pool for the Commonwealth Games so it gives us an opportunity to look at Scotland.”

Meanwhile, two practice games had been scheduled against Wales at the conclusion of the Investec Cup, before the start of the Games, meaning the team would be away from home for more than a month.

“We haven’t played Wales in quite a few years, so it would be good for us to have a look at them because they are also in our pool.

“We have our last practice game against Canada on July 19 and then we play our first match [of the Commonwealth Games] on the 25th.

“We’re definitely going to stay [in Europe], we’re not coming back… it’s a good period and it’s also one of the longest periods we would have been together as a group.

“So it’s a busy time but an exciting one. We have a core group of players and we are fortunate enough to have invited some of our senior players back, who haven’t played in a while.”

The Citizen



SA vs Australia: School hockey at its best

A reminder that the South African Schools Hockey Association (SASHOC) are hosting the Australia School Sport boys and girls hockey teams to play the SA U18 boys and girls teams in a three-match Test Series hosted during the girls and boys U16 interprovincial tournaments (IPTs), which is the first time that both national Australian teams will be attending together.

“This is the main reason why all the IPTs are in KZN this year, giving us a great opportunity to select both our national U18 teams locally, to train locally and then to play the Tests during the U16 IPTs in Pietermaritzburg and Hillcrest - thus engendering support for our teams and showcasing the skills and attributes for our next breed of national players to aspire to,” said SASHOC representative Wayne Marsden.

TEST SCHEDULE

Tuesday, July 8 (AB Jackson Greenfields Turf, PMB)

South Africa U18 girls’ vs Australia School Sport girls (5.30pm).

SA U18 boys vs Australia School Sport boys (7.15pm).

Wednesday, July 9 (Kearsney College, Hillcrest)

SA girls vs Australia (5.30pm).

SA boys vs Australia (7.15pm).

Thursday, July 10 (AB Jackson and Kearsney)

AB Jackson (PMB): SA girls vs Australia (6.30pm).

Kearsney College (Hillcrest): SA boys vs Australia (6.30pm).

SA Hockey Association media release



SA U18 IPTs: Now it’s down to the Big Four at Maritzburg College and Kearsney

Southern Gauteng, KZN Coastal, Western Province and KZN Inland will contest the semi-finals of the SA U18 Boys Interprovincial Hockey Tournament (IPT) at Maritzburg College Friday afternoon.

After four days of preliminary round matches the serious contenders emerged and Southern will meet KZN Coastal in the first semi-final at 2pm on Papes Astro before WP and Inland come to grips with each other in the second semi-final at 3.20pm.

Both semi-finals, if needs be, will go into extra time and then penalty shootout if a stalemate ensues in regulation time.

One of the most interesting matches amongst Thursday’s fare saw the much-anticipated KZN derby between the Durban-based Coastal lads and the Pietermaritzburg-based Inland boys and the Durbanites shaded their inland cousins 3-2.

Down at Kearsney, Friday’s semi-finals of the SA U18 Girls IPT sees KZN Coastal up against Southern Free State at 2.10pm and Southern Gauteng against KZN Inland at 3.50pm.

RESULTS
 
Boys

A Section: KZN Coastal 3 KZN Inland 2; Southern Free State 2 South Western Districts 4; WP 2 Boland 1; Eastern Province 2 Southern Gauteng 6; Border 2 WP B 2.

B Section: North West 1 Northern Free State 0; SG B 4 Border B 0; KZN Coastal B 5 Boland B 1; KZN Inland B 4 Northern Cape 0; EP B 3 East Gauteng 2; Mpumalanga 5 Limpopo 2.

Girls

A Section: KZN Inland 4 Border 0; SG B 0 WP B 2; SFS 1 WP 1; Boland 3 KZN Coastal 4; Northern Blues 1 SG 2; Mpumalanga 2 EP 1.

B Section: KZN Coastal B 2 Mpumalanga B 2; Border B 1 Boland B 1; NB 2 SWD 0; EG 0 NW 2; NFS 2 Limpopo 4; NC 2 SFS B 1.

Apologies for the delayed publishing of the article. The Internet was down for the better part of Tthursday evening.

SA Hockey Association media release



Sardar Singh to lead India in Commonwealth Games


Indian Hockey team captain Sardar Singh. File photo.   

