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All the news for Monday 11 July 2011

Ireland takes Gold at Champions Challenge 2

MCC2 Final: France 2, Ireland 4


Ireland - Winners of the 2011 FIH Men's Champions Challenge 2. (Photo: FIH / Stanislas Brochier)

Ireland bounced back from the painful memories of the 2009 Champions Challenge II final as they produced some moments of brilliance to deny hosts France in a tense final in Lille.

Then, Ireland blew a two-goal lead against Poland before ultimately falling on penalty strokes. This time round they were facing bogey side France on their home turf who threatened at times to pull off a similar feat.

But a magical end-to-end move created the clinching goal for Gareth Watkins, in his first major tournament, to tap in after Eugene Magee, Peter Blakeney and the superb Peter Caruth carried the ball 90 metres.

It was a fitting winner to a goal-fest of a tournament, ending a cracking tie which was in the balance until that late salvo.

Ireland had taken the lead in the 18th minute after Chris Cargo was felled and skipper Ronan Gormley duly converted the penalty stroke.

Eugene Magee continued Ireland’s excellent penalty corner statistics when he dragged home 2-0 on the half-hour.

But the French still had their part to play and were back in the ball game 45 seconds before the break as a right-wing cross was bounced all the way to Matthieu Catonnet and he swivelled to finish from a yard out.

And France took up the initiative at the start of the second period but were rocked by a fine team goal, Andy McConnell getting the crucial tip-in. Again, the two-goal lead looked vulnerable and Jean-Baptiste scrambled in a rebound.

They piled forward looking to close the gap but were caught on the counter-attack when Magee stole the ball on his own’s circle’s edge, the ambition was there to go for the jugular.

Blakeney fed Caruth on the right and he swept across for Watkins to score his fourth goal of the competition.

It earns Ireland a place in the Champions Challenge I, the second highest tier of world hockey as wells as providing top preparation for August’s European championships.

Russia, meanwhile, netted three times in the closing seven minutes to deny Scotland bronze in gut-wrenching fashion, winning 3-1 after the highlanders had led for much of the 3rd/4th playoff.

It was always going to be a test of stamina for Scotland who could only use 14 players due to Kenny Bain and Gareth Hall’s suspensions. Their plight got even tougher when skipper Graham Moodie went off at half-time injured, leaving front trio Gavin Byers, Fergus Dunn and Alan Forsyth a huge job of running an intense press pretty much on their own.

They were given energy by Byers’ 19th minute opening goal, slamming home from the circle’s edge after Marat Gafarov had denied Dunn’s shot by just a matter of inches. It was a superb recovery but the last-ditch nature of it meant he had little choice where he could clear it to and Byers was a grateful recipient.

Forsyth had also gone close early on but Russia bossed much of the opening half, Nikolay Komarov a constant menace who twice calm within centimetres of scoring while Nikolay Yankun’s deflected drag-flick was denied by Wei Adams.

The second half was a much tighter affair with play congealed between the 25s for the most part. With time running out, however, play opened up as Scotland’s legs seemed to struggle with the extra workload.

They were stung on the counter-attack after Dunn’s rasping reverse stung Gafarov’s palms. He got enough on it though to spring a Russian forward volley which ended with Komarov squaring for Mamoshkin to bundle home.

In the build-up, Willie Marshall came together with Evgeny Mokrousov and was shown a yellow card, one which ruled him out of the last six minutes of the game. Yet more open country was revealed and Pavel Golubev put Russia in front for the first time with 75 seconds to go.

It was a classy effort, Sergey Kostarev centring from the left wing and Golubev, on his knees, leant forward to thunder the ball past Mark Fulton. Anton Kornilov added a third for good measure soon after to garner bronze, leaving Scotland in fourth place after one win from their six games.

Earlier, Tomas Prochazka fired two late penalty corners to turn the Czech Republic’s tie with China on its head and earn fifth place, dropping the top seeds China into sixth place after a 4-3 result.

