Welcome to the Fieldhockey.com Archives

Daily Hockey news updated @ 10:00 GMT

News for 21 May 2015

All the news for Thursday 21 May 2015


Allegations cut short Pakistan-Korea tie

KARACHI: The second match of the Pakistan-Korea Test series ended controversially after the referees called off play with both sides level at 3-3 in Seoul on Wednesday.

Pakistan drew first blood through Muhammad Kashif Ali, after which Umar Bhutta and Waqas Sharif added one goal each. However, Korea managed to level the game and with seven minutes remaining in the contest, the referees stopped the match following an allegation on match referee Nasir Shah favouring Pakistan.

“Pakistan was winning the game when they [Korea] scored the third and the match referees ended the match,” said Pakistani captain Muhammad Imran. “However, it was a good game as we changed our game plan and it went in our favour. Every player was asked to play in his zone and build up a strong combination to finish and I’m glad to see that they accomplished that very well.”

The next match will be played on May 22, followed by the last match of the preparation round on May 23.

The Express Tribune



PHF president hopes Pakistan will qualify for Olympics

Azhar Khan

LAHORE - Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool has said that participation in international hockey events before Olympics qualifiers has certainly brightened up the national team’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Akhtar Rasool said: “Pakistan team has competed in the four-nation hockey tournament in Hobart, Australia while the team has also been playing a four-match test series against Korea in Korea. After participating in the training tours, Pakistan will feature in the next month’s Rio Olympics qualifier in Belgium and I hope training tour in South Korea will help provide the much-needed confidence to the players for Olympic qualifiers and the team’s chances are quite bright.”

“We have given chances to the youngsters who are getting much-needed international exposure which will help them play well against the tough opponents and especially during the Olympic qualifiers. We can also recall our two players who have been playing in a foreign league but we didn’t do so rather preferred to provide youngsters chances to groom and excel. I hope our players will play well during the Olympic qualifiers and gave good news to the nation by qualifying for the Rio Olympics,” the PHF chief said.

Terming Zimbabwe team’s tour to Pakistan a great breakthrough, Rasool said: “Zimbabwe team’s successful tour will bear fruit in shape of revival of international sports in the country. After Zimbabwe, not only more cricket teams will visit Pakistan, but also other sports teams shall come and play here.

“We are also in verbal talks with International Hockey Federation (IHF) to help us revive international hockey in Pakistan. “During the Olympic qualifiers, we will tell the teams about Zimbabwe tour and invite them to play in Pakistan and also communicate properly with the IHF in this regard,” he added.

Lauding the efforts of Tauqeer Dar Hockey Academy (TDHA) for the promotion of the national game in the country, Rasool said: “My presence and witnessing the players training here are good enough to prove that a high quality hockey is being taught here and the players have been training well under the watchful eyes of Olympian Danish Kaleem and his team. I hope the academy will continue providing quality players to the national team as it had done in the past as a good numbers of academy players have been representing the country and earning good name for the academy as well as the country.”

Recalling the old glory days of hockey, Rasool said that during their era, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was sponsoring the players very well while other prominent sponsors and players’ caretakers were Wapda, Police, Customs, Railways, banks and others. “Unfortunately, the sponsors have not been taking care of the players like they used to do in the past and also not giving jobs to secure their future, so in such circumstances when it is too tough to meet their basic needs and bread and butter, it is very difficult for the players to give their best.”

He urged Prime Minister Mian M Nawaz Sharif, who himself is a sportsman and diehard sports lover, to give attention to the national game which has been suffering due to acute shortage of funds. “If provided with appropriate funds, the PHF assures Pakistan hockey will flourish and regain its past glory.”

The Nation



Danny Kerry announces Great Britain squad for World League


Helen Richardson-Walsh celebrates scoring for GB

Great Britain Women’s Head Coach Danny Kerry has named a squad of 18 athletes ahead of the World League Semi Final in Valencia from 10-21 June 2015. Great Britain will play hosts Spain in their opening pool game before facing Argentina, Canada and China to complete the group phase of the competition, with a place in the World League Final as well as Olympic Qualification up for grabs.

The Great Britain squad contains 14 athletes who competed at the Champions Trophy in December 2014; there are four changes to the group who finished fifth in the competition in Mendoza. The players to come in are Scotland and Reading defender Emily Maguire, who is in line for her 150th combined Great Britain and Scotland cap the next time she plays, Helen Richardson-Walsh, Kate Richardson-Walsh and Nicola White.

