Welcome to the Fieldhockey.com Archives

Daily Hockey news updated @ 10:00 GMT

News for 17 December 2014

All the news for Wednesday 17 December 2014


SA indoor hockey men win final match

JONATHAN COOK in Cape Town

The South Africa men’s indoor hockey team won an entertaining fourth and final exhibition match against a PSI Africa All Stars invitation team 8-4 after leading 4-2 at half-time at a packed University of Cape Town indoor sports hall Tuesday night.

SA won the four-match series 4-0, which included victories on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The series formed part of the Nolands PSI Nationals 2014 tournament, which involves close on 200 teams and just under 2 000 players, boys and girls, from the ages of 11 to 18, and finishes at a number of venues in Cape Town on Friday.

There were some superbly constructed goals in this match and the SA strikes came from Jarryd Jones (2), Geoff Abbott, Matt Fairweather (2) and PG Geldenhuys (3) while the All Stars’ goalscorers were Lloyd Norris-Jones, Keenan Horne (2) and Alex Stewart.

The versatile Namibian Siya Martins was outstanding for the All Stars while SA goalkeeper Chris McCathie made a host of saves and key interventions in the first half before he was substituted for SA’s other shot-stopper, Richard Curtis.

The SA men’s team will be named shortly for the 2015 Indoor Hockey World Cup, which takes place in Leipzig, Germany from February 4 to 8.

PSI media release



PSI Nationals U16s produce some superb indoor hockey

JONATHAN COOK

Day one of the U16 and 18 sections dawned at Nolands Pro Series (PSI) 2015 in Cape Town Tuesday and what an experience it was.

The intensity took one’s breath away. There was an avalanche of stupendous, barely believable goals and brilliant saves while the less eye-catching stuff like solid tackling and sound team structures and tactics was also impressive.

After the delights of the U13 and U14 sections that ran from last Friday to Monday’s finals, the bigger, stronger, faster and fitter older boys and girls now on display are cognitively more aware of the benefits that the intelligent use of space, depth and peripheral vision have on outcomes – and so it was.

The U16A Boys and Girls Sections were at UCT Tuesday while it’s the U18A Sections turn at the campus court Wednesday. What a wonderful prospect.

The U18 results from their venues will be on the PSI website as soon as is possible.

A fantastic game in the Boys U16A Section on court one at UCT saw the West Coast Barracudas beat Durban Panthers 4-2.

Outstanding Cudas captain Dayan Cassiem’s X-Factor stickwork proved the difference, but his father Aziz said the score was not a true reflection.

“The intensity level was high and both teams could have scored more goals,” said the Cudas coach.

“The points are valuable but it’s still early days and there is a need for the boys to maintain their focus over the three days of round-robin matches,” added Aziz.

Apart from Dayan Cassiem, who is at Bishops, the Cudas team are from the northern suburbs schools in Cape Town with boys from Settlers, Fairmont, Edgemead, Paarl Gym and Bellville.

Coach Aziz Cassiem’s younger son Mustapha, still U12, was named Nolands PSI Nationals 2014 Player of the Tournament in the U13 A Section, this after being the top goalscorer in the U13A Section at the age of 11 the year before. Cudas U13s retained their U13A Section title on Monday.

Despite the 4-2 defeat, Panthers U16 coach Mike Wiggett said “it was a great game”.

Wiggett preferred not to comment on the many contentious umpiring decisions but did say, “What we are looking for is fairness and consistency, that’s all.”

“My boys played very well,” said Wiggett, whose lads were then beaten 8-4 by the impressive Gauteng Gryphons after trailing 4-1 at half-time.

Gryphons coach Ant Woodhouse’s side made excellent use of the full court, their attackers getting plenty of ball behind the Panthers defence and exploiting the openings. The Durban side did not help their cause by flashing five penalty corners off-target.

Panthers bounced back with a 6-0 win over PE Vipers in their third match of the day and will draw strength for that.

The Panthers lost 3-1 to Barracudas in Girls U16A Section on court two after beating the Boland Scorpions 5-2 a bit earlier, but suffered a disappointing defeat to Gryphons B in their late game. Before the Gryphons match, Panthers coach Mark Ziegler said that his side needed to start believing in themselves.

“The girls must get confident enough to take defenders on, show what they can do, they have got the skills.”