The Mannheimer drag-flicker overturned a 3-1 deficit, forged via Yixian Liu’s pair of drag-flicks in the first half as well as a stunning Xiantang Liu goal inside 15 seconds of the first whistle.

He dived onto the end of Fenghui Lu’s excellent reverse-stick pass for a very early advantage. Jakub Kyndl wiped out that lead before Liu applied his double dose.

Stepan Bernatek reacted sharply in the seconds leading up to half-time to guide home a deflected ball to pull it back to 3-2 at half-time but, for long periods of the second half, the Chinese looked on course for fifth.

That was until the Czechs won a corner with six minutes to go. Prochazka slammed it into the net for 3-3 and within a minute he had another chance, making no mistake yet again, moving his tournament tally to six to take the lead in the current standings.

In the seventh place playoff, USA finished their campaign on a high courtesy of a fine second half performance.

Michael Korper dragged home his third penalty corner of the competition to start Austria’s day in decent fashion but Michiel Dijkxhoorn tied the match up in the 25th minute from a couple of centimetres, tipping in from the right post.

Wil Holt’s double inside a couple of second half minutes swung the tie before Jon Ginolfi made absolutely sure of the result in the 53rd minute. Georg Jelinek pulled one back but Patrick Harris netted his fourth corner of the week to copper-fasten the victory.

FIH Men's Champions Challenge II final

Ireland 4 (Ronan Gormley, Eugene Magee, Andy McConnell, Gareth Watkins)
France 2 (Matthieu Catonnet, Jean-Baptiste Pauchet)

FIH site

Ireland WIN Champions Challenge II (men) Semi Finals

Ireland won the final of the Champions Challenge II against France and secure promotion to Champions Challenge I with a solid performance this afternoon.

Ireland opened scoring in the 17th minute when captain Gormley scored a penalty stroke following an offense on Cargo as he attempted for goal. Ireland doubled their lead to 2-0 in the 29th minute when Magee scored a drag flick.

Ireland had further penalty corner opportunities but missed, and France rebounded in the 34th minute from Catonnet to make 2-1 just before half time.

The opening of the second half was a midfield battle with Harte pulling off a great diving save in the 46th to keep Ireland in the lead. Ireland took a 3-1 lead in the 49th following great work from Caruth for McConnell to put one in at the back post. France pulled back in the 51st minute from good open play to make it 3-2.

Ireland regained their 2 goal advantage with a great counter attack from Blakeney and Caruth driving down the right hand side and passing to Watkins for a diving deflection to finish off the game at 4-2.

On top of the Win Ireland secured the Fair Play Award and David Harte got goal keeper of the tournament, so all in all an excellent day for Ireland and the mens team.

Commenting on the match manager Peter Jackson said "We were pleased with our performances this week and it sets our stall for further momentum as we prepare for the upcoming Europeans"

President of the IHA Herbie Sharman was also delighted commenting This was a well deserved win and we are back in Champions Challenge I where our team of this calibre rightfully belongs.

IRELAND 4 (2) Ronan Gormley (ps) 17m; Eugene Magee (op) 29m; Andy McConnell (op) 49m; Gareth Watkins 55m (op)

FRANCE 2 (1) Catonnet (op) 35m; Genestet (op) 51m

Irish Hockey Association media release

Fourth place for Scotland in Champions Challenge

Scotland had to be satisfied with a very creditable fourth place in the Champions Challenge in Lille when they went down 3-1 to Russia in the bronze medal play-off.

The odds were stacked against the Scots even before the start of the contest, as they were reduced to a squad of only 14 players with Gareth Hall and Kenny Bain missing out due to suspension for cards picked up in previous matches.

Doubtless the Scots, seeded seventh in this eight nations tournament, would have settled for fourth spot before the start of the tournament, and this finish should improve Scotland`s world rankings from 23rd at the moment.

The Scots started well with a good chance falling to Alan Forsyth but his effort went tantalisingly wide of the target.  Midway through the first period, Scotland opened the scoring, Fergus Dunn`s effort was cleared off the line by a Russian defender and Gavin Byers followed up to slam the ball into the net.  The Russians came back with three penalty corners but Mark Fulton and his defence stood firm.