Helen Richardson-Walsh who reached 250 combined international caps in the recent Investec Private Banking series against Japan will compete in her first international tournament since EuroHockey 2013 after overcoming long term injury. Kate Richardson-Walsh comes back into the squad after returning to full time training in January after some time away from the game. Holcombe’s Nicola White is recalled after her non selection for Mendoza.

With Danny Kerry’s team competing as Great Britain there are a number of milestones that should be passed during the tournament. Giselle Ansley is set to win her 50th combined GB and England cap should she appear twice in the competition. Laura Unsworth, currently on 47 Great Britain caps and 146 combined caps is in line for two milestones, whilst Susie Gilbert is also set to win her 50th Great Britain cap, she is currently on 44.

The players not selected who competed at the Champions Trophy are Sarah Haycroft, Sam Quek, Zoe Shipperley and Ellie Watton.

Quotes – Great Britain Head Coach Danny Kerry

“It’s been great to see such strong focus at training since last September. There has been a great deal of competition for places, and the commitment and spirit across the squad is excellent. Selection should always be challenging and it is a testament to the depth of quality within the group that the staff have had many long meetings over the months to come to our final tournament squad. We have had multiple options for multiple positions and this has created a great deal of debate for the coaching staff. It is good news for the competitive nature of the squad and will stand us in good stead for the upcoming challenges, not least that of securing a place in the Olympic Games in Rio.”

World League Semi-Final - Great Britain squad

Name Club
Giselle Ansley Surbiton
Sophie Bray East Grinstead
Alex Danson

Reading

Susie Gilbert Reading
Maddie Hinch

Holcombe

Joie Leigh Clifton
Kirsty Mackay

East Grinstead

Hannah Macleod St Albans
Emily Maguire Reading
Shona McCallin Slough
Lily Owsley University of Birmingham
Helen Richardson-Walsh

Reading

Kate Richardson-Walsh Reading
Susannah Townsend Canterbury
Georgie Twigg

Surbiton

Laura Unsworth Holcombe
Hollie Webb

Surbiton

Nicola White Holcombe


Great Britain Hockey media release



Maguire set for cap milestone after Great Britain World League selection


Scot Emily Maguire is in line to win her 150th international cap. Photo Credit: Simon Parker

Scotland international and Olympic medallist Emily Maguire is in line to win her 150th international cap at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) World League Semi-Final in Valencia next month.

The former Kelburne midfielder has been selected in the Great Britain Women's squad of 18 players by Head Coach Danny Kerry for the competition that takes place from 10-21 June.

Unfortunately, Scottish goalkeeper Amy Gibson and forward Sarah Robertson have narrowly missed out on selection.

Great Britain will play hosts Spain in their opening pool game before facing Argentina, Canada and China to complete the group phase of the competition, with a place in the World League Final as well as Olympic Qualification up for grabs.

Speaking after the squad selection, Head Coach Kerry said, “It’s been great to see such strong focus at training since last September. There has been a great deal of competition for places, and the commitment and spirit across the squad is excellent. Selection should always be challenging and it is a testament to the depth of quality within the group that the staff have had many long meetings over the months to come to our final tournament squad.

"We have had multiple options for multiple positions and this has created a great deal of debate for the coaching staff. It is good news for the competitive nature of the squad and will stand us in good stead for the upcoming challenges, not least that of securing a place in the Olympic Games in Rio.”

There are recalls for veteran stalwart Kate Richardson-Walsh, who returns to the squad after resuming full-time training in January, Nicola White and Helen Richardson-Walsh, who is set to play her first major competition since the 2013 European Championships after long-term injury.

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Eighteen-man Men’s National Team named for Olympic qualifier in Argentina

Canada opens World-League Semi-Finals on June 3rd

Shaheed Devji

The Canadian Men’s Field Hockey Team has announced the roster of players that will compete for 2016 Olympic qualification at the World League Semi-Finals in Buenos Aires, Argentina from June 3rd-14th, 2015.

Of the eighteen athletes named to the touring roster, seventeen were a part of the Men’s National Team that finished third at World League Round 2 in San Diego, California in March.

The World League Semi-Final is an Olympic qualifying event from which the top three finishers of ten teams earn spots at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

With its win against Russia and the third place finish at World League 2, Canada ensured itself two opportunities to qualify for the 2016 Olympics; the first being a top three finish at the Semi-Finals, the second by winning the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto this summer.

