News for 04 December 2014
All the news for Thursday 4 December 2014
Getting to the business end of things
The women's Champions Trophy in Mendoza has reached the quarter final stages, and the draw has thrown up some fascinating encounters for hockey fans around the world to enjoy.
(Photo: FIH)
The first match to take place will be the an all-European affair between two teams whose rivalry spans decades. Netherlands versus Germany is always a fixture that has added spice, as the two teams are geographical rivals as well as regular competitors in all major events.
The Netherlands will still be smarting after they failed to win the group following relatively poor performances against New Zealand and Japan. Ellen Hoog, speaking earlier in the competition said that "goal scoring should not be made too big a focus, but it is something we definitely need to do some work on." Germany, on the other hand, have not hit top form as yet and coach Jamilon Mulders and captain Julia Muller have both talked about the need for greater concentration and structure within the team.
The second match sees Australia take on Japan. While the Hockeyroos have made relatively easy progress through the pool stages, coach Adam Commens believes his team need to improve further if they are to fulfil their aspirations to win the event. "We play well for 90 per cent of the game, but that other 10 per cent poses dangers for us," said the forthright coach after his team won their final pool game 3-1.
England finished last in their group, but coach Danny Kerry is not disappointed with his team's performance. Kerry is taking the long view, he says his team is young, but will be an experienced group of players by the time the 2016 Olympics come round. Their opponents, New Zealand, are pleased to finish top of the group, but as captain Anita Punt said: "We knew we should finish in the top two of our group, the other pool has the tougher draw and whoever we play, it will be hard."
In the final match of the day, the home crowds will be cheering home their idols as they take on the well-structured Chinese team. Throughout the tournament, China has played competent hockey, but have lacked that flair in front of goal; scoring only one goal to date. The Chinese coach, Cho Myung Jun, says that his young team are still adapting to international competition, and he will be hoping that multi-capped players such as Wang Mengyu and Peng Yang lead from the front.
For their opponents, the major source of concern will be the weight of expectation, but with so many experienced players in their ranks, Las Leonas and their supporters will be looking for nothing less than a convincing victory.
The times of the matches are as follows:
Netherlands v Germany 13:00
Australia v Japan 15:30
New Zealand v England 18:00
Argentina v China 20:30
For fans across the world, here are the many platforms from which this show-stopping event can be viewed.
Broadcasters who will be showing matches live on television.
SKY - NZ - All New Zealand games
ABC - Australia - All AUS games
Astro-Arena - Malaysia - All matches
TEN Sports - India (Final only)
Supersport - Africa - All matches
Sport 1 - Germany - German pool matches and quarter/ final. Coverage from that point will then depend on the German team's progress in the competition.
NOS - Netherlands - All Netherlands matches and final (not always live)
BSKYB - UK - All matches
C7 - Argentina - All Argentina matches
Television coverage will vary from country to country, but for any games that are not shown live on television, there are many other ways you can stay in tune with the action on the pitch.
Website
Full coverage of the events will be available via www.fih.ch with live streaming of the matches available in most territories.
You Tube
The FIH You Tube channel will be active throughout the events, with match highlights and much more being posted as soon as they become available. To visit our You Tube channel, click the link below:
www.youtube.com/fihockey
Social media
FIH will provide comprehensive coverage of the event via our social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Facebook: facebook.com/fihockey
Instagram: instagram.com/fihockey
Twitter: twitter.com/fih_hockey #BestOfTheBest #CT2014
#CT2014 #BestofTheBest
FIH site
Hockeyroos quarter final
Hockeyroos' quarter final v Japan live on ABC in AEDT
Photo: Gabi Nance, by Grant Treeby / TreebyImages.com.au
The Hockeyroos will face Japan in their must-win quarter final at the Champions Trophy in the early hours of Friday morning (Australian time) after finishing second in Pool B, behind Argentina on goal difference.
The match will be shown live on the ABC in Eastern Daylight Savings states and territories at 5:30am on Friday morning and on delay at 5:30am in all other states and territories.