Although Russia had most of the play after the interval, the Scots were dangerous on the counter-attack, Dan Coultas put his only penalty corner effort just over the bar while John Harris also had a good chance to increase the lead.

Almost inevitably, tiredness took over with Scotland`s limited numbers, not helped by a leg injury to captain Graham Moodie, and the Russians took full advantage in the final seven minutes with goals from Alexey Mamoshkin, Pavel Golubev and Anton Kornilov for a flattering 3-1 victory.

"We ran out of legs and substitutes and paid the price in the final seven minutes. We played well against the Russians, but once again we surrendered a winning position and let the other side back into the game," said Eugene Connolly, Scotland`s manager.

Scottish Hockey Union media release

US Men Defeat Austria in Final Game

Joe Wagstaffe

LILLE, France – Coming off of yesterday’s loss to the Czech Republic the US looked to rebound with a strong effort in their final match of the Champions Challenge II tournament.  They would not disappoint as they put together a solid attack against Austria and came away with a 5-2 final result.

While the outcome of the game displayed a good win to the United States, Austria would attack first and keep the game competitive in the early going.  As the US struggled early with keeping possession and yielding turnovers through the midfield, Austria capitalized by using a turnover to enter the offensive circle and earn a penalty corner in the 10th minute.  Behind the strength of a drag flick from Michael Korper, Austria would take a 1-0 lead.  The US would respond, however, in the 24th minute when Liam Walsh (Rockport, WA) would lead the US attack into the offensive circle and send a pass towards goal that was tipped by Moritz Runzi (Boston, MA) and finally shot home into the goal by Michiel Dijxhoorn (Tampa, FL).  The US attack continued for the remainder of the period with many scoring opportunities but as the half time horn sounded, the teams found themselves tied at one goal apiece.

“To us, it just felt like a matter of time before we would score.  We had plenty of chances in the [first] half and we knew if we stayed calm and kept playing how we were playing the goals would be there,” Kevin Barber commented post-game.

The beginning of the second half showed a similar sloppiness to the game’s beginning as the US struggled to maintain their composure behind turnovers and mounting frustration.  But Will Holt (Camarillo, CA) would alleviate that frustration when he scored back-to-back field goals in the 43rd and 44th minutes.  Taking advantage of Austria’s own ball possession issues on back to back plays, the US front field of Runzi and Dijxhoorn, assisted by Pat Harris (Moorpark, CA) from the midfield, would use precision passing to find Holt as he stood ready for the pass deflections, resulting in two game-changing goals.

The goal scoring would continue in the 53rd minute when Jon Ginolfi (Moorpark, CA) sent home a shot on a penalty corner rebound to increase the lead to 4-1 for the Americans.  Though the Austrians would respond with a well-executed pass into the middle and deflection goal of their own in the 63rd minute, Pat Harris would seal the victory with a penalty corner goal in the 67th minute.

Walking away with a 5-2 victory puts the United States in seventh place for the Champions Challenge II tournament.

USFHA media release

Successful build-up for the Black Sticks Men ahead of the London Cup

First half goals from Phil Burrows, Blair Hilton and Shea McAleese gave the Black Sticks Men a 3-2 victory and the team’s second successive win over the Great Britain Unicorns in another practice match at the University of Westminster Sports Grounds, in Chiswick, London on Sunday 10 July 2011.

The victory followed up Saturday’s high-scoring 5-4 win to the Black Sticks. There were good performances from Canterbury defender Bradley Shaw, making a welcome return to form, midfielder and vice captain Shea McAleese, who was involved in all three goals, and the hard-working Otago striker Hugo Inglis.

The Black Sticks was again missing penalty corner striker Andy Hayward through illness (flu) and rested goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex from Sunday’s match against the Great Britain Unicorns, a team comprised of mostly potential England international players.

