News for 18 March 2015
All the news for Wednesday 18 March 2015
Chile spice up Hockey World League
Green Army celebrate St Patrick’s Day by joining South Americans as Pool winners at Round 2 event in Dublin
(Photo: FIH)
Home favourites Ireland and talented South Americans Chile have continued their excellent start to the UDG Healthcare PLC Hockey World League Round 2 event, with both nations making it three wins from three matches to top the pools ahead of the event quarter-finals in Dublin.
Ireland (FIH World Ranking: 14) sealed top spot in Pool A with a comprehensive win against Turkey (WR: 36), a result which ensured that the Green Army and their hoards of supporters would be able to enjoy the St Patrick’s Day celebrations with the sweet taste of victory in their mouths. It certainly proved to be a special day for Naomi Carroll, who netted four goals in the win with Emma Smyth also making a significant contribution by bagging a hat-trick. Canada (WR: 22) finished second in Pool A thanks to a 3-1 win over third-placed Ukraine (WR: 25), with Hannah Haughn scoring twice for her team.
Chile (WR: 20) confirmed their status as the winners of Pool B with a superb 6-0 win over Austria (WR: 27). Daniela Carem scored twice with Manuela Urroz, Denise Krimerman, Francisca Pizarro and Sofia Filipek also registering as the South Americans finished four points ahead of second placed Belarus (WR: 18), the top ranked team in the Pool. The Belarusians were given a stern test in their final Pool match, with bottom of the table Lithuania (WR: 34) earning a 3-3 draw against their higher-ranked opponents before Belarus took the bonus point in the shoot-out.
In the quarter-final phase, the two Pool winners will face the sides that finished bottom of the other Pool, with Pool A winners Ireland going head-to-head with Lithuania while Pool B winners Chile face Turkey. Canada versus Austria and Belarus versus Ukraine completes Thursday line-up. To see all tournament fixtures and results, please click here.
In the women’s Hockey World League, a total of seven qualification places for the HWL Semi-Finals are available from the Round 2 events in Montevideo (URU), New Delhi (IND) and Dublin (IRL). The reason for seven rather nine qualifiers is because both Spain and Belgium, two nations ranked between 12-19 at the time of seeking entries, are hosting Semi-Final tournaments later this year and have therefore already qualified.
The top two finishers from Montevideo, New Delhi and Dublin are certain to qualify for the Semi-Finals, being joined by the highest ranked of the third placed finishers from those three events. Italy and Uruguay recently confirmed their places in the Semi-Finals with a top two finish at the event in Montevideo, and were joined in Round 3 by India and Poland, who reached the final of the event in New Delhi.
Azerbaijan are currently the highest ranked of the third place finishers, although they will need to wait for the completion of the HWL Round 2 event in Dublin before knowing if they have made the cut. To learn more about how the teams progress through the competition in the hope of reaching the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, click here.
You can keep track of the tournament in Dublin on the official tournament microsite
FIH site
Ireland Too Strong For Turkey In 13-0 Victory
Ireland proved far too strong for Turkey to complete their UDG Healthcare World League Round 2 pool games with a huge 13-0 win, with Naomi Carroll netting four times at Belfield.
Emma Smyth weighed in with her first international hat trick while Megan Frazer scored twice with Katie Mullan, Anna O’Flanagan, Nikki Evans and Aine Connery also chipping in.
It sets up a quarter-final date with Lithuania on Thursday after the tournament hosts completed their group phase with three wins from three in this section of the Olympic qualifying process.
Mullan got the scoring underway on four minutes with a powerful backhand shot to the top corner after she was afforded a wealth of space in the circle.
Carroll got her first in the ninth minute, walking the ball home as the signs already began to look ominous for a big score.
Smyth then powered home for 3-0 before the end of the first quarter. From there, it was target practice with five more arriving before half time, some of them spectacular in their conception.
Carroll’s second was a collector’s item, shooting in off the underside of the crossbar, Evans tickled a Cliodhna Sargent corner sweep before Smyth got her second from a close range rebound.
Frazer cracked home the next before O’Flanagan got on the end of another corner move. Carroll completed her hat trick two minutes into the second half to make it 9-0 as the run continued while Smyth’s third closed out the victory with five minutes remaining.
It puts Ireland in good shape for their date with Lithuania on Thursday. Win that and they will have two shots at reaching the top three of the competition which means they will progress to World League 3 where the Olympic places are decided.