The Cape Town Seals lost 3-1 to the Gryphons after beating the strong Boland Foxes earlier. The Girls U16A section had the craziest of days. The Foxes, beaten by the Seals but spurred on by the sublime skills of last year’s U14 Player of the Tournament Monique Bartsch, outclassed the Gryphons, who had outdone the Seals …

Seals coach Dane Clark said his side were lacking in the attacking third against Gryphons. “Decision-making – when to carry or pass - was poor. We defended well, despite their three goals, with composure but the main problem for us was when we went forward.

The Gryphons impressed the Seals mentor. “Definitely. They are well-drilled, nothing fancy, they graft for each other, a tough side to play.”

Defending Girls U16A Section champs the CT Seals retained just three girls from last year, most of the new players are still U15. “But it’s not like they are out of their depth,” said Clark.

“They are mature. We lost 7-0 to Foxes in a warm-up last week, so to win today … the girls were phenomenal. Four of them flew back to Cape Town last night, as they were at the Top Schools event in Pretoria, where they won the title with their school, Herschel, so they were mentally and physically tired. They showed great commitment today.”

The Seals boys smashed defending U16A champs the Foxes 8-1, this after a warm-up match last week was drawn 3-3. And in an incredibly passionate U16 A Section boys match, the West Coast Sharks twice came back to draw 3-3 with Namibia Hawks, the equaliser a stunning solo goal with 23 seconds left.

In a hugely emotional U16 Boys A Section late game, Gryphons capped a great day with a win over the Cudas. It was a fiercely physical contest and the Cudas did themselves no favours by getting sucked into the physical stuff.

Both sides could meet in the final and if the Cudas learn from this defeat, they could well turn the tables.

The PSI website will have all the results and much, much more as soon as is possible.

PSI media release



Jacobi reflects on "big team effort" in India

Germany claimed the 2014 Hero Champions Trophy with a hard fought 2-0 win over Pakistan in the final last Sunday in Bhubaneswar in India.

It ended Australia’s reign of five successive wins and was Germany’s tenth title in this competition which now reverts to a six-team format for 2016.

Reflecting on the competition, German goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi – from UHC Hamburg – said “it was a big team effort”. His side featured seven members of the 2013 Junior World Cup winning side, combined with a few experienced heads.

“We worked hard in every minute and always wanted to improve. This team is very young but has a lot of potential. The atmosphere here in Bhubaneswar was phenomenal, I won’t forget this anymore. This was a lot of fun.”

Australia took bronze ahead of India while the Netherlands came fifth with a 4-1 win over Argentina with a late burst of four goals.

Kampong’s Constantijn Jonker was proud of the spirit shown by his side in spite of falling in the quarter-finals to Pakistan after an impressive group phase.

Speaking about his side’s performance, Jonker said: “We didn’t come all the way to India to come fifth so it is a big disappointment. The quarter-final against Pakistan still hurts. But once we lost that match, it was simple. We had to finish fifth and I am very glad we did that.

“We showed character and I am proud of how the team played in the last two matches. It didn’t come easy but we managed to pull through.”

England were another side to lose in the group phase despite a strong showing to top their group.

East Grinstead’s David Condon scored twice in their 3-2 win over Belgium in the seventh place playoff and said afterwards of the tournament: “We started well with two wins and a draw so we are gutted with the two playoff games so it is nice to finish on a high.”

Euro Hockey League media release



Champions Trophy silver a great achievement, says Imran


Runners-up Pakistan team pose after the Champions Trophy final against Germany in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.—AP

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Mohammad Imran said on Tuesday that winning silver medal in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy held in Bhubaneswar, India, was a great achievement for Pakistan.

“It was a great comeback by the team after dismal start in league rounds,” said the full-back on his return from neighbouring India while stating that the Champions Trophy was considered the toughest global event of the hockey world and securing second position was a huge achievement amid the gloomy hockey scenario.

Imran said the team management gave confidence to the players who, he said, made a comeback with a bang in the quarter-final.

Acceding to the fact that quarter-final format greatly benefitted the team, the skipper said: “Definitely, the team took full advantage of the format introduced in 2012 due to which our team played great hockey during the knockout rounds.”

He further said the whole team as well as the management deserved credit for reaching the final of a major event for the first time in 16 years which, he said, was also morale boosting.

