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News for 15 November 2017

All the news for Wednesday 15 November 2017


GB and Germany play out thrilling 3-3 draw


GB in Germany

Great Britain and Germany played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the second match of their Test series in Mannheim.

Goals from Liam Ansell and Luke Taylor put GB into an early two-goal lead before Germany fought back in the second half through Mats Grambusch and Marco Miltkau.

An Adam Dixon goal put GB back into the lead however German captain Grambusch was on target again to rescue a draw for his side. 

Speaking after the match Crutchley said: “This was a much better performance tonight. We started strongly, we were tighter defensively and looked more purposeful and threatening in attack.

“Third quarter was disappointing, but overall this was a performance with much more intensity and I thought we could have snatched the win in the dying minutes. It was also good to see Ed Horler earn his first Great Britain cap.”

Crutchley rotated his large squad for the second contest which saw Ed Horler make his Great Britain debut, joining Luke Taylor, Liam Ansell and James Albery who made their first appearances on Monday night.

It was GB who raced into the lead just as they did in the first match of the series, Ansell scoring a field goal on 11 minutes before Taylor netted his second in two games from a penalty corner to extend the lead.

However after the half-time break Germany fought back and two goals in two minutes saw them draw level. Firstly Grambusch was on target and Miltkau converted a penalty corner moments later.

GB put themselves back into the lead with ten minutes to go through Dixon but Grambusch found the net with five minutes to go.

Great Britain: George Pinner (GK,C), Luke Taylor, Henry Weir, Brendan Creed, Adam Dixon, Harry Martin, Chris Grassick, Barry Middleton, Ed Horler, Sam Ward, Alan Forsyth

Subs (Used): Harry Gibson (GK), Dan Kyriakides, James Albery, James Gall, Tom Carson, Liam Ansell, Phil Roper

England Hockey Board Media release



Sentinel Homes Women's Hockey World League Final 2017 begins Friday



As the Sentinel Homes Women's Hockey World League Final 2017 is all set to start in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday 17 November, we take a look at the eight teams who qualified via the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Brussels and Johannesburg and assess their chances of success in the end-of-year showpiece event.

Pool A promises some highly competitive matches as the Netherlands, USA, New Zealand and Korea are pitted against each other; while Pool B has some intriguing match-ups as England, Argentina, Germany and China face-off for pool supremacy.

The Netherlands are currently ranked number one in the FIH Hero Hockey World Rankings and with good reason. They were unstoppable at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final in Brussels, Belgium winning seven matches from seven to win the event. They then took that form to the Rabobank EuroHockey Championships, where they were once again undefeated and rounded off a strong display with a 6-0 win in the final against Belgium. Their Head Coach, Alyson Annan, has now got them firing on all cylinders. They play with fluidity, devastating speed and, importantly, enjoyment. While the old guard of Lidewij Welten, Carlien Dirkse van den Heuval and Eva de Goede will be pulling the strings, watch out for new stars such as Laurien Leurink and Maartje Krekelaar.

USA also won their Hockey World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg, South Africa and their Dutch coach, Janneke Schopman, is another who is making her mark with her team. USA are currently ranked seventh in the world after losing out in the 2017 Pan American Cup to Argentina and Chile, but this performance was a blip for the team that is renowned for its work ethic and extraordinary fitness levels. Melissa Gonzalez is the embodiment of the USA team ethos. The midfielder is dynamic, hugely talented, always upbeat and raises her game for the big matches.

The 2015 Hockey World League Final runners-up, New Zealand will have the home crowd firmly behind them as they seek to win their first global trophy. The Black Sticks are a team that has been so close to glory on so many occasions but have fallen at the last hurdle. The team finished third in Brussels at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals and will be looking to build on that experience. In their co-captains, Stacey Michelsen and Samantha Charlton New Zealand has players of immense talent and experience and head coach Mark Hager will be looking to these two to provide stability and structure while Ella Gunson and Pippa Hayward will lead a speedy and aggressive forward line.

