News for 24 June 2009
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 08:58 | 
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All the news for Wednesday 24 June 2009
Canadian men defeated by South Africa in Test Match
The Canadian men’s national field hockey team lost to South Africa 1-3 on Tuesday afternoon in Elektrostal, Russia, in the second official test match in prelude to the Four-Nations Tournament scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The two teams last met at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, with a Canadian victory 5-3. But it was a very different Canadian outfit that lined up on Tuesday, with half the roster having played less than 10 international games, in a deliberate effort by Coach Alan Brahmst to widen the group preparing for the 2010 World Cup. The South Africans, on the other hand, are in the final stage of preparation for the Africa Cup, scheduled for July in Accra (Ghana) where they hope to win an automatic berth for the world Cup.
Canada scored first with a field goal by Mark Pearson after a great individual effort. South Africa scored half way through the period to reach half-time tied at 1-1.
South Africa then took control of the game in second period, scoring early to take the lead, then again half way through the period. Canada reacted well in the last ten minutes, building two good opportunities, but the score remained unchanged at 1-3.
Coach Alan Brahmst commented “With so many players with less than ten caps, we were lacking experience and it created challenges in our defensive structure and in the attacking zone. It was nevertheless an excellent learning experience and a good preparation heading into the 4-Nations Tournament tomorrow. I was happy today with the performance of Geoff Houghton who earned his first international Cap in goal for Canada”.
Scott Tupper, captain of this young Canadian Team, agreed that the experience was a key factor in the game. “We had a good start to the game but let it slip away from us. We lost some of our composure in second half and they managed to take control. It is an excellent opportunity for the group to play here, against teams we don’t meet often”.
The Four Nations tournament, an official FIH competition, starts on Wednesday with South Africa playing Bangladesh, and Canada taking on host Russia.
Field Hockey Canada media release
SA Hockey Men Turn it on in Four Nations Warm-up
"IT is a good start for us."
Two penalty corners by Justin Reid-Ross and a field goal from Marvin Harper saw the coach Gregg Clark's SA Men's Hockey team beat Canada 3-1 in a warm-up Test before the Four Nations near Moscow, begins against Bangladesh for the South Africans on Wednesday.
"It was an OK performance but we should have won by more," said SA Hockey coach Gregg Clark after the match. "It is a good start for us."
On Thursday SA meet Canada and Saturday they tackle Russia before Sunday's classification matches.
SA Hockey World
Schedule For The Russian Four Nations Tournament:
Wednesday 24 June 2009
16:00 South Africa vs Bangladesh
18;00 Russia vs Canada
Thurday 25 June 2009
16:00 South Africa vs Canada
18;00 Russia vs Bangladesh
Saturday 27 June 2009
16:00 Canada vs Bangladesh
18:00 Russia vs South Africa
Sunday 28 June 2009
12:00 Match for 3rd / 4th place
14:30 Final
SA Hockey World
Razie returns from injury and stamps his mark in friendlies
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Penalty corner flicker Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim has made a remarkable return to the national hockey team after recovering from a knee injury.
The Ernst and Young player, who was out of action since suffering from the injury in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) last December, scored two penalty corner goals in the first two of six-match friendly series against the South Korean Army team at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last week.
Malaysia lost the first match 1-2 last Thursday before bouncing back to win 4-1 the following day.
National team manager George Koshy said that he was pleased with the return of Razie, who showed good form as an utility player.
“He played exceptionally well as a defender in the first match and in the second match he played well as a forward,” said George.
“His return will definitely add strength to the team and also variation in the execution of penalty corners in the inaugural Champions Challenge II tournament (in Dublin from July 6-12).”
Eight teams will feature in the tournament in Dublin and Malaysia will open their Group B campaign against Austria on July 6. Their other matches are against France (July 7) and Russia (July 9). Japan, ranked 14th in the world, are drawn in Group A with Chile, Poland and Ireland.
The semi-finals will be played on July 11 and final on July 12.
The 22-year-old Razie said that he was looking forward to playing a regular role in the national team after missing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh in April and Asia Cup in Kuantan last month.
“I am quite please with my penalty corner flicks in the friendly matches and I hope to score goals in the tournament to help Malaysia gain promotion to Champions Challenge next year,’’ said Razie, who has 35 international caps to his credit.
There are 30 players in the training squad and the final 18 for the tournament are expected to be named tomorrow.
The team will leave for Dublin on July 28 and they will have two friendly matches against Ireland on July 1 and 3.
The Star of Malaysia
Women fight back to draw with Russia
MALAYSIA fought hard to earn a valuable 2-2 draw against Russia in a Women's Champions Challenge II Group B match in Kazan on Monday.
Fazilla Slyvester Silim slammed home a field goal in the sixth minute to give Malaysia the lead.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly for the Malaysians until the 30th minute when Sabah Kari was given a 10-minute yellow card suspension.
Russia made the most of their numerical advantage and equalised through Ola Shentsova in the 40th minute. Ten minutes later, Russia went ahead through Yulia Ahurova's penalty corner strike.
However, Malaysia rescued the match in the 63rd minute thanks to a field goal from Nor Baini Hashim.
Malaysia must beat Ireland in their final group match today to advance to the semi-finals.
RESULTS -- Group A: India 8 Canada 1, Belgium 8 Belarus 1; Group B: Ireland 1 Ukraine 1, Malaysia 2 Russia 2.
New Straits Times
England Add to Glamour Ties with Netherlands Fixture
England's men have added yet another glamour tie against top quality opposition to their hectic summer schedule with the announcement that they will play the Netherlands in July.
The Dutch, who are the reigning European champions and are currently ranked fourth in the World, will visit the National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey on Sunday 19 July.
The fixture, which comes just five weeks before England kick off their European Championships campaign against Austria in Amsterdam, is sandwiched between England's 'Asian Master Class' matches against Pakistan at Cannock (30 June - 3 July) and India at the University of Birmingham (29 July - 2 August).
Spectator tickets for the game have gone on sale today via the England Hockey website at www.englandhockey.co.uk/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
England (men) v Netherlands, Sunday 19 July 2009, 11:00am, Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, Buckinghamshire
England Hockey Media release
Young Black Sticks to host two of the world's best sides
New Zealand Hockey’s promising young Black Sticks side has been given the licence to develop their flair against two of the world’s best sides on home soil early next month.
The Black Sticks meet Argentina (ranked 2nd in the world) in a three test series between July 3 and 6 in Whangarei and Pukekohe, followed by two matches against China (ranked 4th) in Hamilton and Pukekohe on July 7 and 8.
National Coach Mark Hager has told his young players to “back themselves” against some of the world’s best and to continue playing fearlessly whatever the opposition.
The Black Sticks performed extremely well up front against an under-strength Indian side this month starting with a 3 – 2 win and stepping up each match to win the next two games 5 – 2 and 7 – 0. The average age of the NZ side was 21.
Hager was impressed with the aggressive attitude of his attack and wants more. “I have told some of the younger players they have the licence to continue backing themselves. We may get hurt but I don’t want them to change anything.”