After back-to-back defeats, the chief coach had a session with his players including five youngsters besides working with them to improve their tactics, claimed the captain.

“The experience gained by boys in league rounds proved vital for it helped in scoring wins against the Netherlands and India,” recalled the skipper who also said that the strategy of giving free hand to players to play their natural game bore fruits.

“This strategy worked out well besides our new penalty-corner drills that helped in our win against the Netherland,” said the captain, adding that despite hostile crowd, the team played spiritedly to down India in the last-four stage.

Imran also expressed hope that after their good performance in the Champions Trophy the team will be rewarded by the government.

He, however, said all-out efforts will be required to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics about which many emerging players including forward Mohammad Arslan dream to not only feature in but also perform well.

“My dream is to be part of the medal-winning Pakistan team in 2016,” said forward Arslan on his return from India.

The 21-year-old Arslan belonging to Dera Ghazi Khan slammed a brace in Pakistan’s exciting 4-3 victory against India to grab player of the match award.

“My motivation level was very high during the Champions Trophy matches which helped me play from the core of my heart against India,” said the beaming forward, adding that he, however, was disappointed that they could not win the title after coming so close. Pakistan lost 2-0 to Germany in the final.

Arslan who joined the national hockey team in 2009 was happy that he contributed to the success of the team and said that he was looking forward to achieving more for the country in the coming years.

Dawn



As Pakistan can prove, field hockey just refuses to die

Osman Samiuddin


A dejected India hockey captain Sardar Singh, second right, looks on as Pakistan players celebrate their Champions Trophy semi-final victory after they did not win a single group match. Prakash Singh / AFP

This past week, many people have done something that they have not been doing enough of for a long time. They have tuned into field hockey and actively, even aggressively, cared about hockey.

The prism has been the Champions Trophy, which once used to be the grandest hockey tournament on the calendar, the sport’s Champions League.

Restricted to the top eight sides and held annually until 2012, it was always a truer showcasing of hockey’s order of power than the World Cup and Olympics, both held every four years.

Not that it is a non-entity anymore, but its hold on the wider sporting imagination, like hockey’s itself, has slipped. Many days, in fact, it feels like hockey has given up on itself, that it has stopped taking itself seriously.

Take the eccentric format of this year’s tournament in Bhubaneswar in India and the last, which divided eight teams into two pools and then began its knockout stage from the quarter-finals.

That meant the group games had no impact on qualification for the knockouts. Pakistan were the worst side across both groups last week, the only side to lose all their games, hemorrhaging goals throughout. Yet, they reached the final.

Pakistan were actually the story of the tournament, and also maybe the broader story of the gradual dulling of hockey.

But for the gracious pockets of a Pakistani businessman, they would not have even made it to India.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had no money to send them. The PHF has not paid its players for months. The PHF could not send them to the Commonwealth Games. In front of the PHF, Fifa wins corporate-governance and best-practice awards.

And yet, this is the default Pakistan stance. Just give them a corner to push themselves into, then stand awestruck subsequently as they come storming out. Not only do they refuse to die, they turn dying into an illusion for iridescent living.

This was not, in style, the Pakistan side of legend, a style that elicits the same yearning of Brazil’s jogo bonito.

Like football, hockey has changed too intrinsically.

But they were still the side to watch, because when Pakistan start winning it is not just a triumph over the opponent but one over every tenant of modern sport.

Arrive well-prepared? No thanks. Stay organised? Nope. Maintain discipline? Why? Well-paid? Kidding, right? Strategise? Is that a Transformer?

Sure, in all political correctness, we should condemn their semi-final celebrations after beating India. But it was some guys who took off their shirts and let off a little too much steam, not, you know, an army general who tried to sneak a war into a peace process.

It still made for an electric, unforgettable spectacle. And it briefly galvanised two countries central to hockey’s past and future, that too smack in the middle of cricket commitments for both.

Truth be told, that is the elephant stomping around hockey’s world.

In six of the world’s top 12 countries, cricket swamps hockey. In the other six, football renders it a footnote.

In India and Pakistan, cricket is the sibling that did good, who achieved and left behind the other, without so much as a backwards glance to ask how it was doing.

Hockey looks at cricket askew, jealously regretting what should have been. India and Pakistan had far greater success in hockey than in cricket, yet it has mattered less.