In Buenos Aires in June, Canada is grouped with Austria, Germany, Spain, and host Argentina in Pool B. Pool A consists of Egypt, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Canada’s first match at the World League Semi-Finals is on June 3 against Spain at 6:00pm local time. Canada’s full schedule and results are available at the Field Hockey Canada website.

The World League team will be training in Toronto from May 27th-29th at the new Pan Am Fields before heading to Argentina.

Also representing Canada in Argentina is Judge Tony Stewart.

Canadian Men’s National Field Hockey Team – World League Semi-Finals Roster

Name

Position

Hometown

Caps

Adam Froese

Defender

Abbotsford, BC

106

Antoni Kindler

Goalkeeper

Vancouver, BC

51

Ben Martin

Midfielder

Vancouver, BC

70

Brenden Bissett

Forward

New Westminster, BC

22

David Carter

Goalkeeper

Vancouver, BC

104

David Jameson

Midfielder

Vancouver, BC

218

Devohn Noronha-Teixeira

Forward

Mississauga, ON

41

Gabriel Ho-Garcia

Forward

Burnaby, BC

49

Gordon Johnston

Defender

Vancouver, BC

60

Iain Smythe

Forward

Vancouver, BC

97

James Kirkpatrick

Forward

Victoria, BC

21

Mark Pearson

Midfielder

Tsawwassen, BC

169

Matthew Guest

Forward

Calgary, AB

89

Matthew Sarmento

Forward

Vancouver, BC

31

Paul Wharton

Midfielder

Vancouver, BC

40

Scott Tupper (Captain)

Defender

Vancouver, BC

202

Sukhi Panesar

Midfielder

Surrey, BC

38

Taylor Curran

Midfielder

North Vancouver, BC

84

 

Canadian Men’s National Field Hockey Team – World League Semi-Finals Staff

 

Head Coach – Anthony Farry

 

Assistant Coach – Paul Bundy

 

Team Manager – Celia Plottel

 

Physiotherapist – Joshua Ferguson

 

Performance Analyst – Paul Mounter

 

Performance Analyst – Moabi Malebye

 

Nutritionist – Sandra Millward

 

World League Semi-Finals Canadian Officials

 

Judge – Tony Stewart

Field Hockey Canada media release



New format for Pacific Games hockey competition

Vishaal Kumar

A new format will be used at the Pacific Games in hockey competition this July in PNG.

The new five a side format comes into play from the previous 11 a side team based competition.

And with this news the Fiji Hockey Association are keeping their fingers crossed to have a successful campaign at the games.

One men's and one women's team will be taking part in the competition this year.

Association Secretary Laijipa Naulivou said the new five-a-side format would suit the style of Fiji hockey.

"The new format is expansive so it will definitely suit our style of playing. The women's team won gold at the last games in the 11 a side format so we are expecting them to win gold this time around," Naulivou said.

"The men's team did not take part last time but this year they are geared up to win gold.

"Our preparation has been good as we have been preparing from last year now. We had set up a strategic plan to train and the coaches and players are following that."

The team is expected to face stiff competition from hosts PNG, New Caledonia and Tahiti at the Games. Naulivou also highlight the plight of hockey being a minor sport.

"Hockey is considered a minor sport in the country so getting financial support from sponsors is always a challenge for us," added Naulivou.

"We are still working on our games levy but we are confident that we will get it done by the due date."

The men's team is coached by Shaun Corrie and the women's team coached by Alison Southey.

The Fiji Times



Grunwald lead the way in Polish regular season

WKS Grunwald Poznan completed the Polish regular season in emphatic season with an 11-0 win over city rivals AZS Poznan University of Technology, making them once again clear favourites in the playoffs.

It was their 16th win – with just two draws – from 18 games this season, scoring an incredible 157 goals in the process with Karol Majchrzak grabbing 29 of them.

They will meet the same side in the playoffs semi-final on May 30 in Torun while KS Pomorzanin Torun, last year’s champions, will meet AZS AWF Poznan in their semi-final. The final will be played on Sunday, May 31.

Again, Torun will be the favourites having beaten AWF Poznan last Sunday 5-2 in the last round of league games.

Euro Hockey League media release



Irish International Hockey Records Database

Senior Mens team 1895 to 2015

by Steve Hiles



Introduction

As two of the most influential and highly regarded players of the past decade Ronan Gormley and Eugene Magee are both about to go through the 200 cap milestone we thought it would be good to share an insight into the international records database for the Irish senior mens team.

Irish mens hockey internationals date back to January 1895 when they first played Wales in Rhyl winning three goals to nil. Since then, 120 years later a further 852 matches have been played with over 530 players being capped at senior international level for Ireland.