Darren Smith: “It was great for the girls to score a few goals and I thought we did some good things today. It was a good day.
“It keeps our form going into the crunch end of the tournament on Thursday which will be a tough game against Lithuania. From there, we play the winner of Ukraine and Belarus possibly on Saturday so there is two big games coming up. Hopefully, we can do a good job with the tail end of the tournament.”
UDG Healthcare World League round 2
Ireland 13 (N Carroll 4, E Smyth 3, M Frazer 2, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, N Evans, A Connery) Turkey 0
Ireland: A McFerran, C Sargent, E Smyth, S McCay, M Frazer, A Connery, N Daly, H Matthews, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, G Pinder
Subs: N Evans, N Carroll, C Watkins, L Colvin, K Dillon, A Meeke, E Gray
Turkey: S Guzeller, K Guzelal, C Baser, O Calayir, M Koksal, S Alpakan, A Esen, P Kucukkoc, L Ozturk, E Bahcivan, F Gultekin
Subs: P Yilmaz, S Ozdere, O Yaldiz, D Aksoy, E Iskender, M Oymal, S Turker
Irish Hockey Association media release
Haughn leads Canada past Ukraine in final World League 2 pool match
Canada will face Austria in Women's World League 2 quarterfinal on Thursday
Shaheed Devji
On the shoulders of a two goal performance from forward Hannah Haughn, Canada upended Ukraine 3-1 Tuesday at Women's World League Round 2 in Dublin, Ireland to take second place in Pool A and move on to the quarterfinal on Thursday.
While it was still technically considered a preliminary round match, for all intents and purposes Tuesday's match between the Canadian Women's National Field Hockey Team and Ukraine could have been a playoff contest.
With the winner taking second place in Pool A and moving on to face the third place team in Pool B in the quarterfinal, both teams were looking for their best performance of the tournament thus far on St. Patrick's Day in Dublin.
The game started off fairly even with both teams not wanting to give up the first goal and get behind early.
Canada, however, mounted the pressure as the first quarter progressed, but could not find the back of the net, instead hitting two posts. Late in the first quarter though, Canada was able to break through on a penalty corner.
At the right side post, Hannah Haughn was able to beat the Ukrainian goalkeeper Tetiana Stepanchenko for her second goal of the tournament to put Canada up 1-0 in the fourteenth minute.
Canada's play was encouraging as it continued to create offensive opportunities in the second quarter but was not able to convert and add to their lead before half-time.
The second half began with Canada continuing to apply the pressure. In the thirty-third minute, the pressure paid off as a nice build-up along the baseline resulted in the ball coming to Brienne Stairs who knocked in her third of the tournament.
Stairs' insurance marker loomed large as only minutes later in the thirty-sixth minute, Ukraine was able to get on the board on a nice diving tip from captain Halyn Liashenko.
The scoreline remained at 2-1 until late in the match with Canada continuing to create chances through the match.
The lead was increased and victory sealed in the fifty-sixth minute when Haughn, again at the right post, put one past the Ukrainian keeper for her second of the match to lead Canada to the 3-1 win.
With the win, Canada will face Austria, which went 1W-2L in pool play, in the third quarterfinal on Thursday, March 19 at 3:30am PST/7:30am EST.
The top two finishers at World League 2 gain an entry into World League Round 3 in Spain in June, where the top teams will earn a spot at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Field Hockey Canada media release
Black Sticks Women named for big month of hockey
Kathryn Henry takes control of the ball.
The Black Sticks Women are getting ready for a big month of hockey in April with teams announced today for internationals in Auckland, Gisborne and the Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings.
Head coach Mark Hager will be testing combinations and rotating players in the first two games against Korea and Japan in Auckland over Easter. The team then travel to Gisborne for two games against Argentina ahead of the big event – the Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings from 11-19th April.
For the Hawke’s Bay Cup, Hager has selected a team of 18 to take on Australia (ranked 2nd), Argentina (ranked 3rd), China (ranked 5th), USA (ranked 8th), Korea (ranked 9th), Japan (ranked 10th) and India (ranked 13th).
“Our aim is to make the final – and we are very capable of doing that, it’s just the old cliché of taking it game by game and keeping focussed. These are all quality sides – six of the top ten teams in the world,” said Hager.
All the teams will be using the Hawke’s Bay Cup as part of their preparation ahead of the major international event of the year – World League Three – which is being held in Belgium in June. The top three finishers from the World League will automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics, with the next shot at Olympic qualification being a win at the Oceania Cup in Stratford in October.