Imran Khan has always reckoned that is because post-colonial equations run deeper in cricket. Like the region, cricket was also ruled over by England. Beating them, for freedom, for cricket, naturally came to mean more. Hockey should have benefited from the relative freedom of those ties but, perhaps, has ended up suffering for it.

Like Pakistan, though, hockey refuses to die. Soon it may flourish, because as with so many sports, the growing gravitational pull of India’s economic strength is sucking it in.

Earlier this year, Star Sports signed an eight-year broadcast deal with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for its elite tournaments. It is said to be in the region of US$42 million (Dh154.3m).

That is chump change for most sports but roughly an eight-fold increase on hockey’s previous deal. The channel is also investing nearly US$16 million in the Hockey India League, hockey’s IPL.

Hockey needs this money. Just as desperately, it also needs their savvy. Star Sports is raining down cash and sprinkling gold dust on all sports, from kabbadi to football to tennis.

They are investing these with a quality of coverage and a level of marketing and image-building they have never had. That one channel alone is responsible for the futures of so many sports is worrying, of course.

But hockey can worry about that later. Right now, it needs reviving.

The National



Pakistan hockey team to get warm welcome at Wagah border today



LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has planned a historic welcome for the national hockey team at the Wagah border on Tuesday (today) and made a passionate appeal to the people to receive the players ceremoniously who brought laurels for the country. PHF president Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry, general secretary Rana Mujahid Ali and a large number of Olympians will receive the team at the Wagah border, according to a release issued by the PHF here on Monday.

The team will reach the border at 11:30 am (PST) and will be brought to Lahore in a motorcade procession. Mujahid said in a statement that Pakistan reached the final of the Champions Trophy after a long gap of 16 years, which was a great achievement for a team deprived of international hockey due to of various reasons. He said that although the team lost to Germany in the final, the players proved their talent by beating the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and India in the semifinals on their archrivals’ home ground. He added that the PHF, with the fervent support of others, will receive the champions in a befitting manner. “I invite every Pakistani to reach the Wagah border to give a very warm welcome to the national team that won the silver medal in the Champions Trophy in India,” urged Mujahid.

He hoped that the people of Lahore would maintain their cherished tradition and would throng the Wagah border to extend a warm welcome to the Pakistan team. Mujahid thanked the sponsors who came forward to support the cash-strapped PHF and said that without their support, it would have been difficult for the federation to send the team to participate in the Champions Trophy. “I am extremely delighted that the players didn’t disappoint those who invested their money in them. Their splendid performance has infused a new life in the national game. I hope that now more sponsors would join the PHF’s efforts to strengthen the national game at the grassroots level,” he added.

The Daily Times



Terrorist attack cancels Pakistani team welcome

Pakistan Hockey Federation has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the innocent children of an Army School in Peshawar. PHF President Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry and Secretary General Rana Mujahid Ali said in a joint statement that they were deeply shocked to hear the attack when they were at the Wagha border to receive the Pakistani hockey team coming from India after winning the silver medal in the Champions Trophy. They said the PHF had arranged a warm reception in the honour of the team but after the horrific terrorist attack, cancelled the program. They said that like whole nation the hockey community is also sad and express their solidarity with the parents of the innocent children whose blood wouldn’t go waste.

Mr. Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary, President PHF, Rana Mujahid Ali, Secretary General PHF and PHF Staff prayed that Allah Almighty may rest the departed souls in His Infinite Mercy. They also prayed fortitude for the members of the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss. Aameen.

PHF MEDIA RELEASE.



Champions Trophy: A mixed bag for India

Indervir Grewal


The Indian team did well to make the semis after losing the first two matches in the Champions Trophy. pti

Chandigarh - It wasn't the end everyone had hoped for or expected. But the expectation level kept seesawing.

Before the start of the tournament, not many had their money on the Indian team. The Champions Trophy is where the big boys play. The start wasn't reassuring; they lost to Germany and Argentina. But then India beat The Netherlands and Belgium and everyone started seeing the gold medal. The Indian team was aiming for history, hoping to reach their first final.

Then the performance graph dipped drastically. The disheartening defeat to Pakistan raised doubts whether India could even win a bronze. Australia, who had improved significantly over the tournament, made sure that India's dream of winning a second medal ever remained unfulfilled.

India didn't have a bad game against Australia. In fact they didn't play a bad tournament.