There were few surprises as Hockey India (HI) selected a 16-member side, led by Sardar Singh, for the 2014 Commonwealth Games that would be held in Glasgow, July 23-Aug 3.

Most the players of the squad, that finished ninth in the Hockey World Cup, barring goalkeeper Harjot Singh, midfielders S.K Uthappa, Jasjit Singh and forward Mandeep Singh.

The two new players in the Commonwealth Games side are midfielder Danish Mujtaba and forward Gurwinder Singh Chandi. While Sardar will be leading the side Sreejesh will be his deputy.

The 16-member team was selected by HI selectors B P Govinda, Harbinder Singh, R.P. Singh and Arjun Halappa along with director high performance Roelant Oltmans and chief coach Terry Walsh on the basis of their performance during the selection trials conducted here at the National Stadium.

Sardar, Sreejesh, Danish, Chandi and Gurbaj Singh are the five players who were a part of the side that was humiliated 0-8 by Australia in the final of the 2010 Commonwealth Games here at the National Stadium.

India will play start their Commonwealth Games campaign against Wales July 25, followed by matches against Scotland (July 26), Australia (July 29) and South Africa (July 31).

Chief Coach, Terry Walsh said: “The team is in good shape and ready to take on the challenges in the Commonwealth Games 2014. The entire team is showing strong signs of improvement and is dedicated towards overcoming the areas where they are lacking.”

Sardar said the team was motivated about the Games.

“The whole team is positive about the Commonwealth Games and motivated to perform well in all the matches. We are working on the loop holes by analysing the mistakes made in the matches during the World Cup through video sessions,” he said.

Squad:

Goalkeeper: P.R.Sreejesh (vice—captain)

Defenders: Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, V.R. Raghunath

Midfielders: Dharamvir Singh, Sardar Singh (captain), Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and Manpreet Singh

Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Nikkin Thimmaiah

The Hindu



Walmiki dropped, Mujtaba, Chandi return for CWG

New Delhi - Forward Yuvraj Walmiki missed out to make the 16-member squad while Danish Mujtaba and Gurwinder Chandi returned after injury layoffs in the Indian men's hockey team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Walmiki was dropped from the side after his unimpressive show at The Hague, Netherlands. The Mumbaikar had made a comeback to the Indian team after almost two years when he was called for the World Cup preparatory tour in April.

He was initially left out of the World Cup squad, but got a chance to showcase his talent when Nikkin Thimmaiah sustained a hamstring pull on the right side, ruling him out of the tournament. However, Walmiki failed to win the confidence of chief coach Terry Walsh and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans. Both Danish and Chandiwill be returning from injuries to boost the midfield and forward line. Danish had suffered a knee injury in May last year and had returned to the squad.

Squad

Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh (vice-captain)
Defenders: Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, V.R. Raghunath
Midfielders: Dharamvir Singh, Sardar Singh (captain), Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and Manpreet Singh
Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Nikkin Thimmaiah

The Tribune



Irish Hockey Secures Over 800K in Capital Funding

Irish Hockey today has received a major boost with the announcement of €881,775 in capital funding across 11 applications. The announcement was made today by the Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring who announced grants of €40.5 million for 880 sports projects across the country.

The news of funding was welcomed by Irish Hockey Chief Executive Mike Heskin who commented“I am delighted to see this much needed investment in Irish Hockey and I congratulate the clubs involved on their success. I hope other clubs will take heart from this and submit applications in the next allocation of Capital Grants . While we will always want more ,this is a good start and it is up to hockey to make sure we have our applications in for consideration. I would also encourage Clubs considering applying to contact those clubs who have had success as I have no doubt they will get invaluable assistance. Finally I would like to thank the Minister for his valued support of Irish hockey

Congratulations to all those who have been successful in their applications and on their hard work in securing this funding:

Avoca & Sion Hill 200,000
Ursuline (Sligo) 300,000
Monkstown & Rathdown 200,000
Cork Harlequins 135,000
Fingal 24,036
Enniscorthy 10,000
Greenfields 5240
Suttonians 2724
Boyne 600
Weston 575

For more please click here

Irish Hockey Association media release



Australian U21 men back into it

After their first rest day the teams are back on the field in Sydney



After their first rest day following three days’ of competition the teams are back on the field in Sydney today at the U21 men’s Australian Championships.