Goalkeeper Sally Rutherford has been ruled out of all games during April with a broken toe, giving younger keepers Amelia Gibson and Georgia Barnett an opportunity to clock up some more internationals.
Other additions to the side are Canterbury-based striker Jordan Grant who comes back into the side due to improved fitness and form, and Rachel McCann and Kirsten Pearce who have had the call-back following their strong performances during the Canada series held in Whangarei in February.
Like McCann and Pearce, this will also be Kathryn Henry’s first major tournament and she said although she was quietly hoping to be selected, she was pretty speechless when she saw her name in the selection email.
“Playing some top opposition is what I’m looking forward to most, plus being in the Black Sticks tournament environment and playing a range of different teams,” said Henry.
She said the team are about to head into two weeks of hard training, but with the internationals around the corner, players are really motivated to give it their all.
When asked which side Henry is most looking forward to playing, there was no hesitation from Henry.
“Argentina – they are the team that stands out for me. I remember watching them on television and to be honest I never thought I would be playing them one day. They have such a high skill set, their composure on the ball is admirable, some of the world’s best players – they are a very impressive team,” said Henry.
The Black Sticks games in Auckland and Gisborne will be streamed live on www.hockeynz.co.nz.
View the Black Sticks Women's team for the Korea game, 4th April
View the Black Sticks Women's team for the Japan game, 5th April
View the Black Sticks Women's team for the Hawke's Bay Cup and Gisborne series, 7-19 April
Hockey New Zealand Media release
India to start Azlan Shah campaign with a match against South Korea
s2h Team
India will engage Asian powerhouse South Korea in the opening match of the forthcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Azlan Shah Cup, longest surviving invitational tournament in the world will kick off on 5th April with a match between Australia and Canada followed by Indian match against South Korea.
India lost to the Koreans in 2013 when India played the Azlan Shah Cup last.
Six teams will play in the league before knock out matches played on 12th.
As per the schedule which the site has accessed, there will be six action days, final billed for 12th.
7th and 10th April will be rest days. undefined
India did not play the last edition though it won the one prior to that.
Indian probables have already been announced, the camp has started with new coach in The Netherlands Van Ass.
Matches will be played on round robin basis in the first phase.
India, Australia, Korea, Canada and New Zealand are in the fray for the top honours
In the last edition, Australia outclassed Malaysia 8-3 to lift their eighth Azlan Shah Cup.
India finished fifth when took part last in the Azlan Shah Cup. It beat Pakistan then in the league and classification match to avoid wooden spoon
. Pakistan, otherwise a regular to Ipoh, will not take part this year
Indian match schedule
5th April India Vs Korea 15.30 hrs IST
6th April India Vs New Zealand 15.30 hrs IST
8th April India Vs Malaysia 17.30 hrs IST
9th April India Vs Canada 13.30 hrs
11th April India Vs Australia 13.30 hrs
Stick2Hockey.com
Hockey core probables camp for Sultan Azlan Shah Cup begins
NEW DELHI: A preparatory camp for the Indian men's hockey core probables commenced at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Tuesday and will continue till April 2.
The camp is the groundwork for the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be played in Malaysia from April 5 to 12. Thirty two players have been selected for the camp.
"The men are in a positive frame of mind and uplifted spirits post their performance in the last tournaments where they have showcased that they are ready to take on any challenge on the field today," Hockey India (HI) High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans said.
"They are waiting for the upcoming tournament and confident that they will live up to expectations. The camp will enable them to work on their weak points while will further solidify their strengths."
The list of 32 core probables:
Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh, Harjot Singh, Sushant Tirkey
Defenders: Gurbaj Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, V.R. Raghunath, Birendra Lakra, Gurmail Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vickram Kanth, Kothajit Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu
Midfielders: S.K. Uthappa, Dharamvir Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Sardar Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Satbir Singh, Devinder Walmiki, Vikas Pillay, Jasjit Singh
Forwards: Nikkin Thimmaiah, Nithin Thimmaiah, S.V. Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Yuvraj Walmiki, Talwinder Singh, Lalit Upadhyay.
The Times of India
Reckers secures share of spoils between OZ and Kampong
The top two in the Hoofdklasse were inseparable as Rob Reckers’ 63rd minute goal drew Oranje Zwart level at 3-3 with Kampong last Sunday in Eindhoven.