It was a much better start for the Black Sticks team that was guilty of inconsistent play in the practice game the previous day. The Black Sticks started at a furious pace and put the Unicorns under considerable pressure in the opening ten minutes with Inglis and McAleese both going close with half-chances before the Black Sticks took the lead in the 14th minute. Captain Phil Burrows was the inspiration for the goal showing energy and enthusiasm to create a goal-scoring opportunity, exchanging passes with Simon Child, McAleese and then bursting into the second to force Stephen Jenness’ cross into the goal.

Ten minutes later, the Black Sticks added their second when McAleese won possession in the Unicorn’s half with a great reverse stick tackle. McAleese moved the ball on to Inglis who produced an outstanding swivel and pass to release Jenness along the baseline. Jenness’ clever pass was forced over the line by his Wellington team-mate Blair Hilton.

The success continued four minutes later when McAleese stepped up at New Zealand’s second penalty corner to flick the ball low into the corner and put the Black Sticks 3-0 ahead. It was McAleese’s second goal in successive matches for the Black Sticks and a fitting reward for a hard-working performance.

The half-time interval couldn’t come sooner for the Great Britain Unicorns who had been outplayed in the opening thirty-five minutes but the Black Sticks took their foot off the accelerator in the second half and allowed the spirited Unicorns team back into the game and the Unicorns kept working hard. Hesitant defending gave the Unicorns two half chances which David Beckett gratefully accepted and suddenly the Black Sticks commanding lead had been reduced to only a one-goal advantage. It gave the Black Sticks a tense last ten minutes but they held on for another encouraging success.

“We are building well for the London Cup and I am pleased with the development of our structures and tactics as we head into next week’s London Cup,” says Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod. “I am looking forward to our first match against Korea on Tuesday.”

Black Sticks used the two practice matches as an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming London Cup, a four nations tournament also involving England, Korea and Belgium being played at the University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick, London.

The Black Sticks play their opening match at the London Cup with a tough game against Korea on Wednesday 13 July at 12.45am (NZ time). They then play Belgium on Thursday 14 July at 6.45am (NZ time) and complete their pool matches on Saturday 16 July at 9am (NZ time) against hosts England. The classification matches are on Sunday 17 July with the bronze medal game at 4am (NZ time) and the gold medal match at 6.30am (NZ time

Black Sticks: 3 (Phil Burrows, Blair Hilton, Shea McAleese)
Great Britain Unicorns: 2

Hockey New Zealand Media release

England make changes for The London Cup

Martin & Daly replaced by Alexander and Pearn

England have made two changes to the squad for The London Cup this week in Chiswick.  Surbiton’s Richard Alexander and East Grinstead’s Mark Pearn have been called up to replace Old Loughtonians’ Harry Martin and Surbiton’s Matt Daly, both of whom have been withdrawn on fitness grounds.

Alexander and Pearn both played in the recent Rabo Four Nations Cup in the Netherlands, where England finished second to the Dutch, ahead of Olympic champions Germany and Asian Games champions Pakistan.  34 year old Pearn made his 150th appearance for England in Amstelveen and will be looking forward to celebrating the milestone in front of a home crowd.  Should he find the net twice in matches against Belgium, Korea and New Zealand the double Olympian, who competed for Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, will also be celebrating a half century of goals for England.

150 appearances is also a milestone that captain Barry Middleton will be looking forward to reaching.  With 148 England appearances to his name, the 27 year old from Doncaster should reach number 150 at The London Cup.  If selected for Tuesday’s opener against Belgium and Wednesday evening’s game against Korea it will be against the Koreans that he wins his 150th cap.  And Beeston’s Adam Dixon could also be in line for special recognition, going into the tournament three caps short of 50 for England.

Tickets are still available for all four days of the tournament with spectators able to buy on the gate each day at the University of Westminster sports ground in Chiswick, West London.  Prices start from just £5 for under 18s and £10 for adults.

