News for 6 March 2009
Friday, 06 March 2009 05:16 | 
| 
All the news for Friday 6 March 2009
EH Women’s Cup and Trophy Semi Final Draws Made
Following Sunday's England Hockey Women’s Cup and Trophy Quarter Finals, the draw has been made for the last four of each competition.
Bowdon Hightown kept up their unbeaten run this season thanks to a 6-3 victory at Sutton Coldfield. The game was a tight affair at the halfway stage with the visitors only leading by the odd goal but two second half goals from Fay Nash took the game away from the midlands team. Bowdon Hightown, who clinched the league title just a day before their Quarter Final victory will now face Barnes Hounslow Ealing who avoided an upset by comfortably overcoming non-Slazenger EHL side Cambridge City.
The other Semi Final will feature two teams who are top and unbeaten in their league as Reading from the Slazenger EHL Conference East host University of Birmingham from the Slazenger EHL Conference West. The students came from two goals down to defeat Clifton 4-3, adding them to their Slazenger Premier League victims this season. Reading's victory was a little more comfortable as they overcame non-Slazenger EHL side Epsom to end their fantastic cup run.
Chichester Priory Park scored six goals for the second game running in the Women's Trophy as they recorded a comfortable 6-3 victory away at Boots thanks to a Claire Greenway hat-trick. They have been rewarded with a home tie against North Notts, whose victory against Spencer was much closer. North Notts trailed by a goal at the break but a spirited second half comeback which included a golden goal from Amy Butler ensured that they made it to the last four.
Falmouth's Vicky Ruston scored a hat-trick to lead her team to a 4-2 victory in what was only their second match in the competition. Falmouth looked well in control of the match at 3-0 but two goals in ten minutes from Leek looked like they might get back into the match. However, a late goal made sure of the win for the West Country side. Falmouth will now travel to Broxbourne who defeated Richmond 4-3 to reach the last four. Despite an early set back, Broxbourne took the match away from Richmond and will now hope for a Semi Final victory to set up a short trip to Old Loughtonians HC for the final.
Full details of the Semi Final Draws can be seen below.
Women’s Cup Semi Final Draw
Bowdon Hightown v Barnes Hounslow Ealing
Reading v University of Birmingham
Women’s Trophy Semi Final Draw
Broxbourne v Falmouth
Chichester Priory Park v North Notts
Ties in both competitions will be played on Sunday 5th April.
England Hockey Media release
Indoor Final-4 in Denmark
The coming saturday the final-4 will be played in Denmark. The venue is Lyngbyhallen so the defending champions from Orient Lyngby will defend the title on homeground. If the danish champions succeed in defending the title it will be the ninth championship in row.
In the mens section Copenhagen meet Sørbymagle in the first semifinal and with one win to each team during the season the semi is a 50-50 match. In the other semifinal Orient Lyngby face Slagelse and with two draws between the two teams during the season this semifinal is also wide open. With other words the spectators can look forward to some very exciting matches between the four best teams in Denmark. Besides winning the danish championship the challenge of competing in next years European Cup in the A-division is something all teams are very excited about. The final will be played at 17.00
In the womens section all eyes are on the team from Slagelse who will be absolutely favourite to defend the title. The big question is whether Copenhagen or Gentofte can challenge the strong team from Slagelse and whether the many foreign players of Copenhagen and Gentofte can compete on the Indoor scene. Slagelse meet Odin while Copenhagen face Gentofte in the semifinal.
For information check out the official homepage www.halhockey.dk
Danish Hockey Union media release
Pakistan Juniors leave for Malaysia
Lahore, March 05: Pakistan Junior Hockey Team leaves to Malaysia to taking part in the four nation junior hockey tournament from 11th to 15th March at Johor Bahru. Pakistan team will play two test matches against Malaysia on 7th and 8th March. Hosts Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Singapore are the participating teams.
President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia and Secretary Muhammad Asif Bajwa met the team at National Hockey Stadium before departure. On this occasion Qasim Zia said that junior team tours before junior world cup is the part of preparations of world cup in June. The player’s fitness level is very good and hopefully the team will win these tournaments and in future we will get good results from these players.