With the likes of five times WorldHockey Player of the Year Luciana Aymar in the Argentinean midfield, Hager sees the series as a prime opportunity for his young players. Aymar who last won the title in 2008, has played an amazing 250 games for Argentina.
The strength of the opposition will also help expose any defensive weaknesses Hager says. Argentina are fresh from playing in the Spar Cup in South Africa, where they finished 2nd to Australia. Other competing teams were India and South Africa. Aymar was named Player of the Tournament.
Several experienced Black Sticks not available for the Indian series will bolster the squad to meet Argentina and China. They include attacker Kayla Sharland who is closing in on 100 caps, striker Honor Dillon and defender Kate Saunders.
Canterbury defender/midfielder Stacey Carr will play her 100th game for NZ during the series. She currently sits on 99 caps.
The full national Women’s squad of 25 will be utilised during the series, except for Alana Millington who is ruled out through injury. Eighteen will be named for each game.
1st Match, Friday 3 July, NZ v ARG 7.00pm, Whangarei
2nd Match, Saturday 4 July, NZ v ARG 4.00pm, Whangarei
3rd Match, Monday 6 July, NZ v ARG 6.30pm, Pukekohe
4th Match, Tuesday 7 July, NZ v CHN 6.30pm, Hamilton
5th Match, Wednesday 8 July, NZ v CHN 6.30pm, Pukekohe
Hockey New Zealand Media release
D/Force, Malvern ‘Big Four’ champs
Nigel Simon
Defence Force (men) and Stag Malvern (women) were crowned T&T Hockey Board’s Toyota Big-Four champions at the National Hockey Centre, Tacarigua, on Sunday night. Ironically, both teams won the title on superior goal-difference after a tension-filled final round of matches. In the men’s competition, Defence Force needed a late penalty-conversion from experienced national player Nicholas Wren to secure a 3-2 win over rivals, Stag Malvern to earn three valuable points.
The win helped Defence Force to finish with seven points, the same as Petrotrin, but with a better goal-difference of plus-six to the Oilmen’s plus-three. Earlier, Petrotrin had given itself a chance at the title with a come-from behind 2-1 win over Notre Dame thanks to a double from Wayne Legerton. The women’s series was equally as exciting as Malvern (four points), Carib Magnolias (four points) and Maritime Harvard Checkers all began the day with a chance to win the crown.
However, in the day’s first match, the Malvernites capitalised on a depleted Defence Force line-up to romp to an 8-2 win led by two goals from veteran player Margaret Hinds to end with seven points. This meant that Magnolias needed a win by four clear goals over Checkers to sneak the Big Four crown, however, they only managed a 4-2 win.
The Trinidad Guardian
It’s all out attack for leaders Malacca CC
KUALA LUMPUR: Leaders Malacca City Council will play an all out attacking game against Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium today to close in on winning the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Division One title.
They lead the 10-team standings on 16 points from five wins and a draw and victory over BJSS will consolidate their position to claim the title.
Malacca CC’s last two matches are against Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) on July 1 and UiTM on July 4.
BJSS, the MHL Under-19 double champions, meanwhile, have played only two matches so far. They have five points — from a 3-3 draw against BPSS, 1-1 draw against ATM Juniors and a 4-1 win over Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap).
Malacca CC coach V. Sasidharan said that his players were in high spirit and they were determined to keep their unbetaen record intact.
“However, we can expect a daunting task against BJSS, who have the benefit of training almost daily,” he said.
“In contrast, we did not have much training during the three-week break in competition because most of our players had to work.
“We considered ourselves as old guards coming up against the more energetic BJSS players. I hope my players will rise to the occasion and get the better of BJSS to get a step closer to the title.”
BJSS coach S. Prakash said that he hoped his players had not lost their competitive edge as they had not played for five weeks.
“It’s not easy to come back and play well after a long break. Malacca have home ground advantage and the pressure will be on us to get the better of them,” he said.
The top two teams in Division One will be promoted to the Premier League next year.
The Star of Malaysia
Council drags feet with KZN Inland over ABJ
Jonathan Cook
BESIDES the urgent issue of KZN Inland Hockey Association’s strongest club, Maritzburg Varsity, fielding non-student players to the detriment of the health of the other clubs, there is another matter with which the KZNIHA are grappling.
Without a clear mandate from the owners (the municipality) of KZN Inland Hockey’s AB Jackson headquarters and world-class Greenfields synthetic turf field, the provincial governing body is struggling to maintain its upkeep.
Association president Gary Carson and his council have asked the municipality for a management contract whereby the KZNIHA would take “ownership” of the ABJ facility. The responsible ward councillor, Judith Lawrence, said in a letter to The Witness on June 4 that a meeting she arranged with the municipality earlier this year saw consensus reached that the best way to tackle the “many problems associated with the AB Jackson” would be for the KZNIHA to have “full control” over the facility.
This would require a long-term lease with the municipality.
Lawrence said the KZNIHA have applied to the Estates department for such a lease, “but it will only be dealt with by that department once they have completed the new evaluation roll”.
”That should be done by the end of the month [June] and then, hopefully, the lease application can be dealt with and the hockey association can take full control and also be able to do long-term planning.”
Lawrence also mentions that the municipality’s maintenance budget for the sports fields under its jurisdiction is “relatively small and is possibly not used in the most effective way”.
The councillor is to be commended for taking up KZN Inland Hockey’s plight, but it seems no one else at City Hall is aware just what a gold mine the AB Jackson facility is to the PMB economy.
Since its inception in the nineties, the ABJ has hosted dozens of national tournaments, bringing thousands of visitors to the city. Its link with the world-class Pape’s Astro 300 metres down the road at Maritzburg College gives PMB a unique advantage for staging big tournaments.
This year alone, the KZN age-group girls’ tournament brought 20 teams from all over the province to PMB for three days. Add officials and supporters from outside the capital and you have well over 400 people spending money in the city.
Early July sees 32 teams plus supporters coming to PMB for the U13 national festival, followed in mid-August by the men’s national tournament.
City hall needs a wake-up call.
With eight SA tournaments taking place, Inland league is on a six-week break.
Result: Varsity A 6 GHS Old Girls B 0.
The Witness - © www.witness.co.za 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FHBC to send two teams to Senior Men’s Nationals
Field Hockey BC has confirmed two provincial teams will be sent to the FHC Senior Men’s National Championship in Calgary next month. Tentative rosters have also been posted on the organization’s website available here.
The men’s championship will now feature Team Ontario, Team Alberta, as well as Team BC Blue and Team BC White. Several of the athletes on the Ontario and BC teams are part of the national team program.
According to the FHC membership database close to 90% of all registered male members come from these three provinces.
The Senior National Championships will be held 21 – 26 July at Hawkings Field on the University of Calgary campus. The men’s final will be played on Friday, July 24th. The women’s final will follow on the Sunday.