Korea arrive in Auckland on the back of a bronze medal at the Asia Cup in Kakamighara, Japan and will be bolstered by the return to action of their goal-scoring maestro Park Mi Hyun. The team ranked ninth in the world scraped through to this event courtesy of a fourth place finish at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final in Brussels – an event that started badly as they lost to Netherlands 9-0. But they rallied and did what they did best, defending well then counter-attacking at pace. Expect another consistent performance with the fireworks provided when Cheon Seul Ki Park Mi Hyun get in the circle.

England are ranked second in the FIH Hero World Rankings and arrive in Auckland on the back of bronze medals at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg and at the Rabobank EuroHockey Championships in Amsterdam. The spine of Great Britain's 2016 Olympic medal-winning team are there – among them captain Alex Danson, Sophie Bray, Laura Unsworth, Hollie Pearne-Webb and Maddie Hinch. Coach Danny Kerry is however keen to give some of the players with fewer caps the chance to shine on the big stage. Olivia Paige, Erica Sanders and Elena Rayer all have fewer than 10 caps. Kerry’s expressed aim is to give his squad members the opportunity to experience ‘big stage’ moments ahead of next year’s Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup in London.

Ranked three in the world, Argentina are the reigning Hockey World League champions but also a team that has very much been rebuilding in recent months. A fourth place finish at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg was way below their own high expectations but it served the purpose of dual qualification for this event and the World Cup. A gold medal at the Pan American Cup suggests that Las Leonas are heading back to winning ways and, as Head Coach Agustin Corradini cements his own coaching style, the other competitors know that Argentina are a team to be feared. Agustina Albertarrio, Maria Granatto and Rocio Sanchez are all dangerous in attack, but the real dynamo is Delfina Merino – currently one of the best players in the world.

If ever there was a team that you cannot write off it is the team ranked sixth in the world, Germany. A bronze medal at the Rio Olympics and a silver medal at the Hockey World League Semi-Final against USA have both been won after beating higher-ranked opponents. Die Danas fell short in the Rabobank EuroHockey Championships as they finished in fourth position but this is a team that grows into each tournament and has high levels of self belief. The team has had to cope with the loss of Head Coach Jamilon Mulders in the summer but with players of the calibre and experience of Janne Muller-Weiland, Anne Schroder and Marie Mavers in the team, plus the incredible talent of Mike Lorenz and Charlotte Stapenhorst, this is a team who can compete with the best.

The eighth team in the line-up is China, who arrive in Auckland on the back of silver medals in Brussels and at the recent Asia Cup. The arrival of Jamilon Mulders from Germany is a signal of the Chinese ambition to start winning major events. Mulders has picked a young team for this event. Only the goalkeeper Li Dongxiao, Zhang Xiaoxue and Peng Yang have more than 100 caps, with seven of the team on 10 caps or fewer and all except two players under 25 years old. The captaincy is shared between veteran keeper Li and the rising star Ou Zixia, who just 12 months ago was captaining China at the Junior World Cup. China’s style is to defend with discipline and then break on a quick counter attack. Whether this tactic will change under the new coach remains to be seen but, as China proved in the Hockey World League Semi-Final, they are a tough unit to break down and they make the most of their rare attacking moments.

This meeting of the best teams in the world is the last global international prize on offer ahead of the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018, and the winner will also qualify for next year’s Hockey Champions Trophy. Expect to see great hockey, fierce competition and some amazing skills on display.

The event gets under-way on Friday 17 November as firstly USA take on Korea, followed by home nation New Zealand against the world number one side, the Netherlands.

Follow all the action on FIH.ch and FIH's social channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

#HWL2017

FIH site



Landmark partnership as FIH sign with YouTube to broadcast Hockey World League Finals

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced a commercial partnership with Google owned internet giants YouTube to provide broadcast coverage of the upcoming Hockey World League Finals.