According to the schedule on 11th March Pakistan will face Singapore and India will face Malaysia. On 12th March India will face Singapore and Pakistan will play against Malaysia. On 13th March Pakistan will face India and Malaysia will play against Singapore. After one day rest the position matches will be played on 15th March.
The Pakistan junior team is as under:-
Goal Keepers: Imran Shah, Imran Butt.
Full Backs: Muhammad Atiq (Vice Captain), Khalid Bhatti, Wasif Siddiqui.
Half Backs: Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Arshad, Amir Shahzad, Mohsin Bilal, Usman Tariq.
Forwards: Muhammad Yasir, Muhammad Taufeeq, Haseem Khan (Captain), Muhammad Zubair, Shahbaz, Rizwan, Omer Bhutta, Inayat Ullah, Adeel Hussain.
Team Officials: Khawaja Muhammad Junaid (Head Coach), Ahmad Alam (Coach), Danish Kaleem (Coach), Dr. Asad Abbas Shah (Doctor).
Pakistan Hockey Federation media release
Pak colts off to Malaysia
From our corrrespondent
LAHORE: The Pakistan Junior hockey team is leaving for Malaysia to take part in the four-nation junior hockey tournament from March 11 to 15 at Johor Bahru. The Pakistan team will also play two Test matches against Malaysia on March 7 and 8.
Hosts Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Singapore are the participating teams in the tournament. According to the schedule, on March 11 Pakistan will face Singapore and India will play against Malaysia. On March 12, India will face Singapore and Pakistan will play against Malaysia.
On March 13, Pakistan will face India and Malaysia will play against Singapore.
Squad: Goalkeepers Imran Shah, Imran Butt. Full Backs Muhammad Atiq (vice-captain), Khalid Bhatti, Wasif Siddiqui. Half Backs Muhammad Irfan, M Arshad, Amir Shahzad, Mohsin Bilal, Usman Tariq. Forwards Muhammad Yasir, Muhammad Taufeeq, Haseem Khan (captain), Muhammad Zubair, Shahbaz, Rizwan, Omer Bhutta, Inayat Ullah, Adeel Hussain.
The News International
Olak out to keep unbeaten record
By Jugjet Singh
OLD La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) face a severe test of character in Division Two of the Malaysia Hockey League this weekend.
Olak have played two matches and won both, and have a rain-disrupted match in hand against Batu Pahat. Today, Olak square off against Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) and then take on table toppers Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) on Sunday.
"We have maximum points, and have played one match less than the other teams, so we need to keep a clean record against PJCC, before trying our best against favourites BPSS," said Olak team manager Joseph de Silva.
Olak are the only team who have not missed a single season since the Junior Hockey League was incepted in 1995, and had their glory days.
The Klang team have the distinction of winning the League in 1997, 1998 and 1999 while their Overall title wins came in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
"We have assembled a good side this season, and our aim is to play in the knockout stages. So, we are on the right track."
De Silva had special words for his forwards Arshad Repikh Ali, Hashim Noor, Azraie Azizan and Abdullah Sani.
"Our four forwards have good understanding of each other, and former Anderson player Arshad could make the difference this weekend."
Today, the seniors of both sports schools square off against their juniors with the outcome quite predictable. The BPSS-BPSS Juniors and BJSS-BJSS Juniors matches could see plenty of goals scored as both the senior teams may need the numbers at the end of the MSL fixtures to claim the title.
TODAY -- Division Two: BJSS Juniors v BJSS (Tun Razak Stadium, 6pm), Petaling Jaya CC v OLAK (Tun Razak, 8pm), Kijang Mas v Tenaga (Terengganu, 5pm), BPSS Juniors v BPSS ((Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Setapak High v Malacca (KLHA Stadium, 6pm), Batu Pahat v Anderson (batu Pahat, 5pm).
