News for 05 April 2019
All the news for Friday 5 April 2019
2019 FIH Pro League (Men) - Weekend fixture
6 Apr 2019 15:30 (GMT -3) ARG v GBR (RR) Estadio Mundialista, Rosario
Live streaming and full game replay on https://fih.live (Geo blocked if there is TV coverage)
FIH Match Centre
2019 FIH Pro League (Women) - Weekend fixtures
6 Apr 2019 18:00 (GMT -3) ARG v GBR (RR) Estadio Mundialista, Rosario
7 Apr 2019 15:30 (GMT +1) BEL v CHN (RR) Royal Uccle Sport, Brussels
Live streaming and full game replay on https://fih.live (Geo blocked if there is TV coverage)
FIH Match Centre
2019 Test Matches: MAS v IND (W) - 1st Test
Kuala Lumpur
MAS - IND 0 - 3
FIH Match Centre
India take first of Five-Test series
By Jugjet Singh
National women’s hockey coach K. Dharmaraj (third from left), relays instructions to his players during training ahead of their Five-Test series of friendly matches against India at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil. (PIC BY OWEE AH CHUN)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women’s hockey team lost 3-0 to India in the first of Five-Test series at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil earlier today (Thursday).
The defeat could be attributed to the fact that K. Dharmaraj’s side showed too much respect to the world No 9 side.
It took India just 17 minutes to get their act right when K. Vandana scored off a penalty corner attempt, then Lalremsiami made it 2-0 in the 38th minute as Vadana piled on the misery on the hosts no thanks to a last minute goal.
“The Five-Test series was arranged to prepare my players for the Ireland Olympic Quaifier and therefore I see this result in a positive manner.
“Malaysia will not get many chances to play a top team like India often, so I expect my players to learn as much as they possibly can from each and every match that they play,” said Dharmaraj.
After a day’s rest, both teams will square off once again at 6pm at the same venue on Saturday (April 6).
When told that his team missed out on scoring at least three goals because of the last pass, Dharmaraj said: “It is not easy to get chances against a top team like India, and the fact that my players managed to create chances in the first place is a bonus in itself.
“Despite missing the last touch, we still have four more matches to play and to rectify this,” he said.
New Straits Times
Pegasus on verge of sealing Irish Hockey League title
The Belfast side just have to avoid a shock defeat when they take on bottom club Muckross at Queens
Mary Hannigan
A week after their surprise exit from the Irish Senior Cup at the hands of Cork Harlequins, Pegasus will have the Hockey League title to celebrate on Saturday if they can avoid another upset when they take on bottom club Muckross at Queens in their penultimate fixture.
A point would suffice for the Belfast side, although that would not even be necessary if Loreto fail to beat Pembroke Wanderers at Serpentine Avenue.
With UCD looking likely to join the top two in the Champions Trophy, the fight for the fourth and final spot in the tournament is between Cork Harlequins and Pembroke Wanderers. Harlequins are three points ahead of Pembroke, but have played an extra game, so that particular battle could well go down to the final round of matches on April 27th.
Harlequins are at home to UCD on Saturday, before finishing up with another game at Farmers Cross against second-from-bottom Ards.
Pembroke’s remaining games are all against fellow Dublin sides, starting with Loreto. After that they are away to Railway Union and Old Alexandra.
Meanwhile, Division Two of the Hockey League will conclude on Saturday, with Queens and Trinity in Pool A and Monkstown and Catholic Institute in Pool B already assured of places in the semi-finals of the play-offs for promotion to the top tier.
All that is left to be decided is the order of the top two in Pool B – if Institute beat Dungannon then they will leapfrog Monkstown, who have completed their campaign, to set up a semi-final meeting with Trinity, winners of the Leinster first division title earlier this week.
The winner of the play-offs will be automatically promoted to the top division, with the losers going into play-off against the team that finishes second from bottom of the first division.
