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News 15 September 2014

All the news for Monday 14 September 2014


Canadian women cruise to first place finish at World League 1

Women advance to World League 2 to be held in 2015

Shaheed Devji

With a 23-0 victory over Peru on Sunday morning, the Canadian Women's National Team did what they set out to do at World League 1 in Mexico, finishing first in the tournament and securing a berth in World League 2.

Sunday's match verus Peru was not much more than a formality for Canada. With wins in their first two matches, the Canadians were in the strongest position to finish first in the tournament.

Regardless, Canada left nothing to chance in their final match.

Before the five minute mark, Canada took a 3-0 lead over Peru. Karli Johansen (North Vancouver, BC) socred the game's first goal in the second minute of play.

North Vancouver's Hannah Haughn followed with two goals of her own in the fourth minute. Johansen added her second of the match in the eight minute, while Haughn added her third in the thirty-first.

Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, ON) also had three goals in the first half as Canada finished the first thirty-five leading 14-0.

For the third straight match, the Canadians had the match well under control before the half.

Stairs ended with six goals in the contest and her sister Tegan scored of three of her own in the second half as Canada went on to a 23-0 victory.

Kaitlyn Williams (White Rock, BC) and Lauren Logush (Richmond Hill, ON), who got the start, shared the goalkeeping duties and guided Canada to their third straight clean sheet.

Canada, ranked twenty-second in the world, began the tournament by setting a women's hockey world record for margin of victory with a 34-0 win over Guatemala. Their toughest test, however, came against no.28 Mexico on Saturday.

The Mexicans handily won their first game against Peru and Canada knew to finish first they would likely have to get the better of Mexico.

The 6-0 victory over the host team put them in the driver's seat heading into Sunday's final match.

With the first place finish in World League 1, Canada advances to World League 2, which will be held sometime between December 2014 and March 2015.

World League 2 will be held in three separate events of eight teams each (of which Canada will compete in one) and will be played as two pools of 4 with classification matches based on Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and a Final format. Allocation of teams to events will be a combination of FIH World Ranking and proximity.

Results at World League 2 will determine the nations who take part in World League 3 (the World League Semi-Finals), from which the top six teams will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Brazil.

Field Hockey Canada media release



India’s Moment of Truth

Glasgow silver gave belief to the team, but now is the real challenge — win gold and qualify for Olympics

Indervir Grewal


Youngsters like Manpreet Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Nikkin Thimmaiah will decide whether India seal the Olympics berth in Incheon or have to go through the rigmarole of the qualifiers. File photo

This is it. For almost a year now, this is what the chief coach and his relatively young team have been preparing for. Terry Walsh, after joining in October last year, had set himself an immediate goal – to win the Asian Games and qualify for the 2016 Olympics.

This time last year, the Indian team faced a similar situation. The men, without a coach (Michael Nobbs had quit in July), travelled to Ipoh, Malaysia, for the Asia Cup. A World Cup berth was at stake.

With High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans at the helm, the team reached the final but couldn’t get the gold. Fortunately, Pakistan’s failure to win meant India qualified for the World Cup.

India’s 4-3 loss to Korea in the final after conceding a late goal had shown their inconsistency, for they beat this opposition 2-0 in the pool match.

The Indians will again step onto the turf under the weight of high stakes. But this time the team exudes the confidence of genuine contenders, which was unimaginable a year ago.

Over the last one year, Walsh has worked on bringing structure and stability into India’s game. And he has been fairly successful. The team has improved both physically and mentally.

The experience these men have gained in the last couple of months has been invaluable. They’ve endured the disappointment of finishing ninth at the World Cup after a couple of heartbreaking losses and have felt the joy of winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.

While the World Cup losses would have hardened them mentally, the silver has been a big confidence boost. “Winning the silver at CWG was a big achievement for us as a team.

And we have been working really hard after Glasgow,” said Manpreet Singh, before leaving for Incheon.

“The pressure of winning the gold is obviously there. But the men are only thinking about playing their best hockey. The team is coming together after all the hard work.

The guys are fitter, sharper and hungry for success. And winning the Glasgow silver has made them believe in themselves,” said MK Kaushik, coach of the team.

Captain Sardar Singh said that the team was focusing on one match at a time. Sardar would want to erase the bad memories of the last edition.

He was one of the four, including Danish Mujtaba, Dharamvir Singh and Gurbaj Singh, who were part of the team that finished third in Guangzhou.