Thomas Briels had given OZ a third minute lead but corner goals from Sander de Wijn and Martijn Havenga levelled gave the Utrecht team a 2-1 lead. Briels tied the game at 2-2 at half-time before Havenga’s second goal put them in front until Reckers’ late equaliser.
The two sides are level on 39 points, seven clear of Bloemendaal who were held to a blank 0-0 by Amsterdam in their tussle. It means Bloemendaal were joined in third spot by Rotterdam who were 4-1 winners over Schaerweijde thanks to two Jeroen Hertzberger goals.
HGC are one points back due to their 3-1 win over Push with Amsterdam dropping to sixth place.
Euro Hockey League media release
Islahuddin-Dr Shah Academy clinch hockey title
KARACHI: Allay Hassan’s two goals in as many minutes guided hosts Olympian Islahuddin-Dr Shah Academy inflict 2-0 defeat on Hanif Khan XI in the final to win the Maj Jahanzeb Adnan Shaheed hockey tournament at formers ground on Monday.
After the barren first two quarters, Hassan slammed two quick field goals in the 37th and 38th minutes to steer his team to victory.
It may be mentioned that the winners had emerged 4-3 victorious against Rauf XI in penalty-stroke shoot-out after playing one-all in regulation time while the loser’s got the better of Sherwani Motors 3-1 in the two semi-finals.
Waseem Aslam of the Rauf XI was declared top scorer with a tally of seven goals while the best player of the tournament award went to Waqas Hassan of the winning outfit.
Following last-minute withdrawal of Olympian Iftikhar Syed Sports Academy, 11 teams featured in the contest which was organised by Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) in collaboration with Islahuddin-Dr Shah Academy.
Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, who graced the final, gave away the prizes. Prominent among others who were present on the occasion were veteran Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui, provincial Sports and Youth Affairs secretary Laiq Ahmed, brother of the deceased, Khurram and his (Jahanzeb’s) contemporary Maj Salman.
The deceased died in crossfire during an encounter with terrorists in Peshawar in February 2014.
Dawn
SAIL beat BSNL 1-0 to post second win in All India Public Sector hockey tournament
NEW DELHI: Jiwan Bhengra scored the lone match-winner as Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) got the better of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) 1-0 to register their second win in the All India Public Sector hockey tournament played at the Shivaji Stadium on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, mighty SAIL thrashed BHEL 25-0, riding on Flex Ba's 10 goals, in a one-sided encounter on the opening day of the tournament.
In another match, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) blanked Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) 6-0.
Jayanta scored three goals for the winning side while Gurjant Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Harsahib Singh slotted one goal each.
In the last match of the day, Food Corporation of India (FCI) thrashed Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) 7-0 to post an easy win over their opponents.
Sumit Singh and Karamber Singh hit a fine brace for the winning team while Harjeet Singh, Gyanederjit Ningombam and Pradeep Mor added a goal apiece for the FCI team.
The Times of India
MPs demand Bharat Ratna for Dhyan Chand, BSP founder Kanshi Ram
Demands for conferring the nation's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna on hockey legend Dhyan Chand and BSP founder Kanshi Ram were raised on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
Demands for conferring the nation's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna on hockey legend Dhyan Chand and BSP founder Kanshi Ram were raised on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Dilip Kumar Tirkey (BJD) said Dhyan Chand had helped India win medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and his 570 goals in 185 matches during his career was a world record.
He was the highest goal scorer in two Olympics and Hitler had offered him a post of Colonel in the German Army after watching his performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Tirkey said, adding a metro station was named after the sporting legend during the 2012 London Olympics. Dhyan Chand's birth anniversary on August 26 is celebrated as Khel Diwas as he was among the greatest players of the 20th Century.
"I demand that the sporting hero be given the nation's highest honour, Bharat Ratna," Tirkey said as members cutting across party lines supported the demand.
Narendra Kumar Kashyap (BSP) through a separate mention, sought conferring of the highest honour for his party's founder Kanshi Ram, who he said, had worked tirelessly for creating a casteless society.
He was instrumental in getting SC/ST reservation in jobs and educational institutions and 27% quota for OBCs, Kashyap said. TK Rangarajan raised the issue of crisis in the sugar industry saying sugar millers were not paying farmers for the cane and dues have mounted to Rs 17,000 crore. He sought protection for cane growers.
DNA
Max-imum effort pays off for Sabah hockey player
By Aftar Singh
Sabah's Maxhans Christi (left) of UniKL in action during the just concluded MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League.