Hockey League – Saturday: Cork Harlequins v UCD, Farmers Cross, 1.05pm; Pegasus v Muckross, Queens, 2.30pm; Railway Union v Ards, Park Avenue, 2.30pm; Old Alexandra v Belfast Harlequins, Milltown, 3.30pm; Pembroke Wanderers v Loreto, Serpentine Avenue, 4pm.
The Irish Times
Hockey clash set to honour a mate's memory
Luke Sayer
Memorial: Sam Trevarthen, Iain Cameron, Brent Jago and Tom Trevarthen with the Jason Trevarthen Memorial Cup, ahead of Saturday's game. Picture: Sandy Powell.
One of the biggest rivalry games in Tasmanian hockey will have special significance on Saturday as the 2019 season kicks off.
The traditional season opener between South Burnie and City Marians in the Greater Northern League will be a memorial match to honour former player Jason Trevarthen, who died earlier this year.
Trevarthen played for both clubs, and still has siblings playing with both South and City.
His father Charlie said that the two teams usually played each other in the first roster round, and he thought it would be nice to have a little extra to play for, donating a trophy in his son's honour for the memorial game.
"It's always one of those big games for the two clubs," Trevarthen said.
"I remember when Jason first left South to go to City, City were pretty strong and I'm pretty sure South beat City the first time they played. Jason copped a fair ribbing."
South Burnie co-coach Brent Jago played with Jason Trevarthen, and said the chance to play on Saturday meant a fair bit to him and his team mates.
"I know it also means a lot to the family, and I'm just rapt its happening."
Jago said the result could always come down to a flip of the coin between South and City, and it may just be a case of who could combine well on the day.
City Marians coach Iain Cameron also played with Trevarthen and said it was bound to be a pretty emotional day, with both sides keen to get a win.
"It's always a big game to start the season, I just hoped its played well and in the right spirit," Cameron said.
"I'm fairly passionate about it, we were fair good mates when we played together."
The Jason Trevarthen Memorial Game will start at 3.30pm on Saturday at McKenna Park in Burnie.
The Advocate
Behind the Scenes: Beyond the Camera
Alison Lee
A month after the 2019 Canadian Indoor Classic and we are going behind the camera to find out a little more about everyone’s beloved sports photographer: Yan Huckendubler.
Pictures are a way of keeping memories. At most tournaments nowadays there is a photographer on hand, capturing these memories for us and making sure that we remember the best, and the worst, of times. The goal celebrations, the crushing defeats, everything that makes sport what it is. When we see these pictures online, we save it to our phone and will always be able to look back on these memories and share them with family and friends. We don’t give much thought to the person behind the camera taking these pictures that we will hold and cherish forever. Yan has been involved in field hockey in Canada for a very long time, and never fails to give back to this sport. We all wave and say “hi” when we see him at tournaments but he is often too buys taking, editing, or uploading pictures for us to stop and have a proper conversation with him. So, we took the time to ask Yan a few questions about his continued dedication to this sport and its athletes.
Do you have a favourite picture that you have taken? What is it?
My favourite picture dates from the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara. It depicts Hannah Haughn after she scored against Barbados, her first international goal I believe. It looks like she is about to take off with joy! Krissy Wishart, in the background, is running towards her equally happy.
It made me realize that the feelings expressed by players (whether joy or despair) are as much a part of the “coverage” of a sporting event as the action shots showing skill, speed or strength.
The screen saver on my computer is a slide-show of goal celebrations collected over the years, and just looking at it from time to time is enough to boost my mood :)
How did you get involved in photographing field hockey?
Back in 1998, I started a website for Field Hockey Canada (FHC), then a few years later I started one for the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF). Quickly, it was obvious that pictures (we were not even thinking of videos in those days) were quite popular, but it was difficult to get any, let alone good ones. Our personal cameras were not good enough to capture action shots, so we had to beg professional photographers on-site for a handful of pictures.
So, I decided to try shooting pictures myself and purchased a half-decent camera for the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio. I managed to shoot a good number of…half decent…pictures for the PAHF web-site. It showed me, however, that there was a lot of room for improvement and I started to progressively upgrade my equipment, selling a camera or lens to partly finance the next one.