India led Malaysia in the semifinal before conceding the equaliser in the 67th minute. Malaysia went on to win 4-3 in extra time. India later won the qualification tournament and confirmed their berth, just four months before the Olympic Games. But qualification is much tougher now: India will have to finish in the top six out of the top 12 teams in the world.

Last-minute jitters


Bucketloads of challenges await India in their quest to win gold and qualify for the Rio Olympics

India should easily reach the semifinals again, where they will most probably meet either Malaysia or Korea.

The Indians beat both these teams in the World Cup, which could give them an edge. But none of the three teams is consistent enough to be called the outright favourite.

Korea have slipped over the last year. But, egged on by the home support, it will be the team to beat. Malaysia, the perpetual dark horses of Asia, can always spring a surprise, as they did in the 2010 semifinal. India will be wary of them.

“Teams are always going to concede late goals, early goals and goals in the middle period. But I think we have improved as a defensive structure.

I think we are getting better at knowing how to play during important situations,” Walsh had said during the camp.

In the CWG semifinals, India held off the New Zealand offence for over 20 minutes to pull off a 3-2 win.

It was a significant win, especially after the ridicule they had faced for conceding last-minute goals in the World Cup a few weeks earlier.

For Walsh and his team, the last nine months of all the countless training sessions, sweating it out in Delhi’s heat, the tours and the tournaments have been a part of a longer process.

But they’ve also been steps towards the Asiad gold – his one short-term goal. And returning from this continental event as Asia’s second-best will not be a consolation.

The Tribune



Eves can sprint to semis but final hurdle will be tough

Indervir Grewal


Reaching the semis could be easy, but winning gold would be the real challenge for the women. File

The form of a penalty corner specialist is always of great concern for a team and its management going into a major tournament. Drag-flicking has become one of the most vital elements of the modern game.

Though only the drag-flickers in men’s game get the limelight, the role is of an equal importance in the women’s game. The Indian women, looking to improve on the fourth place finish, will be heavily relying on its drag-flicker, Jaspreet Kaur. “Jaspreet will be an important player for us. She has worked very hard and we will be banking on her to provide us with crusial goals,” said captain Ritu Rani. Haryana’s Jaspreet had been out of action for most part of last year due to an injury. She made her comeback at the CWG, straightaway making her presence felt. She scored six goals, five from penalty corners. Chief coach Neil Hawgood recently said that Glasgow was successful in terms of penalty conversions. “Our team converted nearly 40% penalties in Glasgow.”

India finished fifth at CWG but Hawgood said that the result was not that disappointing, considering the team finished last at the eight-team Hockey Champions Challenge I in April. About his target for the Asian Games, Hawgood said that not reaching the final would be a disappointment.

The team should make the semis along with defending champions China. — the other two teams are Malaysia and Thailand. Getting into the final though would be tough as they will have to get past either Korea or Japan, both title favourites.

The Tribune



Mumbai Franchise rescued as DoIT Sports Management steps in

NEW DELHI - Even before the news of Mumbai Magicians pull out, another entity steps in to fill up the vacuum. Hockey India League today announced that the New Mumbai franchise would be taken up by DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd., making it for sure existence of sixth HIL franchise.

Narinder Batra, chairman of HIL board said: “We welcome DoIT Sports Management on board the Hockey India League. As they already have immense knowledge in the sports arena, we are confident that will have a positive impact on this season’s Hockey India League. They are a new company with exciting new ideas for the region and are looking at contributing towards the development and growth of Hockey in the country.”

Owner of Mumbai Franchise of HIL, Ms. Radha Kapoor said: “We have always strived towards promotion of sports in India. This franchise in Hockey India League will be an opportunity to be associated with a game which has millions of fan following across the world. With so many people attached to this game we did not want to miss out on this opportunity and we are confident this endeavor will enable us to support the game in the region as we will also aim to identify young talent through our various initiatives”.

DoIT Sports Management was incorporated as part of DoIT Creations Group which was founded by Radha Kapoor, a creative entrepreneur promoting creative and innovative new sunrise opportunities focused on entrepreneurship. The main vision of the company is promoting sports, athletes, sports athletes, sports facilities and events across India.

The Sports Management Group marked its foray in sports with the ownership of the Delhi Franchise of the Pro Kabaddi League- Dabang Delhi.