The 12 day tournament consists of eight states from across Australia. The prepared teams are taking on Australia’s best U21 men’s players for the ultimate prize of taking out the 2014 men’s Australian U21 Championship title.

Day one of the competition broke the ice setting the tournament up with fast paced matches, robust defences and good quality hockey action for the spectators in the grandstand.

Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria kick started their campaigns on a successful note each taking out a triple win at the end of the third day. Currently sitting at the top of the standings on nine points each, the three states prepare to play one another in what will be vital matches for them today and tomorrow.

Host state New South Wales had spectators on their feet while putting on a sensational show from day one. A threat to other teams, New South Wales have been lethal once they enter their attacking circle. Having scored 28 goals in the past three days, Blake Govers, the younger brother of Kookaburras forward Kieran, has been a key player as leading goal scorer having scored ten goals for New South Wales. The New South Wales U21 men’s squad showcases six current 2014 Burras’ squad members making them a force to be reckoned with.

Securing three points each, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and the Northern Territory sit equally in fourth position. Securing one win and two loses each offers them the chance to secure last remaining points with four pool matches still ahead of them. In order to give themselves the chance to see themselves through to the finals later next week, they’ll need to pick up points against the early front runners, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

Western Australia and South Australia are yet to accumulate any points on the standings. Memorable goals from both state teams saw Western Australian James Kruger score off the back of a penalty corner which was awarded in their match against Queensland while South Australian Daniel Pena sent the ball into the back of the net after being awarded a penalty corner on the siren against Victoria.

Having played the strongest teams in the competition so far, Western Australia and South Australia will now have an opportunity to pick up their first points of the tournament in the next four days. When they meet one another on Monday the match is likely to play a key part in determining which position they’ll be fighting for in the latter stages of the competition.

After a well-earned break the six states are straight back into the action today as the Australian Championships continue with day four of the competition. Attempting to secure a place within the finals, all teams will be playing crucial matches in the remaining four days of their pool matches with the best of the hockey action still yet to come.

Keep track of the tournament’s movements with access to live scores, updates and team lists via the competition portal here.

Hockey Australia media release



Women’s team coaches named for Presidents XI



Hockey New Zealand has named the coaching staff for the Women’s Presidents XI team travelling to Suva in December to compete in the Oceania Pacific Cup.

Kirsten Petrie will be the head coach of the programme. Kirsten is a vastly experienced coach, having been assistant coach at NHL level along with age group representative sides.

She will be assisted by ex-Black Stick Kate Mahon who will add some experience to the playing group as she travels as a player/assistant coach.

Kate earned a total of 72 caps for the Black Sticks during a stellar career which included the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Manager Linda Stewart rounds out the vastly experienced and high quality management group.

Linda has managed Waikato representative age group sides from U13s right through to their Masters teams.

In addition to the confirmation of the management staff, the final three positions in the playing squad have been filled.

Melissa Hylton and Claudia Hanham from the NZ Maori Womens side and Brenda Hope from the National Senior Tournament XI have been selected into the squad.

Hockey New Zealand will announce Men’s appointments in the near future.

The Oceania Pacific Cup will run from December 6-13 in Suva.

The President’s XI teams will compete against teams from Australian Country, Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Teams have been selected after the 2014 Affiliates Tournament played in the Hawke's Bay in April. Teams competing in this tournament were NZ Maori, NZ Indians, NZ Masters 35+, National Senior Tournament XI, Hawke's Bay invitational side and Australian Country.

CLICK HERE for the full Women’s President’s XI team

Hockey New Zealand Media release



Assistant Coach Canadian Women's National Program



Field Hockey Canada is seeking a qualified candidate to serve as Assistant Coach for its Women's National Program.

Reporting to the Women’s National Coach, the successful candidate must have a proven ability and track record in a high performance training and competition program.

STATUS: Full-Time

LOCATION: Vancouver, B.C.

SALARY: Commensurate with experience

POSITION TERM: Contract position (2 year initial contract with an option of a 2 year extension depending on funding and performance)

APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: Friday, August 8, 2014

Read the full job description.

Field Hockey Canada media release

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