England get their campaign underway against Belgium at 14:00 on Tuesday afternoon, following New Zealand and Korea, who open the tournament at 11:45 the same day.  The full match schedule is as follows:

THE LONDON CUP MATCH SCHEDULE

Tuesday 12 July (schools day) – gates open 10:30

11:45 Korea v New Zealand
14:00 England v Belgium

Wednesday 13 July (ladies evening) – gates open 16:30

17:45 Belgium v New Zealand
20:00 England v Korea

Thursday 14 July

Rest Day

Friday 15 July – gates open 16:30

17:45 Belgium v Korea
20:00 England v New Zealand

Saturday 16 July (EHB Annual Awards 2011) – gates open 11:00

15:00 Bronze Medal Match
17:30 Gold Medal Match

ENGLAND SQUAD FOR THE LONDON CUP

Name (Club) Position Eng Caps/Eng Goals GB Caps/GB Goals - Age

Richard Alexander (Surbiton) Defender/Midfielder/Forward 119/10 46/5 - 29
Nick Brothers (Reading)  Goalkeeper 28/0 7/0 - 27
Nick Catlin (Loughborough Students) Forward 35/3 7/1 - 22
Jonty Clarke (Reading) Forward 129/27 40/11 - 30
Adam Dixon (Beeston) Defender/Midfielder 47/0 12/0 - 24
James Fair (Cannock) Goalkeeper 76/0 19/0 - 30
Ben Hawes (Wimbledon) Defender 123/25 69/19 - 30
Glenn Kirkham (East Grinstead) Midfielder 135/7 49/4 - 28
Iain Lewers (Loughborough Students) Defender 4/0 7/0 - 27
Iain Mackay (Reading) Midfielder 52/10 12/1 - 26
Richard Mantell (Reading) Defender 104/47 41/19 - 29
Simon Mantell (Reading) Forward 79/35 41/6 - 27
Barry Middleton (c) (Der Club an der Alster) Midfielder/Forward 148/37 80/28 - 27
Rob Moore (Wimbledon) Midfielder/Forward 138/18 63/17 - 30
Mark Pearn (East Grinstead) Forward 150/48 76/21 - 34
Richard Smith (Loughborough Students) Defender 53/6 7/3 - 23
James Tindall (Surbiton) Forward 115/50 46/17 - 28
Alastair Wilson (Beeston) Defender 92/6 42/0 – 27

England Hockey Board Media release

Parkites drop points to Fatima

Nigel Simon

Queen’s Park missed a chance to close to within three points of the lead in the T&T Hockey Board Men’s Championship Division after it was held to a surprise 3-3 draw by lowly Corona Fatima on Saturday night. Fatima took the lead within the first five minutes through Quinn Clarke but Raphael Govia drew the Parkites level only for Ishmael Campbell to score form a short-corner for Fatima to go into the break, 2-1 ahead.

However, the Parkites were denied all three points when Shane Newallo’s deflected effort found the back of the net. With the draw, the Parkites stayed third with 20 points from ten matches, five behind defending champions Petrotrin while Paragon is second with 22 points and Defence Force, fourth with 19 and a match in hand. Also on Saturday night, Harvard Maritime Checkers got goals from Michaella Jones, Charnise Cato and debutant Marianna Mata to blank Notre Dame 3-0 in their Trinity women’s Division clash.

Results

Saturday Championship Men

QPCC 3 (Quinn Clarke, Ishmael Campbell, Shane Newallo) vs Fatima 3 (Jerry Bell 2, Raphael Govia)

Trinity Women

Checkers 3 (Michaella Jones, Charnise Cato, Marianna Mata) vs Notre Dame 0

Yesterday

Trinity Men

Malvern 2 (Albert Marcano 2) vs Paradise 1 (Shaundel Felxi).