Field Hockey Canada media release
Brasa's tactical plan will surprise opponents: Tirkey
Kabir Mandrekar
Former captain and the world's most capped player, Dilip Tirkey, is of the view that the Indian hockey team will give their opponents a tough time once they put into practice new coach Jose Brasa's tactics. In his first interaction with the national team during the camp at Balewadi here, Brasa has floated the '11 midfielders' formula, wherein no player's role will be confined to the position assigned to him.
"It could be a bit tough for everyone to adapt to this system as we have been playing in our fixed positions for a long time. But at the same time it will surprise our opponents as even the defenders would be able to get into attacking positions," said the 31-year-old Tirkey.
The proposed system would mean that forwards would not shirk from playing in a withdrawn role, and it won't be uncommon to watch them fall back if required. Also, defenders will be encouraged to move up front, as creating the through-balls and the passes will no longer stay a prerogative of the midfield alone.
Age no issue
About the new style of play which would require more physical effort from players during a match, Brasa said that the players would be able to adjust to any style of play provided they were motivated enough. He also added that age would not be a deterrent. "At this moment we are 12th in the world. In order to be amongst the top four teams we need to modify our game. If the players are motivated enough they will be able to adapt to any situation. Till now I have not had any problems or complaints from the players. They are adjusting well," he said.
While India and Pakistan have stuck to the sub-continental brand of hockey based on individual skills, majority of the top teams have banked on the collective effort of all players on the field.
Experienced campaigner Rajpal Singh is of the view that the all-round development of each player will be good for the team as a whole. "The players are adjusting well to this new technique of coaching and we will definitely spring a few surprises on our opponents within the coming months," he said. Bharat Chhikara welcomes the new method as it is similar to the European style of play. Twenty-one-year-old right-half Gurbaj Singh is also looking forward to playing in the midfield.
Birendar Lakra is happy with the change in tactics. "The coach has carefully assessed our weaknesses and on that basis has made an informed decision to develop our all-round skill and make us complete players," he said.
Indian Express
Overall performance satisfying’
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Indian hockey team returned home on Monday after finishing a disappointing ninth in the junior World Cup hockey tournament held at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Germany won the title with the Netherlands and Australia finishing second and third.
For team coach A.K. Bansal, the trip was “not as bad” as is being portrayed. “I can understand critics would question how we could be satisfied with a ninth place result. It was a result that was lower than our expectations but I must say that the overall performance of the players was satisfying.” No excuses
Elaborating, Mr. Bansal said, “we are not trying to make any excuses please. I accept all the blame and all the criticism but I will back my boys for trying their best.
“We suffered because of one bad result (the 2-2 draw against New Zealand). And then we lost to the Netherlands (2-3) in the pool match. To tell you the truth, we controlled the match very well and ought to have won.”
Pointing out the marked improvement in the scoring prowess, Mr. Bansal noted, “we scored 42 goals and conceded only nine.
“It was all a part of learning process. I have no complaints against any player. They fought well and displayed superior fitness right through the tournament.”
The Hindu
The boys deserved to finish better: coach Bansal
New Delhi - A ninth-place finish was unthinkable when the Indian team left for the junior World Cup. Going by the Asian Champions’ track record in the run-up to the championship, the expectation was they should have been on the podium even if they had not come back with the cup they last won in 2001.
A disappointed Indian team returned home Tuesday, still groping to come to terms with the disastrous outing in Singapore and Malaysia.
Coach A.K.Bansal, who shaped the team in the last couple of years, said they paid dearly for their one bad game against New Zealand. Never did they realise that the drawn game would hurt them so badly.
“The format was such that there was no second coming. India would have still qualified for the medal round, if only New Zealand and the Netherlands had not played out a draw,” a dejected Bansal told IANS.
The hockey expert in the Malaysia surmised that Dutch and the Black Sticks played out a “strategic” draw to keep the fancied Indians out. The Netherlands had little interest in the outcome of the match as they were any through to the knockout stage. Their approach only helped the New Zealanders.
“The speculation counts for little as the net result was that Indians were out,” said Bansal.
Bansal said that technically the team played good hockey throughout the tournament, but tactically they were found wanting at crucial moments.
“Come to think of it, we scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament — 42, but a pity we knocked in so many goals in the classification matches.
“The boys are disappointed. I feel for them more as they prepared so hard for the tournament. Everyone sympathised with us as they all knew just as we did that were were good to be among the top three and certainly not the team to finish so low. But can’t blame anyone for our miserable showing except ourselves. Once we failed to make the 1-8 second stage, we had to fight for 9-16 classification places.”
“Its not that our quality of hockey went bad suddenly. The boys played exceptionally well in the classification matches. We should have shown the same energy and enterprise throughout our matches against New Zealand and the Netherlands. We had chances but failed to seize them.
“Our strategy was not to concede goals easily and wait for the right time to attack. Unfortunately, that did not work as we allowed the rivals to score at the wrong time in the matches.”
After pounding Singapore 10-0 in the opening match, India should not have have played out a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, said Bansal.
“Even after letting in two goals, we had enough chances to score, but we just could not finish. We were a bit unlucky too as four of our shots found the goalpost.”
Bansal said it was more or less the re-run of the New Zealand match against the Dutch. Despite having better of the exchanges and ball possession, the boys lost 2-3, the Dutch scoring on counter-attack.
“We still could have bounced back as we had forced three penalty corners in the closing minutes, but could not convert any.”
Asked whether Diwakar Ram’s lack of form in converting penalty-corners was a factor, Bansal said: “You have to take into account the efficiency of the opponents in blocking the attempts.”
Bansal’s one-line explanation: The boys were just unlucky.
What the Papers Say Today - Stick2Hockey.com
South African u21 men disappoint
Jonathan Cook
THE South African U21 men’s hockey team ended 15th out of the 20 countries that qualified for the Junior World Cup finals in Malaysia and Singapore.
SA shaded England in the 15/16 classification match in a World Cup won 3-1 by Germany over the Netherlands.
SA captain Dom Scott’s side kicked off their preliminary round in Singapore, where they played their opening game against Japan and drew 1-1.
SA were then hammered 4-0 by Germany before beating Chile 6-1. A big game against eventual bronze medallists Australia saw SA go down 2-0.
Coach Kurt Cerfontyne’s SA side were out of contention for a medal, but position five onwards was still a possibility.
However, the second round in Johore, Malaysia, proved their undoing. Egypt went one better after SA beat them in the Africa Cup final last year by drawing 2-2. Next up were Malaysia and this was arguably South Africa’s most galling defeat as the kamikaze-like defence of the desperate home country saw a 1-1 score at halfway turned into a 3-1 victory for the hosts.
Back to Singapore two days later and SA lost a crucial match to Poland, going down 5-4 after trailing 3-2 at half-time.
This defeat effectively consigned SA to a final classification match for 15th place out of the 20 countries and they scraped home 6-5 against England in a penalty stroke shootout after the scores ended 2-2 at full-time.
After much expectation, 15th place out of 20 was a big disappointment for Scott’s men, but the unforgiving nature of tournament hockey sees a loss here or there making the difference between playing for a position as much as four places higher up the ladder.