Japan finished third in Pool A, behind New Zealand and the Netherlands, and ahead of China, after losing narrowly 1-0 to the Dutch in a spirited match on Wednesday morning.
Argentina’s 4-1 win over England and the late goal conceded by the Hockeyroos to Germany earlier in the day meant the hosts and defending champions leapfrogged Australia to top Pool B.
It will be the ninth meeting between the Hockeyroos and Japan this year following a five Test series in WA in March and matches at the Hawke’s Bay Festival, the World Cup warm-up tournament in Bremen and the World Cup itself. Australia has won all eight contests so far, including a tight 3-2 win at the World Cup.
New Zealand’s 2-0 win over China, coupled with the Netherlands’ result, saw the Black Sticks top Pool A on goals scored.
The winners of the quarter final contests will progress to the semi finals and a guaranteed shot at the medals while the losers will play off for positions five through eight over the weekend.
ABC will show the match live in AEDT states at 5:30am and on delay at 5:30am local time in all other states and territories. Viewers in those states and territories will be able to watch live via the FIH YouTube channel, YouTube.com/fihockey.
Quarter Final Schedule
Friday 5 December
QF3: Netherlands v Germany (3:00am AEDT / 2:00am AEST / 11:00pm* AWST)
QF2: Australia v Japan (5:30am AEDT / 4:30am AEST / 2:30am AWST)
QF1: New Zealand v England (8:00am AEDT / 7:00am AEST / 5:00am AWST)
QF4: Argentina v China (10:30am AEDT / 9:30am AEST / 7:30am AWST)
*refers to Thursday 4 December in Western Australia.
Hockey Australia media release
Final within reach for Black Sticks
Women’s team hopeful for Champions Trophy showdown but must first defeat their bogey side, England
By David Leggat
Anita Punt celebrates with Samantha Charlton after scoring one of two penalty corners against China. Picture / Grant Treeby
The women's Black Sticks are two games away from making their first Champions Trophy final.
A 2-0 win over China in their final pool game in Mendoza, Argentina yesterday left the world No4 team hopeful of dipping their toes in uncharted territory at the weekend.
They play England in their quarter-final tomorrow morning. Win that and they'll have a semifinal against, most likely, Australia, with hosts Argentina or the Netherlands expected to emerge from the other side of the playoffs into Monday's final.
Their best Champions Trophy result was finishing third in 2011 in Amsterdam.
First things first, though, and England - or in their Olympic guise as Britain - have been a bogey side for New Zealand of late.
A poor performance in the bronze medal playoff cost New Zealand dearly in 2012. At Glasgow this year, they lost a penalty shootout in the semifinal, which rubbed out the prospect of at least a silver medal.
As well as New Zealand have done so far - beating Japan and China and holding the world champion Dutch to a meritorious 1-1 draw - coach Mark Hager is insisting it's back to scratch again.
"It's pleasing that players have stepped up so far during this tournament," he said yesterday.
"However, the pool play games mean nothing moving forward, we have to now win the quarter-final to make it all worthwhile."
New Zealand's goals came from two Anita Punt penalty corner drag flicks in the first half.
However Hager, happy with the first half - "very good, the best we've played for a while" - was frowning over the second-half effort.
"Whether it was the heat, or Chinese pressure, we did capitulate a little bit and tried to run the ball a bit too much. But defensively the girls hung in there and I thought did a pretty good job."
With key defender Liz Thompson absent after rolling an ankle on a stick at training the day before, the defence needed some rejigging.
Classy attacker Stacey Michelsen dropped into a more defensive right-sided role and did a strong job, while others like Brooke Neal and Ella Gunson were resolute behind recalled goalkeeper Sally Rutherford, who made key saves, particularly very early and in the closing minutes.
Besides Thompson, the only other player with a minor injury worry is energetic attacker Petrea Webster, who has a corked thigh but should be ready for tomorrow's clutch game.