By engaging with YouTube, fans in countries without broadcast agreements will be able to access matches via a Pay Per View YouTube system. YouTube will work as a primary distribution platform in participating nations’ markets where digital consumption has proven to be the primary method for consuming sport, and as a secondary platform giving fans access to matches not being shown by their local broadcaster.

This unique partnership will give access to billions of sports fans looking to tune in to all the action from the Sentinel Homes Women’s Hockey World League Final in Auckland (17-26 November) and the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar (1-10 December) 2018. The YouTube agreement will supplement coverage being provided to over 150 countries through existing broadcast partners.

In cooperation with FIH Official Media Partner Star Sports, FIH has been working hard to provide greater visibility of hockey through broadcasters, with digital platforms key to reaching new markets. This strategy is fundamental to achieving the main aim of FIH’s Hockey Revolution strategy – to make hockey a global game that inspires the next generation.

Speaking about these developments, FIH TV and Broadcast Director, Andy Oram, said: “We are delighted to engage with the biggest provider of online video content who are actively engaged and committed to growing the game. YouTube is a valuable addition to our existing partners and provides FIH with the opportunity to reach a global audience, attracting a new generation of fans to the sport through a wide range of devices that hockey can now be viewed on.”

He continued: “Through our host broadcasters Sky Sport New Zealand and Star Sports, supported by our growing list of broadcast partners, fans can expect to experience world class production and programming that they have come to expect from our top level events. This will bring fans closer to the action as we aim to engage them in our sport long term.”

YouTube’s Head of Sport for Europe, Middle-East and Asia, Tomos Grace, added: "YouTube provides a flexible platform for content owners to reach sports fans worldwide. We're very happy to see innovative partners like the FIH make full use of this flexibility by combining YouTube's free-to-air and PPV live functionality in their key target markets."

To find out where to watch the Sentinel Homes Women’s Hockey World League Final in Auckland, click here.

Broadcast information for the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar will be updated once further broadcast agreements have been confirmed on the official event website.

FIH site



Hard work ahead for Jamaican hockey squads

Hubert Lawrence


Jamaica’s Ombretta Gordon (left) shields the ball from Guyana’s Shebeki Baptiste during the women’s final of the CAC Games Hockey qualifiers 2017 on Sunday. Guyana won 1-0. The tournament was played at the JN Hockey Field in Mona.

National hockey coaches Nicholas Brown and Christine Bartley foresee hard work for their players as they get ready for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

Jamaica successfully negotiated last week's CAC qualifying tournament at the Mona Hockey Stadium, but Brown and Bartley foresee a programme of hard work for the teams to be ready to do well in Barranquilla, Colombia, which will host the Games next summer. In addition, both envisage a bright future for the game in Jamaica.

Jamaica won the men's side of the qualifying tournament outright with the women's placing second. Moments after the tournament ended on Sunday, Brown said, "Well, we continue training until the second week in December and we take a break and then we're hitting the field hard again come January."

Though disappointed that her girls lost to Guyana in the women's final, Bartley was also looking ahead.

MORE COMPETITIVE

"It means that the work starts now," she said. "We even have to work harder and smarter because it's going to be more competitive, so that means we have to make sure that we spend a lot of our time preparing physically, mentally, tactically, and technically, and I think if we can do that effectively, then we should be able to go away and compete very well," she outlined.

Brown is hoping for some competition to get the teams sharp as the Games approach.

"I've spoken to the president," he said of a chat with Jamaica Hockey Federation president Fabian Stewart, "and we are looking at a pre-tournament around Easter for the CAC Games."

The Games are set to begin on July 19 and will end on August 3.

Both coaches saw good signs in the qualifying tournament. Noting that the women's team has one teenager and two 20-year-olds, Bartley observed, "While there is youth, then of course development will take place."