Under-19 Boys

Malvern 4 (Tariq Marcano 2, Teague Marcano, Christian Emmanuel) vs Paradise 0

Current Standings Women’s Championship

Teams P W D L F A Pts

Malvern 9 8 1 0 29 6 25
Magnolias 10 7 1 2 41 14 22
Checkers 10 4 3 3 12 14 15
Paragon 9 4 2 3 17 20 14
N/Dame 10 3 4 3 28 13 13
Ventures 11 3 1 7 19 33 10
Petrotrin 11 0 0 11 3 50 0

Men’s Championship

Petrotrin 10 8 1 1 35 13 25
Paragon 10 7 1 2 39 23 22
QPCC 10 6 2 2 40 16 20
D/Force 9 6 1 2 18 13 19
N/Dame 11 5 0 6 27 24 15
Malvern 10 3 0 7 16 27 9
Fatima 11 2 1 8 16 39 5
Paradise 11 1 1 9 11 47 4

The Trinidad Guardian

High-level tourney awaits Mirnawan’s boys

By S. RAMAGURU

PETALING JAYA: The Project 2013 hockey team will get to play in a high level six-nations tournament in November.

The inaugural Sultan of Johor Cup has been confirmed for Nov 5-12 and will be held at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Baru.

Five top junior teams will join Malaysia in the fray. They are Australia, Pakistan, India, South Korea and New Zealand.

The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary Maninderjit Singh said yesterday that the final cast for the tournament has been confirmed and it will be a six-nations affair for a start.

“This is the inaugural meet and we hope to hold it annually. The tournament will be run along the same lines as the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and we will only invite the best for the meet. We also expect the teams to bring their best players. The tournament will be played on a round-robin format with the top two teams meeting in the final.

“All the five teams have already confirmed their participation,” said Maninderjit.

The Project 2013 team are preparing for the 2013 Junior World Cup. But their most important assignment next year is the Junior Asia Cup which will act as the qualifiers for the Junior World Cup.

The MHF are hoping to host the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca around June next year. The number of berths for Asia in the Junior World Cup will be set by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) later this year.

The Junior World Cup in 2013 will be hosted by India and will be played in New Delhi at the same venue where the 2010 senior World Cup was held.

Project 2013 team manager Mirnawan Nawawi said that they were happy that the tournament hadbeen confirmed and they would get more quality matches in their preparations.

But the main worry for the team is whether they will get to use their full complement of players. They have four players with the senior team who are preparing for the Champions Challenge I which will be held later the same month.

“We would like to have our best players for the six-nations meet. That way we can really see where we stand and ensure the team get to rectify their weaknesses before the Junior Asia Cup. But at the moment, we have no information on the players in the senior team.

“We do know that there will be national team training during the period. We hope to discuss the matter with the relevant parties and get some undertaking on the release of the senior players,” he said.

The Project 2013 team are presently on a tour to Europe where they will play the junior teams from Germany, Holland and England.

The Star of Malaysia

Project 2013 team give improved display in Euro tour

PETALING JAYA: The Project 2013 hockey team put up an improved display in the second match of their European tour when they drew 1-1 with the German national juniors at the Mannheim Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

The two teams played on Friday with the Germans winning 6-3.

In the second match on Saturday, Malaysia gave away an early goal and had to endure a tough time before coming up with an equaliser very late in the match to salvage a draw.

The Germans took the lead in the third minute through Jan Phillip Fisher’s field goal.

Malaysia then put up the shutters and kept the Germans at bay. Goalkeeper Mohamed Hafzul Faiz had a good game, saving five five penalty corner attempts.

Malaysia’s goal was scored in the 67th minute when Mohamed Nor Faeez Ibrahim flicked home a penalty-corner attempt. The Project team had four penalty corners in the match.

Team manager Mirnawan Nawawi said that there was vast improvement in the performance of the team and it was pleasing to see the defence withstand the pressure applied by the Germans.

“It was a better performance compared to the match on Friday, especially the display of goalkeeper Mohd Hazrul Faiz. His timing during the penalty corner set piece moves were important as we stopped all five of their attempts.

“The defence marshalled by skipper Mohd Nor Faeez and Mohd Zulhairi Hashim was also crucial as they cut off the German moves well before they had a chance to have a go at us in the D,” he said.