I also took a number of photography workshops and, most importantly, asked a lot of questions of the pros to get some guidance and hints, not only on taking pictures but also processing them.
What is your favourite thing about photographing field hockey?
Well, the best thing is that you have a prime seat on the side of the pitch to watch the action! As a former player, I am always in awe when I see the skills of players in the heat of the action, just a few meters away. I sometimes have to remind myself that I should be taking pictures instead of just enjoying the game :)
Also, since I know the game and many of the players, I don’t always need to follow the ball. I can sometimes anticipate what will happen and focus on a specific player to be ready when he/she receives the ball, or on the goal-keeper about to block a shot.
If you could photograph a different sport or subject what would you choose and why?
I was a photographer at the last two Commonwealth Games (2014 in Glasgow and 2018 in Gold Coast) and that gave me the chance to shoot many different sports, some of them new to me even as a spectator: badminton, basket-ball, boxing, cycling (track), rugby 7s, table-tennis, weight-lifting, wrestling, even lawn-bowling.
Each sport presents its own challenges, where to stand to catch the most interesting shots, different pace to the action, different light whether it is indoor or outdoors, etc…If you are not specialized in a sport, you have to adapt and learn very quickly!
What is common to all sports however, is the feelings expressed by the athletes, whether they score or miss a goal, lift a heavy bar or focus before an important action.
Outside of photography, what other hobbies do you have?
I am still involved in Communications for PAHF, maintaining their web-site. But my main “non-hockey” activities are the many outdoor activities that I can do literally from the door of our house in the Gatineau Hills (in Quebec, near Ottawa): hiking and running in the summer, cross-country skiing in winter.
Plus of course a life-long interest in following various sports (football/soccer, rugby, athletics) and enjoying good food and good wine :)
I think I speak for a lot of people when I say, we can’t thank Yan enough for all the amazing pictures he has taken over the years and for his dedication to this sport. The countless hours he puts in behind the camera have left a lot of us with memories we will hold on to forever.
Check out Yan’s pictures from this year’s tournament on our Facebook page and our website. And head over to Yan’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to see more of his amazing pictures.
Canadian Indoor Classic
Start building your Scorrd EHL Fantasy League team now!
The Scorrd EHL Fantasy League launches this morning with fans now able to start selecting their teams ahead of the main event which runs from April 17-22, 2019 at HC Oranje-Rood.
It follows the hugely successful first Scorrd Fantasy League before Christmas for the FIH World Cup in India when over 5,000 teams were created by hockey fans, across 650 mini leagues.
Over a 1,000 teams have already pre-registered to get involved in the EHL edition, plotting how to spend their budget of €100m.
Will you be able to afford to put SV Kampong’s David Harte in the same team as HC Oranje-Rood’s Thomas Briels and still have money left to get Mats Grambusch, Gonzalo Peillat and Billy Bakker in your line-up?
Pick your favourite players, select your line-up then join up with mini-leagues with your friends and fellow hockey fans to add an extra dimension to the fun of the world’s best club hockey as your heroes earn points for all their action.
** To sign up and start building your Scorrd EHL Fantasy League team, go to: www.scorrd.com/fantasy
Euro Hockey League media release
Hockey greats welcome PHF audit
KARACHI: Pakistani hockey legends Samiullah Khan, Manzoor Hussain Junior and Hanif Khan have praised the government’s decision to carry out forensic audit of Pakistan Hockey Federation accounts.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the three former captains expressed hope that the on-going audit will fully expose the major financial bungling committed by the current PHF regime and the culprits would be duly punished.
They added that such an audit should have been carried out much earlier after members of the PHF congress and executive board themselves repeatedly came out in the media with solid evidence including cheque numbers of dubious payments made by the federation’s top brass.
Reportedly, the embezzlement of funds runs into hundreds of millions of rupees but no accountability of the PHF officials was done up till now.
It is pertinent to mention that during the last few years, the PHF was the biggest benefactor of the government’s financial grants among all the sports bodies in the country and despite that, Pakistan continued to lose a majority of international tournaments and fared very poorly in world rankings.
Dawn