Tale of two teams
New Zealand's record v England/Great Britain since 2010
Champions Trophy, Nottingham 2010: drew 2-2
Commonwealth Games New Delhi 2010: won 4-1
Four Nations, Cordoba, Argentina 2010: lost 2-0
Olympic Games, London 2012: lost 3-1
Unofficial series 2013: win, loss, draw
Three Nations, San Diego 2014: lost 2-1, won 1-0
Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014: lost 3-1 on penalty shootout
The New Zealand Herald
Pakistan gain confidence ahead of Champions Trophy
LAHORE: Pakistan hockey team achieved a confidence building victory before the Champions Trophy against Argentina after beating them 3-0 in their practice match on Wednesday. According to reports reached here, two superb goals were scored by fullback M Irfan on penalty corners as he played a vital role in Pakistan’s moral boosting win. Forward Arslan Qadir further consolidated Pakistan’s position by scoring a beautiful field goal. Chief coach Shahnaz Sheikh said the win against a non-Asian nation was very important for the boys who had played only against the Asian teams in last one and half year.
The Nation
Dar Hockey Academy Boy in Pakistan's Champions Trophy Squad
By Ijaz Chaudhry
The Lahore based Dar Hockey Academy is serving as a conveyer belt for Pakistan hockey. Since 2009 every age group national team included at least one academy boy.
It was a matter of time the academy players would also don the national senior shirt. In 2012, defender Khalid Bhatti got this honour when selected for the pre- Olympic tour of Europe.
Same year forward Salman Hussain was a member of Pakistan’s victorious side at the Asian Champions Trophy in Qatar. 2013 saw defender Faisal Qadir in the national side that retained Asian Champions Trophy in Japan.
Till now the Dar HA players had represented the senior national side only in regional tournaments or bilateral series; not a mega international event.
The Pakistan team for the 2014 Champions Trophy includes Arsalan Qadir, brother of Faisal Qadir. The forward from the southern Punjab city of D.G.Khan, like his brother, has been part of Pakistan’s several age group squads including the 2013 junior World Cup.
His most notable achievement came at the first Youth Olympics in 2010 at Singapore. Arsalan was the joint top scorer of the tourney with 10 goals. More importantly, his brilliant display helped Pakistan win silver medal. It was country’s only medal at the Youth Olympics competed by 204 countries in 26 sports.
Top eight national teams would be competing at the 2014 Champions Trophy. It would be a great test for Arsalan Qadir to show his skills against world’s top defenders.
Ijaz Chaudhry writes on hockey and other sports. For more about him and his work, visit www.sportscorrespondent.info
Fieldhockey.com exclusive
We’re determined to give our best in CT: Belgium skipper
Belgium skipper John-John Dohmen. File photo
Belgium captain Dohmen John-John is aware about the tough competition that awaits them in the FIH Champions Trophy but said the Red Lions are determined to give their best in the eight-nation tournament to be held in Bhubaneswar from December 6-14.
“It’s been just three days since we arrived in Bhubaneswar, but we have been to the pitch three times already. All our training sessions have been good learning experience. We can feel the newness in the pitch and the team is very happy with the turf.
“Winning every match will be very difficult but will try to win most of the matches and keep our spirits alive. All of us will try to give our best shot in the tournament,” John-John said after the team’s practice session at the Kalinga Stadium here today.
Belgium striker Thomas Briels opined with his skipper and said: “We are working on areas where we are lacking. We have successfully started implementing our strategies on the field.
We are riding high on confidence. The team is continuously working hard to put up their best performance in every game.”
Belgium is placed along side world champions Australia, Pakistan and England in Pool A.
The Red Lions will open their campaign against Pakistan on the opening day of the tournament on December 6.
The Hindu
Boost for organisers of the Oceania Pacific Cup
Rashneel Kumar
Fiji Hockey Federation Secretary Laijipa Naulivou receives the sponsorship cheque from the Fiji Sports Commission chairman Peter Mazey during the press conference yesterday. Picture: JOVESA NAISUA
THE Fiji Hockey Federation received a major boost in staging the Oceania Pacific Cup Championship in Suva.