Other than this venture, DoIT Creations has established the Indian School of Design and Innovation (‘ISDI’) in Mumbai in collaboration with Parsons the New School for Design, New York in 2013 and have recently acquired a strategic stake in the well established Business World (BW) magazine.

Stick2Hockey.com



Mumbai franchise gets new owner

Hockey India on Sunday announced DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd as the new owner of the Mumbai franchise, taking the total number of teams back to the original six in the Hockey India League (HIL).

The Mumbai franchise, originally owned by Dabur, was dismantled recently due to financial issues. Along with Ranchi Rhinos, the pullout had reduced the number of original owners in the HIL to four before Pune came on board as one of the new teams two days back.

However, the present batch of players contracted to the Mumbai team would not be retained and would be part of the min-auction to be held towards end of October.

“Along with the players released by Ranchi and Mumbai, which includes several top Indian and international stars, there will be at least 50 new international and 60 Indian players available at the auction. Once the three-year period is over, there will be open auctions next year,” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra said.

DoIT Sports Management, led by Radha Kapoor, made its foray into sports early this year by owning the Delhi franchise in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team finished sixth out of eight teams in the inaugural edition.

“We welcome DoIT Sports Management on board the Hockey India League. As they already have immense knowledge in the sports arena, we are confident they will have a positive impact on this season’s HIL,” Batra said.

“The pride and passion associated with hockey, India’s most successful Olympic team sport, is well known. DoIT Sports aims to take the same passion and pride to the field. DoIT Sports is committed to contributing towards grassroots development of hockey in India,” Kapoor said on joining the HIL.

Asked about the projected increase in the number of teams in HIL, Batra claimed that existing arrangements with everyone, including the franchises and the broadcasters, restricted the number to six for the first three years. “Chennai and Bangalore are already on board as the two new teams for the HIL as we look to spread the league to south India as well. But we can add them only from the fourth year onwards,” Batra said.

The third edition of the HIL would be held in January-February 2015.

The Hindu



Is the Hockey India League losing its financial viability?

Jaspreet Sahni


Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Two hasty announcements have followed the pull-out of Ranchi Rhinos from the Hockey India League (HIL) last week. The quick introduction of Pune and the change in ownership of Mumbai, all in a matter of 24 hours by Hockey India following Ranchi's pull-out, wear the look of damage control for a sport that has seen more valleys than peaks in its popularity graph for more than two decades now.

Ranchi dropped a bomb in the HIL assembly by announcing its sudden decision to put the franchise to sleep. The news sent Hockey India springing into action, while the abandoned players shared their concerns with each others.

Ranchi's exit came at the heels of Dabur Group opting out as owners of Mumbai Magicians and thus sent Hockey India's headache metre soaring into the red zone. Two owners packing their bags after just two seasons is never a good news for the organisers.

Deccan Water Treatment Pvt. Ltd. were introduced by Hockey India as the owners of new Pune franchise, and less than a day later, on Sunday, the baton of Mumbai's ownership passed from the Dabur Group to DoIT Sports Management. But still bubbling under those hasty announcements was this question: what made Ranchi, winners of the

inaugural HIL and one of the most popular hosts of the league, call it quits?

IBNLive.com is in possession of the e-mail that Pune shot to its players, describing the reasons behind its decision. And the contents of that communication mince no words that the HIL franchises are losing trust in the league's financial viability.

In the e-mail sent by franchise's CEO and former Bengal player Banti Singh, Pune made it clear to its players that it's becoming difficult for HIL franchises to break-even and that "they don't see any viability in continuation in the league", hence leading to the hard decision of quitting.

Here's the e-mail:

Dear All,

With deepest regret, on behalf the management of Ranchi Rhinos, I am to inform you all that co-owners of Ranchi Rhinos have decided to withdraw from the coming session of HHIL scheduled in January 2015.

In the light of withdrawal of Mumbai Magicians from the 2015 league and looking at previous two seasons and seeing not much change in the coming season, it has been felt by the owners that it's not going to be easy for HHIL franchises to break-even, even in the coming few years and they don't see any viability in continuation in the league.

The time spent with you all will always remain a cherished memory and we wish you all the best for the future.

Warm Regards,

Banti Singh

While the development is sad, the game finds itself in much too familiar zone. Hockey's fate is unfortunately once again left to the mercy of investors.