KUALA LUMPUR: Hard work does pay off.
Sabah’s Maxhans Christi swears by it.
The 18-year-old made his debut in the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League (MJHL) for Old La Sallians Association (Olak)-PKT in the Division Two last year. And he only managed to score one goal.
Undaunted, he continued to train harder to improve every aspect of his game.
And, on Sunday, he created history when he became the first player from East Malaysia to be named as the best player in the Under-19 league, which began in 1995.
The Keningau-born midfielder featured for Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) this season and performed exceptionally – including scoring nine goals from penalty corner set pieces – to guide his team to finish runners-up in the league and the overall Milo Cup.
Maxhans, who took up hockey when he was 10 years old while studying at the Bingkor Primary School in Keningau, is glad that all the hard work he has put in during training has paid off.
“It’s my second – and last appearance – in the league ... so, I wanted to give my best. But I never expected to win the best player award. Winning the award is a big boost to my hockey career and also to my state Sabah,” said Maxhans, who is second among three brothers.
“I’m thrilled to be the first player from East Malaysia to win the best player award. This will encourage more players from my state to take up hockey.
Maxhans dreams of becoming a national player. He is currently in the Project 2016 squad preparing for next year’s Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
“I’ve been with the Project 2016 squad since last year, but I’ve yet to play in a tournament. My aim this year is to feature in the Junior Asia Cup (in Kuantan in November) and help Malaysia qualify for next year’s Junior World Cup.
“I also want to be the first player from Sabah to feature in the Junior World Cup,” said Maxhans, who hopes to go on the playing tour of Australia next month with the Project 2016 squad.
The Star of Malaysia
EuroHockey 2015 to expand stadium
Fan celebrating
Following extremely high demand for tickets, and with both Finals and other key sessions currently sold out, England Hockey and The European Hockey Federation have made the exciting decision to expand Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre’s seating capacity to allow more hockey fans to enjoy the much-anticipated EuroHockey Championships 2015 this August.
Tickets for the two Finals and other sold-out sessions will go back on sale at the end of April – existing purchasers of any EuroHockey 2015 sessions and other upcoming England Hockey international events, highlighted below, will have a priority access window to purchase the tickets from 27 April*, with the remaining tickets going on general sale to the public on 1 May.
The priority access window means anyone who is looking to enjoy the Finals or other weekends sessions currently sold out will be able to gain access before the general public by purchasing a ticket to any other EuroHockey 2015 session or another England Hockey international event. Those events are the Nations Cup - Great Britain v Germany on 14 April; The Investec Private Bank International – Great Britain v Japan on 26 April; and Great Britain v Australia on 13 June – the latter two of these events have gone on sale today.
England Hockey’s Commercial Director Jonathan Cockcroft commented: “We’re delighted to have seen such high demand for what promises to be the biggest hockey event ever hosted in this country outside of the Olympics.
“Hockey offers an extremely appealing day out for families, hockey fans and general sports fans alike, and we have every confidence that we will continue to see such demand for tickets to this event and indeed other events at our new Olympic legacy stadium. It’s fantastic for hockey as a sport that we have a venue on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and that we’re able to increase its capacity as interest grows in our events.”
Angus Kirkland, Director General of the EHF added “Following the hugely successful, fan-centric EuroHockey Championships in Belgium in 2013, with a packed stadium, it was essential for us that this trend was continued in 2015. It is a real credit to England Hockey that they have successfully created such a demand for tickets that we can now grow the capacity of the ground in the firm knowledge that more fans will come and enjoy what will be a fantastic event on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”
Anyone who has previously bought tickets for EuroHockey - your seats are secure and your tickets are unaffected - the priority access window is only for those looking to purchase the tickets coming on sale soon.
Get your tickets for the following events now to be part of the priority access EuroHockey 2015 tickets offer when the additional tickets for sold out sessions go back on sale:
Nations Cup - Great Britain v Germany, 14 April
Investec Private Bank International – Great Britain v Japan, 26 April
Great Britain v Australia, 13 June
Sign up to the EuroHockey newsletter and buy your session tickets for EuroHockey 2015 at www.eurohockey2015.co.uk
*Priority window purchasers will be able to buy up to four tickets per person.
England Hockey Board Media release
Folkestone Hockey Festival 1949
Any idea which Team this is please. Photo from Folkestone Festival 1949.
Answers please to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Sikhs in Hockey