Division Three: Perlis v Temerloh (Kangar, 5pm), Penang v English College (USM Stadium, 5pm), Datuk Taha v Matri (Tampin, 5pm), Kuala Selangor v Nur Insafi (Pandamaran Stadium, 5pm).
New Straits Times
BJSS coach rues poor conversion rate from his flickers
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) coach S. Prakash wants to see a better penalty conversion rate from his team in Division Two (Under-19) of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHF).
Prakash said yesterday that the two penalty corner flickers in the team, Hairul Nizam and Dangerous Lee, had not been up to the mark, having made only two and one conversion respectively from a total of 12 attempts in three matches thus far.
“This is not a good conversion rate for a team who have the best junior players,” he said. “We cannot afford to waste chances if we want to win the Division Two title. I hope that Hairul and Dangerous will make the chances count in the remaining seven matches.”
BJSS were the double champions in the national junior league last year and they have kept up their winning run this season with full points from three matches.
Their next match is against BJSS Juniors at the Tun Razak Stadium in Jalan Duta here today. And they will play against Kelantan Kijang Mas at the Kuala Terengganu Stadium on Sunday.
“We should get full points against our junior side. But I am worried over the match against Kijang Mas, who play a very physical game,” said Prakash.
“We are playing the Kelantan side in Kuala Terengganu because their home turf is worn out. We are also not used to playing on the Kuala Terengganu pitch and this could affect our game. I have told my players to tread with caution.”
BJSS are in second place in the standings — one point behind Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) but they have one match in hand.
The Star of Malaysia
The Fate Of Indian Hockey
By Akanksha Tiwari
1920’s and 1960’s: India bags eight gold, one silver, two bronze medals in eighteen successive appearances in the Olympics. Six of the eight gold medals came in consecutive appearances. 2008: India fails to even qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
This, in short, is the account of the downfall of Indian Hockey which is upsetting not only for hockey enthusiasts in India, but, for sports fans all over the world. Is it not disgraceful that a country with a population of over a billion fails to qualify for its national sport?
There is no dearth of talent. What we require is a functional and active body at the centre that can exploit and capitalize on this talent. There is not even a proper domestic league for the players to compete. Tournaments are needed at the school-level, district-level and state-level to generate and inculcate interest in this sport amongst the children and youth.
And as far as the Indian Hockey Federation is concerned, there is not much to say. The very fact that it was dissolved a year ago and an Ad-Hoc committee is in its place speaks volumes of their responsibility in the decline of Indian Hockey. At a time when Indian hockey was already drawing flak for its dismal performance, all that could be heard was the involvement of their secretary in a bribe scandal.
The role of the media in this regard has not been very constructive either. All their efforts seem to be drawn towards concentrating on promotion, publicity and coverage of cricket. When the Indian cricket team won the Twenty20 tournament, they were awarded lavish bungalows, cash prizes and treated like heroes. But does anyone even remember the amount of coverage that was given to the hockey team at that time which one the Asia cup? On the other hand, the media is quick to call our national sport a shame. Cricket seems to be the only sport that everyone follows.
The hockey federation in India should gain knowledge of marketing their sport from the BCCI who have capitalized on the Twenty20 auctions and even the ‘chak de’ theme. (Ironically, every sport seems to have benefitted from it except for hockey on which it was actually based)
We need not blame the hockey players for not performing. What incentives do they get for performing? There are instances where players have played entire tournaments in just two sets of shorts and shirts. At a time, when, cricketers are making crores and staying in five star hotels, hockey players have to do with staying in the premises of the national stadiums and putting up with a meager $30 for their expenses. With such embarrassing conditions, I do not blame them if they quit the sport in search of a more stable livelihood.
A lot can and needs to be done in terms of infrastructure as well-for instance, floodlight hockey can be introduced and we could definitely do with a few more stadiums and improvements in the conditions of the present ones.
In addition, we can take inspiration from countries like Australia. They are numero uno in cricket but that has not stifled the growth of other sports in the country. Let us not just blame the centre for the state of Indian Hockey. It is high time we woke up and made a collective effort to revive our national sport. It might take time but let us not give up on it. Chak De.