Yesterday, the Fiji National Sports Commission presented a cheque for $20,000 to help the federation with the hosting of the week-long tournament.
The Oceania Pacific Cup Championship which will be played alongside the World Hockey League Round One will start this Saturday.
While presenting the cheque, commission chairman Peter Mazey said the government was committed to the development of minor sports in the country.
He said it also supported federations which brought international events to the country.
"We have the facilities here to host international teams and we support the sports which bring international games to Fiji," Mazey said.
Fiji Hockey Federation secretary Laijipa Naulivou while thanking the commission for its support said they were hoping to host a successful tournament.
She said with the calibre of teams participating this year, fans would be in for a real treat at the National Hockey Centre.
The championship which will end on December 13 will have Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Australian Country and New Zealand Presidents participating.
The Fiji Times
Indian colts will take on New Zealand
s2h Team
Indian colts will take on New Zealand in the first match of the Goldcoast 4-Nation tournament today evening. Japan and Australia make up the field.
Australian encounter is billed for Monday, while India takes on Japan on Sunday.
Indian team, same as that of 2014 Johor Cup gold winners, is already in Gold Coast. Harendra is the coach with Kariappa as physio. Queensland will be hosting the next Commonwealth Games, and the three teams in the fray form the Commonwealth family.
The tournament is also viewed as dress rehearsal for the forthcoming mega event.
For the Indian juniors led by Harjeet Singh, this comes as an opportunity to test their wares before their next target, 2015 Junior Asia Cup.
Earlier officials sources indicated the Indian will play 5-match test series.
Indian team:
Goalkeepers: 1. Abhinav Kumar Pandey 2. Jugraj Singh Defenders: 3. Varun Kumar 4. Harmanpreet Singh 5. Dipsan Turkey 6. Gurinder Singh 7. Jarmanpreet Singh 8. Anand Lakra Midfielders: 9. Harjeet Singh - Captain 10. Imran Khan - Vice Captain 11. Santa Singh 12. Manpreet Singh 13. Sumit Forwards: 14. Parvinder Singh 15. Simranjeet Singh 16. Sumit Toppo 17. Mandeep Singh 18. Arman Qureshi
Stick2Hockey.com
PNB set up title clash with Indian Oil in hockey tourney
KOLKATA: Damandeep Singh struck a second-half brace to help Punjab National Bank bounce back and oust defending champions Army XI 2-1 in the semifinal of the 119th All India Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament, here on Wednesday.
PNB will clash against last edition's runners-up Indian Oil who got the better of Air India in the other semi-final of the day at the SAI artificial turf.
The defending champions went one up at half time when Pawal Lakra slammed the board in the 21st minute but their joy was short-lived as Damandeep struck back to back goals in the 40th and 57th minute for their upset win.
Former Internationals Gagandeep Singh (20th and 40th) and Deepak Thakur (50th and 55th) dominated the proceedings for Indian Oil's 4-2 rout of Air India.
Aiyappa PK (15th) and Samir Dad (55th) scored one each for the airmen.
The Times of India
UniKL, Tenaga out to spoil the party
KLHC's Razie Rahim (right) challenges UniKL's Nor Aqmal Ghaffar (centre) in an MHL match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday. Pic by Osman Adnan
UNIKL and Tenaga Nasional have vowed to not let league champions Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) and runners-up Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) make the TNB Cup final their personal property.
UniKL and Tenaga, who face Maybank and Sapura respectively in the two-leg playoffs for the semi-finals, are in fact determined to win the Cup.
Having picked up steam in their last few league matches, UniKL are heading into the TNC Cup brimming with confidence.
They ended their league campaign on a high note after thrashing KLHC 5-1 and coach Arul Selvaraj said UniKL are now targeting higher.