They lost four matches and won two. The difference between the wins and the losses was the chances they missed. They converted their chances in the 4-3 win over the Dutch.

In their match against Belgium, they didn't create many chances but they made those count. The turning point of the match was the equaliser. SK Uthappa's deflection came out of nowhere. It had been the first real attempts for India other than the penalty corner conversion by Rupinderpal Singh.

Everything else was more or less the same. They dominated possession and created more chances than their opponents — even in their losses to Germany, Argentina and Pakistan.

The other feature that was a constant was their poor defence, which let them down throughout. It is not a new problem for the Indian team. But after their improved performance at the Asian Games, more was expected from the backline. VR Raghunath and Rupinderpal had a horrible tournament. Gurjinder Singh didn't look ready to play at that level.

Against Germany and Pakistan, they conceded a goal in the dying seconds. Against Argentina, twice they conceded a goal within seconds of scoring. 

All this points to lack of discipline. It could be because of fatigue. This has been a long and busy year. The Asian Games gold was the most favoured prize. Achieving that goal would have taken a lot out of the players — more mentally than physically. Keeping that intensity was never going to be easy.

It is hard to tell whether Terry Walsh's departure had anything to do with this mental slackness. Walsh had always been vocal about the need to work on making the Indian teams' consistency.

The Tribune



Key thing is India is playing as a team: Gurbaj

Suhrid Barua

If there was one thing that was ‘missing’ in the Indian hockey for many years – it was self-belief – something the current Indian men’s hockey team seems to be have in abundance. The national team has had an impressive year so far – don’t remember when was the last time the Indian team exhibited such high degree of consistency – a silver in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, an Asiad gold followed by a Test series win in Australia and to top it all a fourth-place finish at the Champions Trophy aptly sum up the highs the Sardar Singh-led side has scaled over the past twelve months or so.

Midfielder Gurbaj Singh has been a key figure of the Indian team’s success. The 26-year-old played his part in every international tourney this year and left no one in doubt that his return to the national fold was a smashing hit, after being in the wilderness for close to two years after the 2012 London Olympics.

“The biggest difference I have noticed since I made a comeback to the side is that the boys are playing as a team. The same bunch of players has been playing for a long while now and there is a great deal of camaraderie and understanding among the players, which are helping the team,” Gurbaj says in an exclusive interview to Stick2hockey.com.

Gurbaj, who made his senior international debut at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, believes the national team is looking good to churn out more impressive results in the future. “The way we are playing as unit, I’m confident that this team will deliver at the 2016 Rio Olympics. I can’t tell you whether it will be a podium finish or not, but our performance will be good.”

The Punjab Police DSP gets excited talking about the games against Netherlands and Belgium as India’s best games of the Champions Trophy. “We really raised our game against the Netherlands and Belgium and came up with memorable results. We fought hard against Germany but the late goal by Fuchs did us in. I thought we dominated the opening two quarters against Argentina and created several scoring chances but did not convert and Argentina made us pay by scoring two late goals.”

There is a line of thinking that the presence of Gurbaj has eased the workload on skipper Sardar Singh, allowing the latter to flourish in the best way he can. “I just try to do my best on the field and if it helps the team’s cause there can be no bigger satisfaction than that. As I said we are playing as a team which has been key to our success in 2014,” he quips.

The Pakistan players’ lewd gesture at the Champions Trophy and their skipper Muhammed Imran subsequently claiming that some Indian players came to their dressing room after winning the Asiad gold in Incheon and abused them caused much heartburn in Indian hockey circles. Gurbaj takes a dig at the Pakistanis. “Tell me if our players had gone to their dressing room and abused them will they allow us to abuse them without responding strongly. These are baseless allegations from Imran. The Pakistanis let everyone down with their lewd act.”

So what will India’s next international engagement? “Well, nothing has been finalised as yet, but I think a tour to New Zealand or some other country may happen before the Hockey World League. Of course, we have the Hero Hockey India League before that,” he signs off.

Stick2Hockey.com



What Pakistan players did is bad: Tom Boon

Belgian hockey captain says he is eager to play for Dabang Mumbai in HIL

Rutvick Mehta


Tom Boon (L) with Viren Rasquinha in Mumbai on Monday

He might just be 24 and still only a rising star in world hockey, but Belgian striker Tom Boon doesn't shy away from speaking his mind.