Asked about the consistent crowd support for Jamaica throughout the tournament, Brown added, "Hockey is coming back on the map."

"A lot of youngsters are getting more involved, and you know, it's a good thing when both teams can reach the final. It shows that we're doing as much as we can with as little as we have," he concluded.

The Jamaica Gleaner



Johor hope cops will release Farah for Razak Cup

By Aftar Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: Johor are hoping to get national goalkeeper Farah Ayuni Yahya to beef up their squad for the second women’s Razak Cup hockey tournament, to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium from Nov 18-26.

Coach Lailin Abu Hassan said that the Johor Hockey Association had requested the Royal Malaysian Police to release the country’s top goalkeeper, who is an inspector, for the tournament.

“We are waiting for their reply. She will be a great help in guiding the younger players, including goalkeeper Nurshakella (Mohamed Sari), who will be featuring in next year’s Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Ipoh,” said Lailin.

The Johor team will be led by national forward Hanis Nadia Onn, who scored four goals in the recently-ended Asia Cup in Kakamigahara, Japan.

Lailin said that 70% of the team comprised players from the Sukma squad.

“We have five seniors and two national team players. Ours is a relatively young team but we’re determined to do our best in the tournament,” he said.

The five seniors, who also competed in the 2016 edition, are Norafiza Sulaiman, Marlia Mohamed, Noor Hayati Sirkam, Nurul Nadia Aziz and Fatin Nabilah Husna Mansor.

Nine teams will feature in the Razak Cup tournament and Johor are in Group B with Armed Forces, Selangor and Malacca.

Defending champions Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu, Perak and debutants Indonesia are in Group A.

Pahang outplayed Armed Forces 4-0 in the final at the Tun Razak Stadium last year.

Johor finished eighth after losing 2-1 to Terengganu and Lailin wants them to do better this year.

Johor will open their campaign against Armed Forces on Saturday.

THE JOHOR SQUAD

Nurshakella Mohd Sari, Hanis Nadia Onn, Norafiza Sulaiman, Marlia Mohamed, Noor Hayati Sirkam, Nurul Nadia Aziz, Fatin Nabilah Husna Mansor, Nur Ismi Syazwani Mohd Isa, Eza Suryani Musa, Nur Fatihah Aqilah Azmi, Nurin Natasha Rohani, Nur Anisa Kartika Abdul Rahman, Anis Humaira Saiful Nizam, Nur Ain Saiful Hazmi, Siti Nur Atikah Abu Hanifah, Aina Zafifah Mohd Razali, Rabiatuladawiah Arifin, Siti Nur Syahirah Muhammad.

The Star of Malaysia



PHF looks to change the team management due to consecutive failures

Secretary Shahbaz, senior coach and a number of former Olympians demand change in entire federation

LAHORE – Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is looking to change the team management after team’s consecutive failures to perform. The hockey team as well as the federation is frustrated after numerous incidents of incompetence in the game performance.

The decision came in the wake of importance of year 2018 with regard to hockey as a number of important hockey events are set to take place in 2018 including World Cup, Common Wealth, Asian Champion’s Trophy and Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament.

Pakistan Hockey team played 10 matches of Australia tour and Asia cup in the supervision of head coach farhat but could only succeed in two matches.

According to the sources, Secretary Shahbaz was in the past in favor of bringing a foreign coach but according to the former Olympian Danish Kaleem, the changing of entire federation after so many failures is inevitable.

On the other hand, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) elections are set to take place this year but federation has made no announcements regarding the elections. The elections will decide the credibility of the federation with regard to the government.