The caps database has been developed and improved over the past 15 years when the records were simply a word document recording the caps each player had achieved. With the kind help from Drew Francey of Antrim hockey club and his Irish hockey umpire records I was able to start working on an interactive database for results and international match records that was developed in excel. The records were compared for validation purposes to international hockey records doyen Pat Rowley and we were then satisfied we had every match that Ireland competed in.

Today, the database not just records the match details such as result, goal scorers, venue, opposition, umpires, captain, coach, manager but it also records all the players that played in each match.  In addition, we have easily available results against every other international country and the ability to produce statistics for win ratios for captains, coaches and players together with analysis by year / decade.

To read the remainder of the article please click here

Irish Hockey Association media release



Vizer calls for meetings with Bach and Ricci Bitti as hockey becomes latest sport to suspend SportAccord membership

By Nick Butler


Francesco Ricci Bitti strongly criticised Marius Vizer at the ASOIF General Assembly in Sochi, just two days after the initial criticisms were launched ©Twitter

SportAccord President Marius Vizer has today called for a meeting to be held with both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), claiming there is a need for "open and honest discussions for the benefit of sport".

In a letter in response to a similar correspondence by ASOIF head Francesco Ricci Bitti yesterday, and with IOC President Thomas Bach and ASOIF members copied in, Vizer tells the Italian how he is "ready to hold a meeting with you, the IOC, or anyone who would like to participate".

He recommends next week in Lausanne or in Paris between June 5 and 7.

The letter coincided with hockey becoming the 11th sport to suspend its membership.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) chief executive Kelly Fairweather told insidethegames the decision had been made pending ratification by the FIH Board in early July.

The sport joins athletics, shooting, archery, canoeing, boxing, taekwondo, wrestling, bobsleigh, triathlon and weightlifting in making such a move, with six sport all having withdrawn over the last eight days.

This follows the continued fallout from Vizer's criticism of the IOC and Bach at last month's SportAccord General Assembly in Sochi, where he alleged the IOC "lacked transparency", that its Agenda 2020 reform process had brought "hardly any benefit" to sport and that it had unfairly blocked SportAccord in its drive to organise new Commissions and events.

In addition to the 11 withdrawals, every Summer body except for the Vizer-led International Judo Federation has also signed a letter supporting the decision of ASOIF to "disassociate" its affiliation with SportAccord, while both the International Paralympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation have made a similar move.

Vizer, however, has refused to backtrack or apologise, admitting his manner of speaking may have been wrong but that he raised serious issues which need to be addressed.


Marius Vizer has called for a meeting with both ASOIF and the IOC in a letter to Francesco Ricci Bitti ©ITG

In a statement today released by SportAccord alongside the letter exclusively obtained by insidethegames, Vizer opts for slightly more restrained language, claiming how "unity is paramount" and that he "does not have a personal agenda".

His broad sentiments however, are unchanged.

"My statement in Sochi on April 20 was meant to launch proper reforms that would result in a better future for sport," he said.

"My intention has been and will always be to safeguard and further the interests of the International Federations.

"My aim is to unite them and support them as they are the elected representatives of the National Federations and moreover, of the athletes.

"Following my statement in Sochi, there has been an increased interest in applications for SportAccord membership from various international sport bodies.

"Today and in the unforeseeable future, SportAccord continues and will continue to provide services to empower the International Federations and to defend their interests."

Vizer claims he hopes to have "positive discussions which will lead to tangible solutions".

He added: "There is a need to move the dialogue and debate to society, which is the contributor and beneficiary of the biggest sporting events, while at the same time the consumer of sporting values and goods, and I am ready to do so."

Vizer's proposed date for a meeting would mean it takes place before the IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne on June 7, and then the IOC Candidate City Briefing for the 2022 Winter Olympic bidding race on June 9 and 10, set to be one of the first major meetings of the Olympic Movement since the SportAccord Convention.

If the meeting is held in Paris between June 5 and 7, it could clash with the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Executive Council meeting in Lausanne on June 6.

That could prevent ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, the fourth major stakeholder, along with Bach, Vizer and Ricci Bitti , from attending any summit.

It remains to be seen however if the IOC and ASOIF accept the meeting proposal, as well as the dates suggested.

Inside The Games

Fieldhockey.com uses cookies to assist with navigating between pages. Please leave the site if you disagree with this policy.
Copyright remains with the credited source or author