“We have continued to improve as a team and we are finally getting the results we deserve. Despite playing well in the first round, we were unable to take full advantage of our chances in front of goal and I think that changed in the second round of the league. The result against KLHC will serve as a strong motivation for us to shine in the TNB Cup,” said Arul.
Arul, who is a former Maybank player, said the is well aware of what they are capable of in the playoffs.
“They have very talented players such as Shakeel Abassi and Jiwa Mohan. I also know that Maybank are extremely thorough when it comes to preparing for big games like this.
“However, instead of focusing on our opponents, I would much rather focus on my team and ensure that we give a good performance. That is how I have approached all of our previous games,” said Arul.
The winners of the UniKL-Maybank tie will face THT in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini is adamant his side will go all out to make it to the TNB Cup final.
“Our goal was to win the league or at least finish in second place. But unfortunately that did not happen and now we must do our best to book a place in the final of the TNB Cup. It won’t be easy as every team will be battling hard to progress to the next round,” said Nor Saiful.
Despite eyeing a spot in the final, the coach insisted that TNB must not take Sapura lightly.
“Though they are not as strong as THT or KLHC, Sapura are a very experienced side and we need to be cautious. The most important thing for us right now is to make sure that we finish off our chances in front of goal. We have struggled in this area after losing some of our top players to other teams,” he said.
Tomorrow: UniKL v Maybank (Pitch II, National Hockey Stadium, 6pm), Tenaga v Sapura (8pm).
New Straits Times
Fallen Sapura plan to turn tide around in MHL
By Aftar Singh
Pakistan penalty corner specialist Khasif Ali (right) managed just 10 goals for Sapura thus far in the Malaysia Hockey League.
KUALA LUMPUR: From third to fifth.
That’s how former champions Sapura have fallen in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
They were third last year, boosted by Pakistan penalty corner specialist Khasif Ali’s 18 goals.
But this season, they could only finish fifth despite having five Pakistan players. They won just one match, drew three and lost six times.
And Khasif could only contribute 10 goals this term.
Sapura can change things around when the TNB Cup knockout stage begins this weekend.
They have been pitted against third-placed Tenaga Nasional in the quarter-finals.
The first leg will be played at the National Hockey Stadium on Thursday and the return leg on Sunday.
The winner will meet defending overall champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey League (KLHC) in the semi-finals.
Sapura’s 27-year-old Khasif has attributed the team’s struggles to the fact that most of the local players are young and inexperienced.
“There are only four experienced local players in the team ... the rest are struggling to find their form. We have also lost the services of some experienced players,” said Khasif, who is into his fifth season in the MHL.
Khasif admitted that Sapura would start as underdogs against Tenaga in the quarter-finals.
“We played them twice in the league and lost both times – 1-0 and 2-0. So, Tenaga do have the psychological edge,” said Khasif.
But that hasn’t stopped him from thinking positive.
“Playing in the knockout stage is a different ball game. I’m confident we can rise to the occasion and get the better of Tenaga,” said Khasif.
“Nothing is impossible. We just need to have faith in ourselves ...”
The other quarter-final pits Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) against Maybank.
Newly-crowned Premier Division champions Terengganu will play the winners of the UniKL-Maybank match in the semi-finals.
The first leg of the semi-finals will be played on Dec 10 and return leg on Dec 12. The final is on Dec 14.
The Star of Malaysia
Book on WW1 Sportsmen - Please Email PJ
Irish Hockey Association Board Member Peter Jackson is finalising his co-research with the BBC for a book on International Sportsmen killed during WW1. The final chapter will be written during the Christmas period.
He said "Whereas I am aware that some have submitted details I need these reaffirmed as soon as possible. The research has taken me on an interesting journey with visits to Museums and assistance from many sources across the web and personal visits. What is lacking in all records is the human aspects which will make of more interesting reading and knowledge of sacrifice which enables us to enjoy the benefit of hockey as we have it today I feel hockey history forgotten once, then it is lost forever".
If you can help PJ, please mail with details to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Irish Hockey Association media release