A common theme was South Africa’s inability to translate superior territory and possession into field goals.
This can be traced back to a domestic season that simply doesn’t provide the edge that tough matches give top teams like Germany and the Netherlands week in and week out.
However, there was achievement in highly rated Pietermaritzburg umpire Ayden Shrives, among a host of players in the SA contingent who learnt their hockey in the midlands, officiating in the semi-finals.
Final placings: 1. Germany; 2. Netherlands; 3. Australia; 4. New Zealand; 5. Pakistan; 6. Argentina; 7. Korea; 8. Spain; 9. India; 10. Poland; 11. Belgium; 12. Malaysia; 13. Japan; 14. Egypt; 15. South Africa; 16. England; 17. Chile; 18. Russia; 19. Singapore; 20. USA.
The Witness - © www.witness.co.za 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Singapore Sojourn: Titbits here and there Part IV
K. Arumugam
1994 World Cup captain Jude Felix was spotted among the crowd couple of times. He runs hockey team in an Orphan’s school in Bangalore, he is happy about returning somethng back to his homeland. He came to watch Singapore team. He is not impressed with Indian team. “Nothing changed in the last 16 years since I left hockey”.
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Another personality who can join Jude in his frank opinion on India is Horst Wein, who crop up in some tournaments all of a sudden. He was conducting Fun Hockey workshop for coaches in Singapore. He said, “India plays the same hockey since 1950”. He is a non-stop talker, difficult to dodge.
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For the first five or six days, Indian senior team coach Harendera was also here, taking notes and discussing things as he often used to.
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James Chew is a Vietnamese. He says there is no hockey in his country, he is trying to start hockey in school teams. What is your interest in hockey?. “I play for Singapore Hockey League. I want to see hockey take root in Cho Minh city and then everywhere”.
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Jarnail Singh lived in Australia and Malaysia before settling down in the Island city. Now he is in the process of laying a private turf in Singapore. He played 1985 Junior World Cup for Malaysia and his captain then was Sarjit Singh, till recently Malaysian senior team coach.
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On the day England were badly defeated by India (9-0), a handful of English supporters were disappointed, but went near the fence and spoke a lot to the players. In fact, they are all parents of players. It is gathered parents of 12 players are here to support them. It is really a great number, in deed.
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Rim Voorghar, who covers for KNHB’s official website was seen wearing a Obama T Shirt the other day. “Seems you are a big fan of Obama”, I said. “Yes, ‘The Change Man’, the youngster said.
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After collecting a handbill I distributed, a gentleman called me and asked whether he acknowledge him. It was pleasant surprise that he turned out to be former India today journalist Rohit Brijnath whom I forgot to recognize in the first instance. He is working with Strait Times nowadays. Next day, he wrote a good piece on fall and fall of Indian hockey. He must have written on these lines umpteen time in the past as well, but it should be same with every writer of this country.
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Former Junior India coach PA Raphael is Singapore based. He is regular visitor to many of the matches. When I asked him about the Singapore team, he was frank enough to admit he did not follow them seriously as he was away from Singapore. He coached Singapore’s men and women national team for 7 years. He sports a French beard.
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Singapore Hockey Federation Secretary K. Rajaram is a busy man here. He is with the SHF in various capacities since the late 70s, and is holding this post for the second time in running. He says perhaps he is the oldest team member with his SHF boss Annabel Fennifather Dillon. She is also high-profile FIH Vice-President. Rajaram says receiving VIPs is a hard task in the whole affair of running the tournament.
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During a party on Thursday, an aged local Sardar approached me, anger writ large on his face. “Ask India not to come if they want to play like this, don’t hurt us this way”. It took some effort to get past him, who seemed to engage me endlessly. The problem here is how the teams would know in advance they will lose!
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A young ethnic Indian student was surprised seeing Indians in the United States team. “Uncle, see there are three of them”, he pointed out to me. I said “ thank you, but there are only two”. He returned during the halftime to tell me there are indeed three, not two. Yes, he was correct, there is three ethnic Indians in the States team.
Stick2Hockey.com
PHF president should hold financial meetings every month to ensure transparency: Zakir Syed
By Muhammad Ali
LAHORE: Former Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Zakir Hussain Syed has said that Pakistan’s fifth position in the recently concluded Junior World Cup Hockey Tournament in Malaysia and Singapore has once again shown our decline and poor rating in world hockey. Talking to Daily Times on Tuesday, Zakir Syed, now a renowned hockey and cricket commentator and columnist, said even against top teams like Australia, who were able to score six goals against Pakistan, a big difference was highlighted between top teams and Pakistan’s best potential. “We are a great nation at blaming past regimes for all failures which is never a solution. Pakistan hockey now needs some serious rethinking,” he added.
Zakir Syed said Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) general secretary Mohammad Asif Bajwa had been at the helm of affairs for a year now. “The entire training and competitive exposure programme of the junior team during this one year was controlled and implemented by him. To say that this programme was drawn by his predecessors and hence the current PHF hierarchy is not responsible for this failure is being naive.” Zakir Syed questioned if this plan was not result oriented then why did he not change it or amend it to make more it productive? “Who is stopping him from doing that.” He said there was a big responsibility on the shoulders of Asif Bajwa. “He should concentrate on running the administration as it was a full time job.”
Zakir Syed said PHF president Qasim Zia was a sensible person and it was time he paid attention to the business of organising national sport on modern lines. “Most importantly, he should immediately dismiss all those grand plans which are money guzzlers like setting up of a dozen or so hockey academies. He is fortunate to have government patronage and abundance of finances. And, therefore, it is all the more important that he should ensure transparent and productive use of these funds instead of their wastage.” He said how many people in this country have the technical know how to run academies. “The Dutch expert hired for this purpose has been unimpressive so far. Just look at what Hans Jorritsma was able to deliver in an almost similar time frame – World Cup and Champions Trophy titles and a legacy of great technical superiority.”
When asked about the ongoing unsavoury controversies with some of the previous office bearers, Zakir Syed said that it was most unfortunate and the last thing that the PHF should be doing was to get involved in hockey politics as it would not serve any purpose and instead bring the games’ controlling body into disrepute. “Also, a vendetta based approach will ultimately sink the national federation though people in power never understand this factor. Victimising players who participated in Tahir Zaman’s exhibition match in Sheikhupura was in bad taste. Tahir is a former Olympian and if his former colleagues joined him to promote hockey, it should have been welcomed and not the other way around.”
Zakir Syed said the PHF needed to understand that it had to make a new start on proper lines instead of getting involved into ‘stupid ideas like song and dance innovation’ that was introduced before the senior and national team exhibition matches, which flopped completely. “Hockey is not cricket. Its following is basically middle and lower middle classes. And the appeal of hockey has always been based on our success and glory that became the pride of the nation.”
He said the PHF chief should also put in place a system of total financial transparency by holding monthly meetings of the national federation expenditure with copies to the sports ministry and the PSB. “Simply because in the final analysis, it will be Qasim himself who will be responsible if anything goes wrong. It will be prudent for Qasim to prevent any such eventuality,” he concluded.