Dunya News



Former hockey Olympians want probe into Melbourne disaster

KARACHI: Terming Pakistan’s performance in the recently concluded four-nation international hockey festival in Melbourne as “pathetic”, former hockey Olympians Samiullah and Shahnaz Shaiekh have demanded an immediate inquiry into the shameful result. “The greenshirts have failed to rise in the last two years and have virtually put the heads of country’s former hockey stalwarts down,” Samiullah said on Tuesday. The iconic left-winger of yore urged the Ministry of the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) to initiate a probe into the Melbourne debacle forthwith as it brought disgrace to the nation. Pakistan finished at bottom in the quadrangular event in the Australian city losing all the four games including the playoff for the third position. Pakistan suffered a 1-9 drubbing from Australia – green-shirts’ worst-ever loss in international games – followed by a 1-3 loss to minnows Japan, 2-3 to New Zealand and again 1-2 to Japan in the third-place match. “The Melbourne defeats, particularly, twice to Japan, indicate that the current team have no ability to fight back,” lamented Samiullah.

Former Olympian Shahnaz said there was no need to participate in the Melbourne event. “It was just waste of funds. The tournament has no importance or value.” Shahnaz said the players had no required training. “Losing to minnows Japan was heartbreaking,” he maintained.

Samiullah, who is known as ‘flying horse’ for his superb hockey skills, reckoned the situation for Pakistan hockey was alarming and added that the incumbent hierarchy had failed to deliver the goods during the last two years. “Since assuming the role in August 2015 as PHF president Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar and secretary Shahbaz Ahmed have miserably failed to solve employment problem of players and the base is shrinking,” he remarked.

Taking current performance of the team and the PHF’s lack of vision into consideration, Samiullah said, “I see no light at the end of tunnel”. He said it’s time to focus on under-19 players whose fitness level he said will be much higher then the present lot. “The corruption charges levelled by the secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hockey Association Zahir Shah against the PHF high-ups need to be probed,” Samiullah said when asked to comment on KP official’s statement to the media the other day. He also demanded of the government to probe alleged embezzlement of PHF funds by Qasim Zia, Akhtar Rasool, Asif Bajwa and Rana Mujahid.

The Daily Times



Former players line up for coaching stint

K. Arumugam

Former players of India by and large presume they are born coaches and start resuming coaching assignments at national levels without formal training, and thus bringing in its wake enormous disasters to the nation which escape public scrutiny as the perpetrators are persons of repute.



But anybody who is somebody in hockey of the day knows well the fact that playing and coaching are two distinct aspects, practicing of each need specif training and acquisition of modern tools and the ability to read and use them.

Thankfully, it seems some sort of wisdom has started dawning on Indian scenario on this vital aspect of team building.

Many former players of repute, most of them Olympic grade, evinced keen interest to immerse themselves in coaching and took a baby step recently.

They got a godsend when Sports Authority of India, with technical collaboration with Hockey India, recently organized a three-day workshop in Delhi, in which best of coaches in the contemporary scene acted as resource persons.



Such great players as Deepak Thakur, Samir Dad, Devesh Chauhan, Baljit Singh Dadwal, Adrian D'Souza, Vikram Pillay, Danish Mujtaba, women hockey star Soundarya Yendala were present to listen to the likes of Lucknow & Kakmigahara hero Harendra Singh, present national Men's team chief coach Sjored Mrinje, Hockey India's High Performance Director David John, Dronacharya Dr AK Bansal.

Many specialists in the area of psychology, nutrition and physiotherapy too gave topical lectures. Coaches and these specialists also had interactive sessions.

It is interesting note most of the players attended the course are still force to reckon with in the domestic circuit. And players like Soundarya Yendla still have stuff to return to national side.

HPD David John, an Australian import, spoke about various topics including conditioning for the modern hockey player, Hockey India’s Selection Criteria, Demonstration of Warm-up, Resume and complete the Skill assessment, Assessing the Test Results, Game Awareness, Indian playing style definition etc.



Expectedly, successful Indian coach Harendra Singh articulated about Basic Skills, defensive structure, out-letting, forward press, Planning a training Season (Pre-season & in-season) and importantly and fittingly Characteristics of a Successful Coach.