What the Papers Say Today - Stick2Hockey.com
EH Women’s Cup and Trophy Semi Final Draws Made
Following Sunday's England Hockey Women’s Cup and Trophy Quarter Finals, the draw has been made for the last four of each competition.
Bowdon Hightown kept up their unbeaten run this season thanks to a 6-3 victory at Sutton Coldfield. The game was a tight affair at the halfway stage with the visitors only leading by the odd goal but two second half goals from Fay Nash took the game away from the midlands team. Bowdon Hightown, who clinched the league title just a day before their Quarter Final victory will now face Barnes Hounslow Ealing who avoided an upset by comfortably overcoming non-Slazenger EHL side Cambridge City.
The other Semi Final will feature two teams who are top and unbeaten in their league as Reading from the Slazenger EHL Conference East host University of Birmingham from the Slazenger EHL Conference West. The students came from two goals down to defeat Clifton 4-3, adding them to their Slazenger Premier League victims this season. Reading's victory was a little more comfortable as they overcame non-Slazenger EHL side Epsom to end their fantastic cup run.
Chichester Priory Park scored six goals for the second game running in the Women's Trophy as they recorded a comfortable 6-3 victory away at Boots thanks to a Claire Greenway hat-trick. They have been rewarded with a home tie against North Notts, whose victory against Spencer was much closer. North Notts trailed by a goal at the break but a spirited second half comeback which included a golden goal from Amy Butler ensured that they made it to the last four.
Falmouth's Vicky Ruston scored a hat-trick to lead her team to a 4-2 victory in what was only their second match in the competition. Falmouth looked well in control of the match at 3-0 but two goals in ten minutes from Leek looked like they might get back into the match. However, a late goal made sure of the win for the West Country side. Falmouth will now travel to Broxbourne who defeated Richmond 4-3 to reach the last four. Despite an early set back, Broxbourne took the match away from Richmond and will now hope for a Semi Final victory to set up a short trip to Old Loughtonians HC for the final.
Full details of the Semi Final Draws can be seen below.
Women’s Cup Semi Final Draw
Bowdon Hightown v Barnes Hounslow Ealing
Reading v University of Birmingham
Women’s Trophy Semi Final Draw
Broxbourne v Falmouth
Chichester Priory Park v North Notts
Ties in both competitions will be played on Sunday 5th April.
England Hockey Media release
Indoor Final-4 in Denmark
The coming saturday the final-4 will be played in Denmark. The venue is Lyngbyhallen so the defending champions from Orient Lyngby will defend the title on homeground. If the danish champions succeed in defending the title it will be the ninth championship in row.
In the mens section Copenhagen meet Sørbymagle in the first semifinal and with one win to each team during the season the semi is a 50-50 match. In the other semifinal Orient Lyngby face Slagelse and with two draws between the two teams during the season this semifinal is also wide open. With other words the spectators can look forward to some very exciting matches between the four best teams in Denmark. Besides winning the danish championship the challenge of competing in next years European Cup in the A-division is something all teams are very excited about. The final will be played at 17.00
In the womens section all eyes are on the team from Slagelse who will be absolutely favourite to defend the title. The big question is whether Copenhagen or Gentofte can challenge the strong team from Slagelse and whether the many foreign players of Copenhagen and Gentofte can compete on the Indoor scene. Slagelse meet Odin while Copenhagen face Gentofte in the semifinal.
For information check out the official homepage www.halhockey.dk
Danish Hockey Union media release
Pakistan Juniors leave for Malaysia
Lahore, March 05: Pakistan Junior Hockey Team leaves to Malaysia to taking part in the four nation junior hockey tournament from 11th to 15th March at Johor Bahru. Pakistan team will play two test matches against Malaysia on 7th and 8th March. Hosts Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Singapore are the participating teams.
President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia and Secretary Muhammad Asif Bajwa met the team at National Hockey Stadium before departure. On this occasion Qasim Zia said that junior team tours before junior world cup is the part of preparations of world cup in June. The player’s fitness level is very good and hopefully the team will win these tournaments and in future we will get good results from these players.