The Daily Times
Canadian men defeated by South Africa in Test Match
The Canadian men’s national field hockey team lost to South Africa 1-3 on Tuesday afternoon in Elektrostal, Russia, in the second official test match in prelude to the Four-Nations Tournament scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The two teams last met at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, with a Canadian victory 5-3. But it was a very different Canadian outfit that lined up on Tuesday, with half the roster having played less than 10 international games, in a deliberate effort by Coach Alan Brahmst to widen the group preparing for the 2010 World Cup. The South Africans, on the other hand, are in the final stage of preparation for the Africa Cup, scheduled for July in Accra (Ghana) where they hope to win an automatic berth for the world Cup.
Canada scored first with a field goal by Mark Pearson after a great individual effort. South Africa scored half way through the period to reach half-time tied at 1-1.
South Africa then took control of the game in second period, scoring early to take the lead, then again half way through the period. Canada reacted well in the last ten minutes, building two good opportunities, but the score remained unchanged at 1-3.
Coach Alan Brahmst commented “With so many players with less than ten caps, we were lacking experience and it created challenges in our defensive structure and in the attacking zone. It was nevertheless an excellent learning experience and a good preparation heading into the 4-Nations Tournament tomorrow. I was happy today with the performance of Geoff Houghton who earned his first international Cap in goal for Canada”.
Scott Tupper, captain of this young Canadian Team, agreed that the experience was a key factor in the game. “We had a good start to the game but let it slip away from us. We lost some of our composure in second half and they managed to take control. It is an excellent opportunity for the group to play here, against teams we don’t meet often”.
The Four Nations tournament, an official FIH competition, starts on Wednesday with South Africa playing Bangladesh, and Canada taking on host Russia.
Field Hockey Canada media release
SA Hockey Men Turn it on in Four Nations Warm-up
"IT is a good start for us."
Two penalty corners by Justin Reid-Ross and a field goal from Marvin Harper saw the coach Gregg Clark's SA Men's Hockey team beat Canada 3-1 in a warm-up Test before the Four Nations near Moscow, begins against Bangladesh for the South Africans on Wednesday.
"It was an OK performance but we should have won by more," said SA Hockey coach Gregg Clark after the match. "It is a good start for us."
On Thursday SA meet Canada and Saturday they tackle Russia before Sunday's classification matches.
SA Hockey World
Schedule For The Russian Four Nations Tournament:
Wednesday 24 June 2009
16:00 South Africa vs Bangladesh
18;00 Russia vs Canada
Thurday 25 June 2009
16:00 South Africa vs Canada
18;00 Russia vs Bangladesh
Saturday 27 June 2009
16:00 Canada vs Bangladesh
18:00 Russia vs South Africa
Sunday 28 June 2009
12:00 Match for 3rd / 4th place
14:30 Final
SA Hockey World
Razie returns from injury and stamps his mark in friendlies
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Penalty corner flicker Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim has made a remarkable return to the national hockey team after recovering from a knee injury.
The Ernst and Young player, who was out of action since suffering from the injury in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) last December, scored two penalty corner goals in the first two of six-match friendly series against the South Korean Army team at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last week.
Malaysia lost the first match 1-2 last Thursday before bouncing back to win 4-1 the following day.
National team manager George Koshy said that he was pleased with the return of Razie, who showed good form as an utility player.
“He played exceptionally well as a defender in the first match and in the second match he played well as a forward,” said George.
“His return will definitely add strength to the team and also variation in the execution of penalty corners in the inaugural Champions Challenge II tournament (in Dublin from July 6-12).”
Eight teams will feature in the tournament in Dublin and Malaysia will open their Group B campaign against Austria on July 6. Their other matches are against France (July 7) and Russia (July 9). Japan, ranked 14th in the world, are drawn in Group A with Chile, Poland and Ireland.
The semi-finals will be played on July 11 and final on July 12.
The 22-year-old Razie said that he was looking forward to playing a regular role in the national team after missing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh in April and Asia Cup in Kuantan last month.
“I am quite please with my penalty corner flicks in the friendly matches and I hope to score goals in the tournament to help Malaysia gain promotion to Champions Challenge next year,’’ said Razie, who has 35 international caps to his credit.
There are 30 players in the training squad and the final 18 for the tournament are expected to be named tomorrow.
The team will leave for Dublin on July 28 and they will have two friendly matches against Ireland on July 1 and 3.
The Star of Malaysia
Women fight back to draw with Russia
MALAYSIA fought hard to earn a valuable 2-2 draw against Russia in a Women's Champions Challenge II Group B match in Kazan on Monday.
Fazilla Slyvester Silim slammed home a field goal in the sixth minute to give Malaysia the lead.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly for the Malaysians until the 30th minute when Sabah Kari was given a 10-minute yellow card suspension.
Russia made the most of their numerical advantage and equalised through Ola Shentsova in the 40th minute. Ten minutes later, Russia went ahead through Yulia Ahurova's penalty corner strike.
However, Malaysia rescued the match in the 63rd minute thanks to a field goal from Nor Baini Hashim.
Malaysia must beat Ireland in their final group match today to advance to the semi-finals.
RESULTS -- Group A: India 8 Canada 1, Belgium 8 Belarus 1; Group B: Ireland 1 Ukraine 1, Malaysia 2 Russia 2.
New Straits Times
England Add to Glamour Ties with Netherlands Fixture
England's men have added yet another glamour tie against top quality opposition to their hectic summer schedule with the announcement that they will play the Netherlands in July.
The Dutch, who are the reigning European champions and are currently ranked fourth in the World, will visit the National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey on Sunday 19 July.
The fixture, which comes just five weeks before England kick off their European Championships campaign against Austria in Amsterdam, is sandwiched between England's 'Asian Master Class' matches against Pakistan at Cannock (30 June - 3 July) and India at the University of Birmingham (29 July - 2 August).
Spectator tickets for the game have gone on sale today via the England Hockey website at www.englandhockey.co.uk/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
England (men) v Netherlands, Sunday 19 July 2009, 11:00am, Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, Buckinghamshire
England Hockey Media release
Young Black Sticks to host two of the world's best sides
New Zealand Hockey’s promising young Black Sticks side has been given the licence to develop their flair against two of the world’s best sides on home soil early next month.
The Black Sticks meet Argentina (ranked 2nd in the world) in a three test series between July 3 and 6 in Whangarei and Pukekohe, followed by two matches against China (ranked 4th) in Hamilton and Pukekohe on July 7 and 8.
National Coach Mark Hager has told his young players to “back themselves” against some of the world’s best and to continue playing fearlessly whatever the opposition.
The Black Sticks performed extremely well up front against an under-strength Indian side this month starting with a 3 – 2 win and stepping up each match to win the next two games 5 – 2 and 7 – 0. The average age of the NZ side was 21.
Hager was impressed with the aggressive attitude of his attack and wants more. “I have told some of the younger players they have the licence to continue backing themselves. We may get hurt but I don’t want them to change anything.”