Another new player Mohamed Haziq Samsul, who was called up after the recent Under-18 Asia Cup in Singapore, also came in for praise from the manager.

“He played very well in both the matches thus far and we are happy with his contributions. I am sure he will be an asset if he maintains the form he has shown in the matches played,” he said.

Yesterday was a rest day for the team and they play their third match against the Germans today. After that, the team will go to Holland for two matches and England (four games) before wrapping up their tour on July 20.

Mirnawan said that the team had used the rest day to work on their penalty corners.

“We used the day off to work on our penalty corners. So far we have only scored once from the seven that we had earned in the two matches. Our finishing up front also needs more work. We actually had a lot of chances to get the goals but could not hit the target.

“The good thing is that we are getting quality matches to learn from and the players will benefit from it,” said Mirnawan.

The Star of Malaysia

Hat-trick of titles for Indian Overseas Bank

Special Correspondent


CHAMPIONS: The IOB team, which won the Syed Ahmed Memorial hockey tournament in Chennai on Sunday. Photo: M. Vedhan, The Hindu

Two penalty corner strikes, each as immaculate as the other, by Gagandeep Singh, enabled Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) hit the hat-trick in the Syed Ahmed Memorial hockey tournament, here on Sunday.

IOB won 2-1 against Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and claimed a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 before a large crowd at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. ICF was richer by Rs. 30,000.

Judged within the parameters of quality, the final was a low-key affair. Actually, it was ICF that produced a better blend of harmony and proficiency, although a handful of chances were frittered away in the final minutes.

The playmaker for ICF was the wing- half, Ramesh Babu, who not only worked like a beaver, but served some heady centres. The ICF forwards were guilty of flunking a few.

The IOB defenders were vulnerable against pressure. But goalkeeper Shan rose to the occasion whenever demanded. A few of his saves were eye catching. Even in the early minutes, he brought off a splendid save from Yuvaraj, who shot after taking a cross from Ramesh Babu.

Inside forward Aiyppan also had his moments although he ended without a goal in his name. But his pleasing passing bout with Aswin that brought the equaliser was the defining moment for ICF in the duel.

For no palpable reason, IOB looked laborious in its work outs. True, there were a few sinuous runs by Adam Sinclair and Mudappa, but the sallies were devoid of the sharpness required to overcome the rival defenders.

Gagandeep Singh hoisted the lead early with a thundering penalty corner hit and followed it with another equally impressive effort, a minute before the first-half. IOB had four penalty corners against the two, both in the second-half, by ICF. A fierce shot by Ashok Kumar was saved neatly by Shan and late in the second-half, another effort by Satish Kumar was also thwarted. But what ICF cannot forget was the miss by Aswin minutes before the final whistle after Aiyappan had provided an excellent cross.

Mr. G.R. Gandhi, General Manager, IOB, presided and gave away the prizes. Earlier, the teams were presented to Olympian Balwinder Singh and international Abul Aziz. Reehan Ahmed, Organising Secretary, welcomed the gathering.

The Hindu

Exercise physiologist John set to arrive today

After almost a week-long delay, Indian hockey team exercise physiologist David John will touch base here on Monday morning to join the probables who have been part of the national camp since July 1.

“His visa issues have been sorted out,” said coach Michael Nobbs during a training session at MEG on Sunday. “He will reach here on Monday morning and from Tuesday, we will start off with the job of analysing how fit the players are.”

“I’ve been waiting for him for a while now and his arrival should iron out many things. Hockey India selectors are also scheduled to visit SAI this week and conduct selection trials, following which the number of probables will be trimmed to 48. This will help us spend more time with the players.”

Meanwhile, heeding Nobbs’ request on educating the players at the camp on the perils of drug usage, SAI will conduct a seminar at its campus on Monday. “It’s really nice that the players will be given a talk on dope tomorrow.

“As I had said the other day, with the entire nation focussing on the doping menace, this is the right time to address the issue,” added the Australian.

Deccan Herald