National Men's coach Sojerd Marinje too dwelt on the above subjects in his inimitable style.

A lot of scientific aspects were covered in the coaching workshop.

Dr. G.L.Khanna spoke about Physiology of Exercise while the subject of Match Review and Analysis was taken up by Aardhi Chatapathy. Abilasha Saharan spoke about Psychological aspects connected to hockey players.



Dr MP Ganesh, who is CEO of National Hockey Academy spoke about 'Coaching – A philosophy'. Ms. G Vani Bhushan dwelt on Nutrition and why it is a vital aspect for modern hockey. Dr. Hema Valecha's lecture on physiotherapy and first aid was well received.

Dr AK Bansal doubled up as resource person as well as event coordinator. The Dronacharya awardee is presently Administrator of the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, venue of the 1st Coaching Course for basic Hockey Coaching.

It is learnt that the workshop is first in the step to organize coaching and grading coaches on a national level and in a uniform fashion. An area that was in demand for long.

It seems such beginner courses will be held in different zones in the days to come.

Young coaches from Institutions such as Indian Railways, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, Air India, IIT Roorker, Punjab National Bank, and States as far as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, participated.

Other participants include from Sports Authority of India, MP Hockey Academy, Sports Authority of Gujarat, Punjab Sports Department, Army Sports Control Board etc..

Stick2Hockey.com



Cal field hockey breaks five-year drought

By Jesus Aceves



If you didn’t follow Cal’s field hockey team (9-8) throughout the entirety of its season, you definitely missed out. All things considered, the Bears’ season meant so much more than ending one game over .500. With the surprising emergence of impressive athletes on both sides of the ball and a proper home, Cal’s season was far from ordinary.

Cal was successful for a variety of reasons. For starters, they posted their first winning season since 2011 and earned a share of the West division title in the American East Conference along with No. 17 Stanford and Pacific. The title is so much sweeter considering the fact that Cal shared this title with Stanford who has given the Bears trouble for years.

The Bears’ season was also successful because they finally had their own home. After years of practicing and playing on fields that weren’t built specifically for field hockey, Cal celebrated the completion of Underhill Field that fans and players could finally call home. With the newly included bleachers and fans to fill them, Underhill gave the Bears a proper home field advantage and a competitive edge over visiting teams.

“Having the facility complete is great,” said Cal head coach Shellie Onstead. “I attribute a lot (of the team’s success to having the field complete) because we finally had a normal training environment and an environment to compete in at our new home field with the band and the fans and that made a huge difference.”

Freshman Megan Rodgers headlined the Bears who made headlines this past season. Rodgers earned both America East All-Conference and All-Rookie honors and tallied 17 goals, the sixth-most in a single season by a Cal athlete. Junior Melina Moore, who had eight goals this season, moved within two goals of being in the top 10 of goals scored in school history.

Other top scoring and assisting athletes among the Bear’s squad this season include sophomore Katrina Carter with four goals, Femke Delissen with nine assists and Lindsay Mathison with six assists. Cal will also have their tough goalkeeper Danielle Mentink return, who had four games this season in which she tallied double-digit saves.

The Bears will lose two seniors this year, Alie Zimmer and Mara Gutierrez. Should everyone return, the rest of the returning squad will feature five seniors, eight juniors and nine sophomores. Cal will have a young team, but they will also have more years to work with them.

“We’re saying goodbye to five seniors (after next season), but we have a bright future with the rest of the team that is still with us,” Onstead said.

Overall, this Cal team had a positive season. Despite their roller coaster-like season, the performance, grit and competitiveness that they displayed this year gave us a glance at what is still to come in the next few years under head coach Shellie Onstead.

“We’re gonna keep getting better,” Onstead said. “We’ve laid a good foundation and we’re trying to establish the culture of success and we’re shifting away from the culture of survival. We’re going to be fun to watch and the next few years are gonna be pretty exciting.”

The Dally Californian

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