Boon said what the Pakistan players did in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy was "bad", and that they needed to show more responsibility while representing their country.

Moments after their victory over India on Saturday, a few Pakistani players took off their jerseys and made obscene gestures towards the spectators at Bhubaneswar. That reaction took the entire focus away from the on-field action, with Hockey India president Narinder Batra threatening to stop playing against their arch-rivals, and the world body suspending two players and reprimanding one.

Asked if players can commit such mistakes in the heat of the moment, Boon shot back: "No, I don't think it can happen. It was the first time I saw such a thing in hockey.

"All I can say is that the guys who did it were wearing their national jersey and representing their country. And you always have to be at your best while representing your country. I thought it was bad, and you have to represent your country when you have the shirt on," he added.

The Belgium skipper, who was in the city for the first time to unveil Hockey India League (HIL) franchise Dabang Mumbai's jersey, greeted the audience with an effortless "namaste aamchi Mumbai". He sure did his homework, and added that he can't wait to make his HIL debut with the newly-formed franchise in the third edition of the league that kickstarts in January next year.

"I'm really happy and looking forward to playing for Dabang Mumbai. I think we had two bad years and we will do everything to make it change this time," Boon said, reflecting on the poor results that the former franchise – Mumbai Magicians – delivered in the first two seasons.

The fact that Boon is the rising star of world hockey was proven by the paycheck he received in the close bids last month, fetching a whopping $103,000 and becoming the costliest player ever in the HIL. For the record, his base price was just $20,000.

"Yes, it was shock. I didn't expect such a lot (of money). But I'm really proud and happy to have the jersey of Mumbai and I'll do my best to perform for them," Boon said.

What was also shocking was Belgium's performance in the Champions Trophy. Touted as an ever-improving team that can give the biggies a run for their money, they finished last in the eight-nation tournament.

"It was very unexpected," the captain said. "But the fact is that we lost against some very good side. It just shows that international hockey is becoming really good. All the top eight teams in the world are really close to each other. It's good for hockey. It shows that we have a lot of hard work to do ahead of the (2016 Rio) Olympics."

And what about India? The Sardar Singh-led outfit might have finished fourth, but Boon said he has never seen India play better.

"They played really good this time. We were really surprised by the team, the way they were playing for 60 minutes. It was the first time I saw India playing that well," he said.

ALL IN THE FAMILY...

The Boons produce hockey players like a factory. Tom's grandmother, Jacqueline Ronsmans, was a Belgian player, and so was his mother Carine Boon-Coudron. His uncles, Eric and Marc Coudron, also played the sport. In fact, the latter played a record 358 games for Belgium. Even Tom's sister Jill plays at the highest level. That's quite a hockey family, isn't it? "Yes, my entire family played for the national team. It's really nice to represent both my family and Belgium, like all my family members did. I'm really thankful to them for all they taught me, for driving me to training and coaching me. They really spent a lot of time with me to make me a better player," Tom said.

Know Boon
Date of birth: January 25, 1990
Position: Striker
National team: 2008- present

DNA



Canadian roster named for 2015 Indoor Mason Cup in January

Field Hockey Canada has confirmed the twelve athletes who have been selected to represent Canada at the 2015 Indoor Mason Cup from January 2nd-4th, 2015 in Denmark.

The tournament will feature top club teams from across Europe including former Russian club champion Dinamo Elektrostal, Denmark’s Orient Lyngby and Stagelse HK, as well as National Teams from Switzerland and Sweden.

Canada’s participation in the tournament is a part of its ongoing preparation for the 2015 Indoor World Cup, which will be held in Leipzig, Germany from February 4-8.

Both the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Indoor National Teams qualified for the 2015 Indoor World Cup by winning their regional qualifier, the Pan American Cup, in Uruguay earlier this year.