According to the schedule on 11th March Pakistan will face Singapore and India will face Malaysia. On 12th March India will face Singapore and Pakistan will play against Malaysia. On 13th March Pakistan will face India and Malaysia will play against Singapore. After one day rest the position matches will be played on 15th March.
The Pakistan junior team is as under:-
Goal Keepers: Imran Shah, Imran Butt.
Full Backs: Muhammad Atiq (Vice Captain), Khalid Bhatti, Wasif Siddiqui.
Half Backs: Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Arshad, Amir Shahzad, Mohsin Bilal, Usman Tariq.
Forwards: Muhammad Yasir, Muhammad Taufeeq, Haseem Khan (Captain), Muhammad Zubair, Shahbaz, Rizwan, Omer Bhutta, Inayat Ullah, Adeel Hussain.
Team Officials: Khawaja Muhammad Junaid (Head Coach), Ahmad Alam (Coach), Danish Kaleem (Coach), Dr. Asad Abbas Shah (Doctor).
Pakistan Hockey Federation media release
Pak colts off to Malaysia
From our corrrespondent
LAHORE: The Pakistan Junior hockey team is leaving for Malaysia to take part in the four-nation junior hockey tournament from March 11 to 15 at Johor Bahru. The Pakistan team will also play two Test matches against Malaysia on March 7 and 8.
Hosts Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Singapore are the participating teams in the tournament. According to the schedule, on March 11 Pakistan will face Singapore and India will play against Malaysia. On March 12, India will face Singapore and Pakistan will play against Malaysia.
On March 13, Pakistan will face India and Malaysia will play against Singapore.
Squad: Goalkeepers Imran Shah, Imran Butt. Full Backs Muhammad Atiq (vice-captain), Khalid Bhatti, Wasif Siddiqui. Half Backs Muhammad Irfan, M Arshad, Amir Shahzad, Mohsin Bilal, Usman Tariq. Forwards Muhammad Yasir, Muhammad Taufeeq, Haseem Khan (captain), Muhammad Zubair, Shahbaz, Rizwan, Omer Bhutta, Inayat Ullah, Adeel Hussain.
The News International
Olak out to keep unbeaten record
By Jugjet Singh
OLD La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) face a severe test of character in Division Two of the Malaysia Hockey League this weekend.
Olak have played two matches and won both, and have a rain-disrupted match in hand against Batu Pahat. Today, Olak square off against Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) and then take on table toppers Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) on Sunday.
"We have maximum points, and have played one match less than the other teams, so we need to keep a clean record against PJCC, before trying our best against favourites BPSS," said Olak team manager Joseph de Silva.
Olak are the only team who have not missed a single season since the Junior Hockey League was incepted in 1995, and had their glory days.
The Klang team have the distinction of winning the League in 1997, 1998 and 1999 while their Overall title wins came in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
"We have assembled a good side this season, and our aim is to play in the knockout stages. So, we are on the right track."
De Silva had special words for his forwards Arshad Repikh Ali, Hashim Noor, Azraie Azizan and Abdullah Sani.
"Our four forwards have good understanding of each other, and former Anderson player Arshad could make the difference this weekend."
Today, the seniors of both sports schools square off against their juniors with the outcome quite predictable. The BPSS-BPSS Juniors and BJSS-BJSS Juniors matches could see plenty of goals scored as both the senior teams may need the numbers at the end of the MSL fixtures to claim the title.
TODAY -- Division Two: BJSS Juniors v BJSS (Tun Razak Stadium, 6pm), Petaling Jaya CC v OLAK (Tun Razak, 8pm), Kijang Mas v Tenaga (Terengganu, 5pm), BPSS Juniors v BPSS ((Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Setapak High v Malacca (KLHA Stadium, 6pm), Batu Pahat v Anderson (batu Pahat, 5pm).
Division Three: Perlis v Temerloh (Kangar, 5pm), Penang v English College (USM Stadium, 5pm), Datuk Taha v Matri (Tampin, 5pm), Kuala Selangor v Nur Insafi (Pandamaran Stadium, 5pm).