With the likes of five times WorldHockey Player of the Year Luciana Aymar in the Argentinean midfield, Hager sees the series as a prime opportunity for his young players. Aymar who last won the title in 2008, has played an amazing 250 games for Argentina.
The strength of the opposition will also help expose any defensive weaknesses Hager says. Argentina are fresh from playing in the Spar Cup in South Africa, where they finished 2nd to Australia. Other competing teams were India and South Africa. Aymar was named Player of the Tournament.
Several experienced Black Sticks not available for the Indian series will bolster the squad to meet Argentina and China. They include attacker Kayla Sharland who is closing in on 100 caps, striker Honor Dillon and defender Kate Saunders.
Canterbury defender/midfielder Stacey Carr will play her 100th game for NZ during the series. She currently sits on 99 caps.
The full national Women’s squad of 25 will be utilised during the series, except for Alana Millington who is ruled out through injury. Eighteen will be named for each game.
1st Match, Friday 3 July, NZ v ARG 7.00pm, Whangarei
2nd Match, Saturday 4 July, NZ v ARG 4.00pm, Whangarei
3rd Match, Monday 6 July, NZ v ARG 6.30pm, Pukekohe
4th Match, Tuesday 7 July, NZ v CHN 6.30pm, Hamilton
5th Match, Wednesday 8 July, NZ v CHN 6.30pm, Pukekohe
Hockey New Zealand Media release
D/Force, Malvern ‘Big Four’ champs
Nigel Simon
Defence Force (men) and Stag Malvern (women) were crowned T&T Hockey Board’s Toyota Big-Four champions at the National Hockey Centre, Tacarigua, on Sunday night. Ironically, both teams won the title on superior goal-difference after a tension-filled final round of matches. In the men’s competition, Defence Force needed a late penalty-conversion from experienced national player Nicholas Wren to secure a 3-2 win over rivals, Stag Malvern to earn three valuable points.
The win helped Defence Force to finish with seven points, the same as Petrotrin, but with a better goal-difference of plus-six to the Oilmen’s plus-three. Earlier, Petrotrin had given itself a chance at the title with a come-from behind 2-1 win over Notre Dame thanks to a double from Wayne Legerton. The women’s series was equally as exciting as Malvern (four points), Carib Magnolias (four points) and Maritime Harvard Checkers all began the day with a chance to win the crown.
However, in the day’s first match, the Malvernites capitalised on a depleted Defence Force line-up to romp to an 8-2 win led by two goals from veteran player Margaret Hinds to end with seven points. This meant that Magnolias needed a win by four clear goals over Checkers to sneak the Big Four crown, however, they only managed a 4-2 win.
The Trinidad Guardian
It’s all out attack for leaders Malacca CC
KUALA LUMPUR: Leaders Malacca City Council will play an all out attacking game against Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium today to close in on winning the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Division One title.
They lead the 10-team standings on 16 points from five wins and a draw and victory over BJSS will consolidate their position to claim the title.
Malacca CC’s last two matches are against Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) on July 1 and UiTM on July 4.
BJSS, the MHL Under-19 double champions, meanwhile, have played only two matches so far. They have five points — from a 3-3 draw against BPSS, 1-1 draw against ATM Juniors and a 4-1 win over Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap).
Malacca CC coach V. Sasidharan said that his players were in high spirit and they were determined to keep their unbetaen record intact.
“However, we can expect a daunting task against BJSS, who have the benefit of training almost daily,” he said.
“In contrast, we did not have much training during the three-week break in competition because most of our players had to work.
“We considered ourselves as old guards coming up against the more energetic BJSS players. I hope my players will rise to the occasion and get the better of BJSS to get a step closer to the title.”
BJSS coach S. Prakash said that he hoped his players had not lost their competitive edge as they had not played for five weeks.
“It’s not easy to come back and play well after a long break. Malacca have home ground advantage and the pressure will be on us to get the better of them,” he said.
The top two teams in Division One will be promoted to the Premier League next year.
The Star of Malaysia
Council drags feet with KZN Inland over ABJ
Jonathan Cook
BESIDES the urgent issue of KZN Inland Hockey Association’s strongest club, Maritzburg Varsity, fielding non-student players to the detriment of the health of the other clubs, there is another matter with which the KZNIHA are grappling.
Without a clear mandate from the owners (the municipality) of KZN Inland Hockey’s AB Jackson headquarters and world-class Greenfields synthetic turf field, the provincial governing body is struggling to maintain its upkeep.
Association president Gary Carson and his council have asked the municipality for a management contract whereby the KZNIHA would take “ownership” of the ABJ facility. The responsible ward councillor, Judith Lawrence, said in a letter to The Witness on June 4 that a meeting she arranged with the municipality earlier this year saw consensus reached that the best way to tackle the “many problems associated with the AB Jackson” would be for the KZNIHA to have “full control” over the facility.
This would require a long-term lease with the municipality.
Lawrence said the KZNIHA have applied to the Estates department for such a lease, “but it will only be dealt with by that department once they have completed the new evaluation roll”.
”That should be done by the end of the month [June] and then, hopefully, the lease application can be dealt with and the hockey association can take full control and also be able to do long-term planning.”
Lawrence also mentions that the municipality’s maintenance budget for the sports fields under its jurisdiction is “relatively small and is possibly not used in the most effective way”.
The councillor is to be commended for taking up KZN Inland Hockey’s plight, but it seems no one else at City Hall is aware just what a gold mine the AB Jackson facility is to the PMB economy.
Since its inception in the nineties, the ABJ has hosted dozens of national tournaments, bringing thousands of visitors to the city. Its link with the world-class Pape’s Astro 300 metres down the road at Maritzburg College gives PMB a unique advantage for staging big tournaments.
This year alone, the KZN age-group girls’ tournament brought 20 teams from all over the province to PMB for three days. Add officials and supporters from outside the capital and you have well over 400 people spending money in the city.
Early July sees 32 teams plus supporters coming to PMB for the U13 national festival, followed in mid-August by the men’s national tournament.
City hall needs a wake-up call.
With eight SA tournaments taking place, Inland league is on a six-week break.
Result: Varsity A 6 GHS Old Girls B 0.
The Witness - © www.witness.co.za 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FHBC to send two teams to Senior Men’s Nationals
Field Hockey BC has confirmed two provincial teams will be sent to the FHC Senior Men’s National Championship in Calgary next month. Tentative rosters have also been posted on the organization’s website available here.
The men’s championship will now feature Team Ontario, Team Alberta, as well as Team BC Blue and Team BC White. Several of the athletes on the Ontario and BC teams are part of the national team program.
According to the FHC membership database close to 90% of all registered male members come from these three provinces.
The Senior National Championships will be held 21 – 26 July at Hawkings Field on the University of Calgary campus. The men’s final will be played on Friday, July 24th. The women’s final will follow on the Sunday.
