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News for 03 January 2018

All the news for Wednesday 3 January 2018


Tenaga pin hopes on reserve keeper Hairi in MHL challenge

By Aftar Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Na­sio­nal goalkeeper Mohd Hairi Abdul Rahman has been pushed into a cauldron in the absence of experienced goalkeeper S. Kumar in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

And the 27-year-old reserve keeper in the national team is bracing for a tough time trying to fill his senior’s shoes.

Kumar tested positive for sibutra­mine in the Asia Cup hockey tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in October and is serving a provisional two-year ban.

The 38-year-old Kumar has waived the B sample and will attend a hearing this month to clear his name.

Johorean Hairi admitted it would be tough for him to play as well as Kumar in the MHL.

“Kumar is a legend. He has made many brilliant saves in his career in domestic and international matches,” said Hairi, who has been playing in the MHL since 2011.

“Kumar is considered as one of the world’s best keepers. He has advised me to stay focused and give my best.”

Hairi faces his first test against Maybank in the first-round knockout match of the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.

“I’ll give 100% and pray that Tenaga beat the Tigers to reach the quarter-finals,” he said.

“The MHL is also an important assignment for me as it’ll be part of the selection process for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (in Ipoh from March 2-10).”

Hairi played for Sapura for five years from 2011 to 2016 but moved to TNB Thunderbolt last year after Sapura did not enter a team for the MHL.

Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini brought in Hairi from TNB Thunderbolt to replace Kumar.

Hairi has 14 international caps and he is among 24 national players in the Podium Programme.

Last year, Tenaga – despite having Kumar – were knocked out 3-2 by Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club in the first round of the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.

A total of 15 teams from the Premier Division and Division One will feature in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup. Defending champions Terengganu received a bye in the first round.



The Star of Malaysia



Women's hockey team coach Harendra Singh has his priorities in place for 2018


Indian women's hockey team - File Photo, AFP

Women hockey team's chief coach Harendra Singh has set his sights on achieving positive results against higher ranked sides as India embark on an "important" 2018 season.

After a short two-week break, 33 women players will report for the national camp starting in Bengaluru's Sports Authority of India campus on Wednesday.

"It is an extremely important year for us. It was a satisfying 2017 where we ended the year with a career high world ranking of 10, but the team has self-belief of achieving bigger goals. The girls know they are capable of doing well against higher ranked teams and getting good results against these teams will be one of our top priorities going into a new season. It is important to play these major tournaments in 2018 with the fittest team," said Harendra.

With important tournaments like Commonwealth Games and Asian Games lined up, 2018 is extremely crucial for Indian hockey. The 21-day camp that concludes on January 24 will lay the foundation for a crucial year for the women.

The Indian girls will take part in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, fifth women's Asians Champions Trophy in Korea in May where they will defend their title followed by an exposure tour to Spain in June ahead of the women's World Cup in London starting in July and the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in August which is also an Olympic Qualifying event.

In their previous camp, the team's focus was on improving their strength and fitness, agility and speed apart from skill-driven training.

"It was a gruelling camp and apart from these aspects we also worked on a lot on mental conditioning. In this camp too we will continue with our fitness program along with tactical training," the coach said.
Core Group

Goalkeepers: Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Swati

Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, P Sushila Chanu, Sunita Lakra, Gurjit Kaur, Hnialum Lal Ruat Feli, Navdeep Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Neelu Dadiya

Midfielders: Namita Toppo, Nikki Pradhan, Deepika, Karishma Yadav, Renuka Yadav, Navjot Kaur, Monika, Lilima Minz, Neha Goyal, Udita, M Lily Chanu, Nilanjali Rai

Forwards: Rani, Vandana Katariya, Preeti Dubey, Reena Khokhar, Anupa Barla, Sonika, Lalremsiami, Poonam Rani, Navneet Kaur, Navpreet Kaur

Daily News & Analysis



Indian Hockey  in 2017: Nutshell

By B.G.Joshi (Sehore-Bhopal,India)

Category

Men

Women

Boys

Girls

Played

35

29

13

7

Won

18

13

6

1

Drawn

5

5

1

1

Lost

12

11

6

5

Goals For

92

66

46

5

Goals  Against

57

58

24

18

Top Scorers

Harmanpreet

Gurjit Kaur

Dilpreet

Preeti

Goals Scored

21

17

9

2

 Fieldhockey.com



Australian Indoor Hockey Festival 2018 - Open Championships Preview

Alexie Beovich



The Australian Indoor Hockey Festival has arrived in sunny Goulburn, New South Wales.

The tournament begins with the Open Men’s and Open Women’s competitions which will both see representatives from Australia’s national teams competing on the floor.

The 2018 Open Indoor National Championship will run January 4-7 with the remainder of the tournament running through to January 25.

National men’s team members including Troy Sutherland (ACT), Alexander McKay (NSW) and Heath Ogilvie (NSW) will be using the tournament as a chance to show off their skills before they head off the 2018 World Cup in February.

Goulburn gun and Australian development team player, Jake Staines, is sure to be a hit with the local fans as he looks to impress in his home town.