New Straits Times
BJSS coach rues poor conversion rate from his flickers
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) coach S. Prakash wants to see a better penalty conversion rate from his team in Division Two (Under-19) of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHF).
Prakash said yesterday that the two penalty corner flickers in the team, Hairul Nizam and Dangerous Lee, had not been up to the mark, having made only two and one conversion respectively from a total of 12 attempts in three matches thus far.
“This is not a good conversion rate for a team who have the best junior players,” he said. “We cannot afford to waste chances if we want to win the Division Two title. I hope that Hairul and Dangerous will make the chances count in the remaining seven matches.”
BJSS were the double champions in the national junior league last year and they have kept up their winning run this season with full points from three matches.
Their next match is against BJSS Juniors at the Tun Razak Stadium in Jalan Duta here today. And they will play against Kelantan Kijang Mas at the Kuala Terengganu Stadium on Sunday.
“We should get full points against our junior side. But I am worried over the match against Kijang Mas, who play a very physical game,” said Prakash.
“We are playing the Kelantan side in Kuala Terengganu because their home turf is worn out. We are also not used to playing on the Kuala Terengganu pitch and this could affect our game. I have told my players to tread with caution.”
BJSS are in second place in the standings — one point behind Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) but they have one match in hand.
The Star of Malaysia
The Fate Of Indian Hockey
By Akanksha Tiwari
1920’s and 1960’s: India bags eight gold, one silver, two bronze medals in eighteen successive appearances in the Olympics. Six of the eight gold medals came in consecutive appearances. 2008: India fails to even qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
This, in short, is the account of the downfall of Indian Hockey which is upsetting not only for hockey enthusiasts in India, but, for sports fans all over the world. Is it not disgraceful that a country with a population of over a billion fails to qualify for its national sport?
There is no dearth of talent. What we require is a functional and active body at the centre that can exploit and capitalize on this talent. There is not even a proper domestic league for the players to compete. Tournaments are needed at the school-level, district-level and state-level to generate and inculcate interest in this sport amongst the children and youth.
And as far as the Indian Hockey Federation is concerned, there is not much to say. The very fact that it was dissolved a year ago and an Ad-Hoc committee is in its place speaks volumes of their responsibility in the decline of Indian Hockey. At a time when Indian hockey was already drawing flak for its dismal performance, all that could be heard was the involvement of their secretary in a bribe scandal.
The role of the media in this regard has not been very constructive either. All their efforts seem to be drawn towards concentrating on promotion, publicity and coverage of cricket. When the Indian cricket team won the Twenty20 tournament, they were awarded lavish bungalows, cash prizes and treated like heroes. But does anyone even remember the amount of coverage that was given to the hockey team at that time which one the Asia cup? On the other hand, the media is quick to call our national sport a shame. Cricket seems to be the only sport that everyone follows.
The hockey federation in India should gain knowledge of marketing their sport from the BCCI who have capitalized on the Twenty20 auctions and even the ‘chak de’ theme. (Ironically, every sport seems to have benefitted from it except for hockey on which it was actually based)
We need not blame the hockey players for not performing. What incentives do they get for performing? There are instances where players have played entire tournaments in just two sets of shorts and shirts. At a time, when, cricketers are making crores and staying in five star hotels, hockey players have to do with staying in the premises of the national stadiums and putting up with a meager $30 for their expenses. With such embarrassing conditions, I do not blame them if they quit the sport in search of a more stable livelihood.
A lot can and needs to be done in terms of infrastructure as well-for instance, floodlight hockey can be introduced and we could definitely do with a few more stadiums and improvements in the conditions of the present ones.
In addition, we can take inspiration from countries like Australia. They are numero uno in cricket but that has not stifled the growth of other sports in the country. Let us not just blame the centre for the state of Indian Hockey. It is high time we woke up and made a collective effort to revive our national sport. It might take time but let us not give up on it. Chak De.
What the Papers Say Today - Stick2Hockey.com