Field Hockey Canada media release
Brasa's tactical plan will surprise opponents: Tirkey
Kabir Mandrekar
Former captain and the world's most capped player, Dilip Tirkey, is of the view that the Indian hockey team will give their opponents a tough time once they put into practice new coach Jose Brasa's tactics. In his first interaction with the national team during the camp at Balewadi here, Brasa has floated the '11 midfielders' formula, wherein no player's role will be confined to the position assigned to him.
"It could be a bit tough for everyone to adapt to this system as we have been playing in our fixed positions for a long time. But at the same time it will surprise our opponents as even the defenders would be able to get into attacking positions," said the 31-year-old Tirkey.
The proposed system would mean that forwards would not shirk from playing in a withdrawn role, and it won't be uncommon to watch them fall back if required. Also, defenders will be encouraged to move up front, as creating the through-balls and the passes will no longer stay a prerogative of the midfield alone.
Age no issue
About the new style of play which would require more physical effort from players during a match, Brasa said that the players would be able to adjust to any style of play provided they were motivated enough. He also added that age would not be a deterrent. "At this moment we are 12th in the world. In order to be amongst the top four teams we need to modify our game. If the players are motivated enough they will be able to adapt to any situation. Till now I have not had any problems or complaints from the players. They are adjusting well," he said.
While India and Pakistan have stuck to the sub-continental brand of hockey based on individual skills, majority of the top teams have banked on the collective effort of all players on the field.
Experienced campaigner Rajpal Singh is of the view that the all-round development of each player will be good for the team as a whole. "The players are adjusting well to this new technique of coaching and we will definitely spring a few surprises on our opponents within the coming months," he said. Bharat Chhikara welcomes the new method as it is similar to the European style of play. Twenty-one-year-old right-half Gurbaj Singh is also looking forward to playing in the midfield.
Birendar Lakra is happy with the change in tactics. "The coach has carefully assessed our weaknesses and on that basis has made an informed decision to develop our all-round skill and make us complete players," he said.
Indian Express
Overall performance satisfying’
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Indian hockey team returned home on Monday after finishing a disappointing ninth in the junior World Cup hockey tournament held at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Germany won the title with the Netherlands and Australia finishing second and third.
For team coach A.K. Bansal, the trip was “not as bad” as is being portrayed. “I can understand critics would question how we could be satisfied with a ninth place result. It was a result that was lower than our expectations but I must say that the overall performance of the players was satisfying.” No excuses
Elaborating, Mr. Bansal said, “we are not trying to make any excuses please. I accept all the blame and all the criticism but I will back my boys for trying their best.
“We suffered because of one bad result (the 2-2 draw against New Zealand). And then we lost to the Netherlands (2-3) in the pool match. To tell you the truth, we controlled the match very well and ought to have won.”
Pointing out the marked improvement in the scoring prowess, Mr. Bansal noted, “we scored 42 goals and conceded only nine.
“It was all a part of learning process. I have no complaints against any player. They fought well and displayed superior fitness right through the tournament.”
The Hindu
The boys deserved to finish better: coach Bansal
New Delhi - A ninth-place finish was unthinkable when the Indian team left for the junior World Cup. Going by the Asian Champions’ track record in the run-up to the championship, the expectation was they should have been on the podium even if they had not come back with the cup they last won in 2001.
A disappointed Indian team returned home Tuesday, still groping to come to terms with the disastrous outing in Singapore and Malaysia.
Coach A.K.Bansal, who shaped the team in the last couple of years, said they paid dearly for their one bad game against New Zealand. Never did they realise that the drawn game would hurt them so badly.
“The format was such that there was no second coming. India would have still qualified for the medal round, if only New Zealand and the Netherlands had not played out a draw,” a dejected Bansal told IANS.
The hockey expert in the Malaysia surmised that Dutch and the Black Sticks played out a “strategic” draw to keep the fancied Indians out. The Netherlands had little interest in the outcome of the match as they were any through to the knockout stage. Their approach only helped the New Zealanders.
“The speculation counts for little as the net result was that Indians were out,” said Bansal.
Bansal said that technically the team played good hockey throughout the tournament, but tactically they were found wanting at crucial moments.
“Come to think of it, we scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament — 42, but a pity we knocked in so many goals in the classification matches.
“The boys are disappointed. I feel for them more as they prepared so hard for the tournament. Everyone sympathised with us as they all knew just as we did that were were good to be among the top three and certainly not the team to finish so low. But can’t blame anyone for our miserable showing except ourselves. Once we failed to make the 1-8 second stage, we had to fight for 9-16 classification places.”
“Its not that our quality of hockey went bad suddenly. The boys played exceptionally well in the classification matches. We should have shown the same energy and enterprise throughout our matches against New Zealand and the Netherlands. We had chances but failed to seize them.
“Our strategy was not to concede goals easily and wait for the right time to attack. Unfortunately, that did not work as we allowed the rivals to score at the wrong time in the matches.”
After pounding Singapore 10-0 in the opening match, India should not have have played out a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, said Bansal.
“Even after letting in two goals, we had enough chances to score, but we just could not finish. We were a bit unlucky too as four of our shots found the goalpost.”
Bansal said it was more or less the re-run of the New Zealand match against the Dutch. Despite having better of the exchanges and ball possession, the boys lost 2-3, the Dutch scoring on counter-attack.
“We still could have bounced back as we had forced three penalty corners in the closing minutes, but could not convert any.”
Asked whether Diwakar Ram’s lack of form in converting penalty-corners was a factor, Bansal said: “You have to take into account the efficiency of the opponents in blocking the attempts.”
Bansal’s one-line explanation: The boys were just unlucky.
What the Papers Say Today - Stick2Hockey.com
South African u21 men disappoint
Jonathan Cook
THE South African U21 men’s hockey team ended 15th out of the 20 countries that qualified for the Junior World Cup finals in Malaysia and Singapore.
SA shaded England in the 15/16 classification match in a World Cup won 3-1 by Germany over the Netherlands.
SA captain Dom Scott’s side kicked off their preliminary round in Singapore, where they played their opening game against Japan and drew 1-1.
SA were then hammered 4-0 by Germany before beating Chile 6-1. A big game against eventual bronze medallists Australia saw SA go down 2-0.
Coach Kurt Cerfontyne’s SA side were out of contention for a medal, but position five onwards was still a possibility.
However, the second round in Johore, Malaysia, proved their undoing. Egypt went one better after SA beat them in the Africa Cup final last year by drawing 2-2. Next up were Malaysia and this was arguably South Africa’s most galling defeat as the kamikaze-like defence of the desperate home country saw a 1-1 score at halfway turned into a 3-1 victory for the hosts.
Back to Singapore two days later and SA lost a crucial match to Poland, going down 5-4 after trailing 3-2 at half-time.
This defeat effectively consigned SA to a final classification match for 15th place out of the 20 countries and they scraped home 6-5 against England in a penalty stroke shootout after the scores ended 2-2 at full-time.
After much expectation, 15th place out of 20 was a big disappointment for Scott’s men, but the unforgiving nature of tournament hockey sees a loss here or there making the difference between playing for a position as much as four places higher up the ladder.
A common theme was South Africa’s inability to translate superior territory and possession into field goals.