The national women’s squad will have strong representation throughout the tournament with almost the entire World Cup team competing in Goulburn.

NSW-based national team players Tamsin Bunt, Lisa Farrell and Kyah Gray are sure to impress in this final tournament before the upcoming World Cup in Germany.

NSW, ACT and QLD will be vying for the men’s title whilst teams from NSW, QLD, ACT, TAS and WA will compete for the women’s title.

It’s hard to look past NSW as favourites in the men’s and women’s competitions after the home state swept both of the 2017 Open competitions.

You can follow the games live at https://hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com or keep up to date by following Hockey Australia on Twitter.

For more information including the interactive tournament event program head here.

Hockey Australia media release



Clemons Nominated For 40Under40 Awards

Ben Somerford



Kookaburras goalkeeper and all-round high achiever Tristan Clemons has been nominated in the esteemed 40under40 Awards.

The awards, established by BUSINESSNEWS in 200, are designed to recognise and celebrate Western Australia’s 40 leading business entrepreneurs under the age of 40.

Clemons has been nominated for his research work on novel treatments for cancer and burn injuries, his work in the community with the Kookaburras and his small business Get Flapped which sells flap hats.

The Bunbury-born 30-year-old is a key member of the BioNano research team at the University of Western Australia’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Clemons, who is also a marriage celebrant, is currently working on ways to reduce side-effects from chemo-therapeutics for cancer patients and improving drug delivery.

He has previously won numerous high profile awards including WA Student Scientist of the Year in the Premier’s Science Awards (2013) and the WA Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2014).

Voting for the Awards closes on Friday 12 January. Make sure you cast your vote for Clemons in the People's Choice category via this link

Hockey Australia media release



Canadian Women’s Team receives 2017 Fuelling Women Champions Grant



Great leaders jump at opportunities to bring their team closer together. For Women’s National Team captain Kate Wright, amidst an up-and-down season, an opportunity to fundraise was a way to unite more than just the team.

“We saw fundraising as an opportunity to bond with each other and engage the community and engage the alumni,” Wright said. “We talk to parents in the community and they see enormous value in continuing the program, and continuing the legacy of the Women’s National Team.”

In the fall of 2017, the Women’s National Team was a recipient of the Fuelling Women Champions Grant. The Champions Fund was created by Dairy Farmers of Canada to empower the female athletic community and to provide a resource that can help change the game for Canada’s young girls and women athletes.

Among the 30 inspiring female athletes, teams, and organizations was Field Hockey Canada’s own Women’s National Team. Wright said it was amazing to receive the grant and inspires her and her teammates to further the position of the Women’s National Team in the community.

“It’s important to give back to the community that gave so much to us as we grew up. Showing young athletes that the pathway to the national team is attainable but it’s a challenge,” Wright said. “Our team is made up of young women of all ages, from different provinces and unique backgrounds. We have a team culture that centers around high performance and we push each other everyday in order to achieve our goals. With this grant, we hope to inspire female athletes in our communities and all over Canada to be active and see how great it is to be part of a team.”

"With this grant, we hope to inspire female athletes in our communities and all over Canada to be active and see how great it is to be part of a team.” - Kate Wright

View the entire list of recipients here: https://www.womenchampions.ca/champions-fund/recipients



Field Hockey Canada media release



PHF, POF sign MoU for hockey revival



Islamabad - Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in relation to laying of new astroturf at the Hockey Ground POF Sports Complex Wah Cantt through PSDP.

PHF president Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar and POF Board chairman Lt Gen Umar Farooq Durrani, HI (M), signed MoU regarding establishment of National Level Hockey Academy and laying of astroturf at POF Hockey Ground Wah Cantt in order to revive the national game.

The officials of PHF and POF will jointly be responsible for maintenance of astroturf as per international standard while all the operational work regarding laying astroturf and establishing an academy will be done by PHF . However, POF will assist the federation experts in this regard. PHF will recommend young and talented hockey players along with coaches and officials for induction and POF will provide employment to the PHF recommended hockey players and coaches on the available vacancies after completion of all formalities.

All PHF-recommended players, coaches and officials will be required to follow the training program,e as approved by POF Sports Board while the coaching programmes will be started in schools and local clubs through PHF by engaging national and international coaches on their roll free of cost.

The international players will be invited by PHF to participate in training camps, which will certainly raise the standard of POF players. The PHF will hold at least four national-level tournaments every year at POF Wah. POF will hold local, departmental and inter-departmental tournaments at the venue. POF is also bound to spare the venue as and when required by PHF for holding of national tournaments and training camps, POF Wah will spare the enrolled players for trials, tournaments, training camps and matches as requested by the PHF .

POF hockey ground is one of the designated grounds of PHF , where a number of national, international events/camps were held from 1991 to 2004 on astroturf. The astroturf was laid down way back in 1991 but has outlived its usefulness since 2004, Wah and surrounding areas have a huge talent in the game of hockey even they are playing on muddy/grassy grounds but gradual downfall has still been observed due to non-availability of Astroturf, the turf had played a vital role in promotion of hockey , grooming of talent and proper nourishment of the players in the region.

The Nation

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