IBNLive Sports



Bees and EG open English league with wins

Reigning English Premier Division champions Beeston picked up where they left off last season with a 6-2 win over Canterbury on the first day of the 2014-15 season.

It was Beeston who drew first blood with Gordon McIntyre on target but Harry Roberts drew Canterbury level soon after. Beeston went on to pepper the opposition goal and Sam Ward, Tim Whiteman and David Ames all found the target, as did Ben Arnold with a quick-fire brace.

Last season’s runners-up and fellow EHL-qualifiers East Grinstead were favourites against Cannock, but were trailing 3-1 at the break after Rob Farrington, Tom Morris and Marc Edwards had given their side the lead.

But East Grinstead hit back with Mark Pearn and David Condon pulling them level. Then, with just seven seconds remaining, Ashley Jackson popped up to score the winner.

Euro Hockey League media release



Kemperman honoured by Hockey.nl

Robbert Kemperman will receive the hockey.nl Golden Stick this afternoon during the Kampong vs Amsterdam Dutch Hoofdklasse game in Utrecht as the 2013/14 Player of the Year.

He will be honoured with the award by former trainer Roger van Gent, the coach who gave him his first team debut.

Oranje Zwart’s Mink van der Weerden has already been honoured for his top goalscoring exploits with 36 goals last season while former international Piet-Hein Geeris received the Golden Ball.

For Kampong, it was a good week. In addition to their 3-0 win over Rotterdam, EHL hero Loick Luypaert returned to training after an injury that kept him out of the summer’s World Cup.

Euro Hockey League media release



East Grinstead secure last-gasp win as Canterbury’s Sarah Kerly keeps family name alive

By Rod Gilmour


In the frame: Sarah Kerly (centre) scored opening day brace for Canterbury 

It has been a long summer with England, but Ashley Jackson was finally able to kiss his club badge in some style on Saturday when he scored with seven seconds left to deny brave Cannock.

East Grinstead, last season’s runners-up, got off to a fine start when Jackson’s brother, Wesley, opened the scoring in the fourth minute. But they trailed 3-1 at half-time through goals by Rob Farrington, Tom Morris and Marc Edwards, the captain.

However, East Grinstead were still holding plenty of possession and they soon rallied, led by Jackson and Whitgift School’s Rhys Smith, an England under-18 player making his club debut.

As was goalkeeper Paddy Smith, following a summer move from Cannock, who staved off a number of penalty corner threats to keep the visitors in the game.

Mark Pearn and David Condon then both struck as the Sussex outfit levelled with 15 minutes left. In the dying seconds, Jackson latched on to a through ball, cut back on the right and buried a low reverse stick shot to hand East Grinstead a 4-3 win.

“It is quite dazzling to watch him in the flesh and he can make top-class players look ordinary,” said Matt Jones, East Grinstead’s manager.

“Accolades may have distracted his early career but now he accepts nothing short of his best, both of himself and his team-mates."

Jones added that Jackson was "right back to his best" following the shoulder injury that hampered his World Cup in June.

Defending champions Beeston thrashed Canterbury 6-2, while Surbiton beat Reading 3-1. Andrew Hayward, the hard-hitting New Zealander, scored as Hampstead and Westminster began life in the top flight with a 2-1 victory over Wimbledon.

In the Investec Women’s premier division, the Kerly name is still alive and flourishing as Sarah, daughter of Olympic great Sean, scored a brace to hand Canterbury a fine opening day win.

Kerly, 24, made her Canterbury debut eight years ago before spending last year at Syracuse University in New York. She returned to the side in style, scoring a rebound off the post in the ninth minute and finished off another move with four minutes left.

In between, Grace Balsdon, Canterbury’s 21-year-old captain, also showed her potential as a future contributor to GB women’s penalty corner routines when she drag flicked home to double Canterbury’s lead.

“It was great to set the ball rolling and we are feeling good as a team for the season,” said Kerly.

And is her father still inspirational? “He has taught me a lot but Dad has never pushed me and it’s all come from my self-motivation.”

Elsewhere, Holcombe, the most talked about club in English hockey after a raft of international joined the Medway club, beat Bowdon Hightown 3-0.

The newly-promoted club saw goals from Nicola White, Leigh Massdorp and Nicci Daly. Surbiton, the defending champions, drew 0-0 with rivals Reading.