This can be traced back to a domestic season that simply doesn’t provide the edge that tough matches give top teams like Germany and the Netherlands week in and week out.
However, there was achievement in highly rated Pietermaritzburg umpire Ayden Shrives, among a host of players in the SA contingent who learnt their hockey in the midlands, officiating in the semi-finals.
Final placings: 1. Germany; 2. Netherlands; 3. Australia; 4. New Zealand; 5. Pakistan; 6. Argentina; 7. Korea; 8. Spain; 9. India; 10. Poland; 11. Belgium; 12. Malaysia; 13. Japan; 14. Egypt; 15. South Africa; 16. England; 17. Chile; 18. Russia; 19. Singapore; 20. USA.
The Witness - © www.witness.co.za 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Singapore Sojourn: Titbits here and there Part IV
K. Arumugam
1994 World Cup captain Jude Felix was spotted among the crowd couple of times. He runs hockey team in an Orphan’s school in Bangalore, he is happy about returning somethng back to his homeland. He came to watch Singapore team. He is not impressed with Indian team. “Nothing changed in the last 16 years since I left hockey”.
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Another personality who can join Jude in his frank opinion on India is Horst Wein, who crop up in some tournaments all of a sudden. He was conducting Fun Hockey workshop for coaches in Singapore. He said, “India plays the same hockey since 1950”. He is a non-stop talker, difficult to dodge.
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For the first five or six days, Indian senior team coach Harendera was also here, taking notes and discussing things as he often used to.
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James Chew is a Vietnamese. He says there is no hockey in his country, he is trying to start hockey in school teams. What is your interest in hockey?. “I play for Singapore Hockey League. I want to see hockey take root in Cho Minh city and then everywhere”.
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Jarnail Singh lived in Australia and Malaysia before settling down in the Island city. Now he is in the process of laying a private turf in Singapore. He played 1985 Junior World Cup for Malaysia and his captain then was Sarjit Singh, till recently Malaysian senior team coach.
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On the day England were badly defeated by India (9-0), a handful of English supporters were disappointed, but went near the fence and spoke a lot to the players. In fact, they are all parents of players. It is gathered parents of 12 players are here to support them. It is really a great number, in deed.
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Rim Voorghar, who covers for KNHB’s official website was seen wearing a Obama T Shirt the other day. “Seems you are a big fan of Obama”, I said. “Yes, ‘The Change Man’, the youngster said.
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After collecting a handbill I distributed, a gentleman called me and asked whether he acknowledge him. It was pleasant surprise that he turned out to be former India today journalist Rohit Brijnath whom I forgot to recognize in the first instance. He is working with Strait Times nowadays. Next day, he wrote a good piece on fall and fall of Indian hockey. He must have written on these lines umpteen time in the past as well, but it should be same with every writer of this country.
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Former Junior India coach PA Raphael is Singapore based. He is regular visitor to many of the matches. When I asked him about the Singapore team, he was frank enough to admit he did not follow them seriously as he was away from Singapore. He coached Singapore’s men and women national team for 7 years. He sports a French beard.
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Singapore Hockey Federation Secretary K. Rajaram is a busy man here. He is with the SHF in various capacities since the late 70s, and is holding this post for the second time in running. He says perhaps he is the oldest team member with his SHF boss Annabel Fennifather Dillon. She is also high-profile FIH Vice-President. Rajaram says receiving VIPs is a hard task in the whole affair of running the tournament.
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During a party on Thursday, an aged local Sardar approached me, anger writ large on his face. “Ask India not to come if they want to play like this, don’t hurt us this way”. It took some effort to get past him, who seemed to engage me endlessly. The problem here is how the teams would know in advance they will lose!
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A young ethnic Indian student was surprised seeing Indians in the United States team. “Uncle, see there are three of them”, he pointed out to me. I said “ thank you, but there are only two”. He returned during the halftime to tell me there are indeed three, not two. Yes, he was correct, there is three ethnic Indians in the States team.
Stick2Hockey.com
PHF president should hold financial meetings every month to ensure transparency: Zakir Syed
By Muhammad Ali
LAHORE: Former Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Zakir Hussain Syed has said that Pakistan’s fifth position in the recently concluded Junior World Cup Hockey Tournament in Malaysia and Singapore has once again shown our decline and poor rating in world hockey. Talking to Daily Times on Tuesday, Zakir Syed, now a renowned hockey and cricket commentator and columnist, said even against top teams like Australia, who were able to score six goals against Pakistan, a big difference was highlighted between top teams and Pakistan’s best potential. “We are a great nation at blaming past regimes for all failures which is never a solution. Pakistan hockey now needs some serious rethinking,” he added.
Zakir Syed said Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) general secretary Mohammad Asif Bajwa had been at the helm of affairs for a year now. “The entire training and competitive exposure programme of the junior team during this one year was controlled and implemented by him. To say that this programme was drawn by his predecessors and hence the current PHF hierarchy is not responsible for this failure is being naive.” Zakir Syed questioned if this plan was not result oriented then why did he not change it or amend it to make more it productive? “Who is stopping him from doing that.” He said there was a big responsibility on the shoulders of Asif Bajwa. “He should concentrate on running the administration as it was a full time job.”
Zakir Syed said PHF president Qasim Zia was a sensible person and it was time he paid attention to the business of organising national sport on modern lines. “Most importantly, he should immediately dismiss all those grand plans which are money guzzlers like setting up of a dozen or so hockey academies. He is fortunate to have government patronage and abundance of finances. And, therefore, it is all the more important that he should ensure transparent and productive use of these funds instead of their wastage.” He said how many people in this country have the technical know how to run academies. “The Dutch expert hired for this purpose has been unimpressive so far. Just look at what Hans Jorritsma was able to deliver in an almost similar time frame – World Cup and Champions Trophy titles and a legacy of great technical superiority.”
When asked about the ongoing unsavoury controversies with some of the previous office bearers, Zakir Syed said that it was most unfortunate and the last thing that the PHF should be doing was to get involved in hockey politics as it would not serve any purpose and instead bring the games’ controlling body into disrepute. “Also, a vendetta based approach will ultimately sink the national federation though people in power never understand this factor. Victimising players who participated in Tahir Zaman’s exhibition match in Sheikhupura was in bad taste. Tahir is a former Olympian and if his former colleagues joined him to promote hockey, it should have been welcomed and not the other way around.”
Zakir Syed said the PHF needed to understand that it had to make a new start on proper lines instead of getting involved into ‘stupid ideas like song and dance innovation’ that was introduced before the senior and national team exhibition matches, which flopped completely. “Hockey is not cricket. Its following is basically middle and lower middle classes. And the appeal of hockey has always been based on our success and glory that became the pride of the nation.”
He said the PHF chief should also put in place a system of total financial transparency by holding monthly meetings of the national federation expenditure with copies to the sports ministry and the PSB. “Simply because in the final analysis, it will be Qasim himself who will be responsible if anything goes wrong. It will be prudent for Qasim to prevent any such eventuality,” he concluded.
The Daily Times