The Telegraph



Field Hockey Wins Two To Stay Undefeated

By Glynis K. Healey


Senior Noel Painter, pictured above in previous action, scored her second goal of the season against Vermont, as the 4-0 Crimson are off to their best start since 2005. Meredith H. Keffer

The Harvard field hockey team had luck on its side up north this weekend, earning two wins over the University of Maine and the University of Vermont at the Catamount Classic Tournament. The Crimson’s four-game win streak is the team’s best start to the season since 2005, when the squad also started off 4-0.

Harvard (4-0) snatched close wins from both of its New England counterparts, defeating both teams by a score of 2-1. In both games, the Crimson posted the first tally of the game, but was forced to come back after its respective opponents knotted the score, 1-1.

“Our first Ivy League game is on Saturday against Yale, and our goal for the game during preseason was to go into our first Ivy League match undefeated,” senior Noel Painter said. “This weekend we won both of our games so…it feels great, and we have a lot of momentum going into Ivy League play.”

HARVARD 2, VERMONT 1

After taking down Maine on Saturday, the Crimson needed a little extra time to earn its win over Vermont (1-5) on Sunday, and remained undefeated on the season.

“As long as we just keep the work at the level we’ve been doing I think we’re going to have a great season,” Harvard coach Tjerk van Herwaarden said. “From the seniors to the freshmen, I think we have a really well-balanced competitive environment, and I think that will keep us on our toes for the next few months.”

One day after collecting both assists to help Harvard grab the victory against the Black Bears, freshman Ellie Cookson came through once again, scoring unassisted nine minutes into sudden-death overtime. Cookson cut through the Catamount defense and fired a shot from three yards out, where it ricocheted off the defense and into the goal.

“[In overtime], we really wanted to focus on playing our game, and staying composed and controlled,” Painter said. “Our goal was just to...keep numbers behind the ball, really just try and only make runs when we had those opportunities, and not running past the ball a lot, and it worked.”

Painter earned her second goal of the season at the 25-minute mark, collecting the rebound from freshman Hannah Wellington’s shot and snaking the ball into the lower right corner of the net to put Harvard up by one.

The Crimson had 12 shots in the second half but was unable to capitalize, allowing Vermont to tie the game in the 58th minute. The game remained scoreless for the remainder of regulation, forcing the overtime period.

HARVARD 2, MAINE 1

In its first game of the tournament, Harvard continued its winning ways, extending its win streak to three games after a victory over Maine (0-6).

Despite being outshot, 18-7, by the Black Bears, the Crimson managed to come out on top in large part due to the strong play of junior goalkeeper Issy Davies. Davies had a career-high nine saves to preserve the win for Harvard.

After a largely back-and-forth first half led to a one-goal advantage for the Crimson, Maine responded just two minutes after the break with a goal of its own. Harvard didn’t take long to strike again, however, and Cookson found sophomore Marissa Balleza on a fast break to assist on what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

Wellington continued her stellar college debut, putting Harvard on the board near the end of the first half after 33 minutes of scoreless play. The rookie sent the ball past the Maine goalkeeper from the top of the arc for her third goal of the season.

“We’re definitely getting better at giving each other lots of options,” Painter said. “If somebody’s on the ball there’s always another player cutting to the left or right or forward, and we’re trying to be open and really stretch the field wide and long…. We made the hard runs and just did a lot more work off ball [this week], and I think that helped us come away with both wins.”

The Harvard Crimson



Field Hockey Defeated, 3-2, by Liberty

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania women’s field hockey team scored two goals in the first half despite Liberty’s consistent offensive pressure, before falling, 3-2, to the Lady Flames Sunday afternoon at Ellen Vagelos Field.

Liberty (2-4) outshot the Quakers, 9-2, in the first half, but Penn led, 2-1, at the break on goals from junior Elizabeth Hitti and freshman Alexa Hoover. It was Hitti’s second goal of the season and Hoover’s team leading sixth.

Penn (2-2) was outshot, 21-9, over the course of the contest with senior Allison Weisenfels keeping the Lady Flames largely at bay, making 12 saves on the day.

Liberty scored once late in the first half, and the only two goals in the second half, with the winning goal coming at 6:09 left in the game.

Hitti and Hoover were the only Quakers able to put shots on goal, and each recorded an assist on one another’s scores.

After a four game non-conference homestand to begin the 2014 season, Penn will travel for the first time in its Ivy League opening match against Cornell, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m.

Penn Field Hockey

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