Canada’s 2015 Mason Cup Roster 

Name

Hometown

Devohn Noronha-Teixeira

Mississauga, ON 

Gurtej Dhaliwal

Ottawa, ON

Jeewanjot Singh Bath

Brampton, ON

Jonathan Roberts

Stoney Creek, ON 

Ken Pereira 

Unionville, ON

Lyle Fernandes

Mississauga, ON 

Micah Teixeira

Mississauga, ON 

Pardeep Koonar 

Ottawa, ON

Scott Sandinson

Toronto, ON

Shane Rajaraman

Halifax, ON

Shankar Premakanthan

Ottawa, ON

Tyler Branco

Toronto, ON

Staff

Louis Mendonca (Coach)

Reggie Pereira  (Assistant Coach)

Jagroop Bal (Manager)

Dmitri Chipilo (Video Technician)

Amanda Hall (Athletic Therapist

Field Hockey Canada media release



Out of favour Faizal is back

By Jugjet Singh

AFTER being sidelined for two tournaments, Malaysia Hockey League’s (MHL) top scorer Faizal Saari was included yesterday in the training squad for the World League Round Two at Seng Kang Hockey Stadium in Singapore on Jan 17-25.

The 24-year-old, who did not feature in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July and Incheon Asian Games in September, scored 16 goals to help Terengganu win the MHL double.

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) senior vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said 25 players were called up for training based on their performances in the MHL.

Tai Beng Hai is the interim coach and he will be assisted by former national coach Stephen van Huizen.

Beng Hai said he would name the final squad of 18 players after three friendly matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil against Poland on Jan 4 and 6 and one against Bangladesh on Jan 8.

Malaysia ranked 13th, are the top seeded team and they are in Group A with minnows Oman, Ukraine and Fiji.

Japan, 16th in the world, are in Group B with Poland, Bangladesh and Singapore.

The top-three teams in Singapore will qualify for the World League semi-finals in Belgium and Argentina in June.

The World League is a qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Azmi warned all those who were called up to show up for national training or they will face action.

“We will ban players from playing for the national team in the future if they don’t show up for national training, which begins on Dec 22 (Monday),” said Azmi.

“The priority is the national team. If they can play for clubs in the domestic and foreign leagues, then they should also be able to feature for the national team.

“We will also not give the national players any retirement benefits if they don’t attend national training. However, we will excuse injured players,” said Nur Azmi, who is also the team manager.

The squad — Goalkeepers: S. Kumar, Roslan Jamaluddin, Mohd Hafizuddin Othman; Defenders: Ahmad Kazamirul, Azlan Misron, Azreen Rizal Nasir, Baljit Singh Charun, Faiz Helmi Jali, Sukri Mutalib, Izad Hakimi , Razie Rahim; Midfielders: Meor Azuan Hasan, Fitri Saari, Ramadan Rosli, Azri Hassan, Marhan Jalil, Nabil Fiqri, Shahrun Nabil; Forwards: Faizal Saari, Izwan Firdaus, Firhan Ashaari, Haziq Samsul, Rashid Baharom, Shahril Saabah, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.

New Straits Times



MHL top goal-getter Faizal recalled to national squad

By Aftar Singh


Faizal Saari (left) in action during the Malaysia Hockey League which ended recently. He was the league's top scorer with 16 goals.

KUALA LUMPUR: Forward Faizal Saari, who was the top scorer in the just-concluded Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), has been recalled to the national team for the World League Second Round at the Sengkang Hockey Stadium in Singapore from Jan 17-25.

The 24-year-old Faizal, who did not feature in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July and Incheon Asian Games in September, scored 16 goals to help Terengganu bag the double - league and overall titles – in the MHL.

Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) senior vice president, said that 25 players were called up for training based on their performances in the MHL.

“All the players must turn up for training. We will ban players from playing for the country in the future if they don’t show up for training on Monday (Dec 22).

“If they can play for clubs in the domestic and foreign leagues, then they should also be able to feature for the national team.

“We will also not give the players any retirement benefits after they quit the sport if they don’t attend national training. We will, however, excuse the players if they are injured,” said Nur Azmi, who is also the national team manager.

Eight teams will feature in Singapore. Malaysia, ranked 13th in the world, are the top seed. They are drawn in Group A with minnows Oman, Ukraine and Fiji.

Japan, the world No. 16, are in Group B with Poland, Bangladesh and Singapore.

The top three teams will qualify for the World League semi-finals, which will be held in Belgium and Argentina in June.

The World League is a qualifier for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“Our target is to finish among the top two to qualify for the World League semis,” said Nur Azmi.

Tai Beng Hai is the interim coach and he will be assisted by former national coach Stephen van Huizen.

Beng Hai said he would name the final 18-man squad after the three friendlies – against Poland (Jan 4 and 6) and Bangladesh (Jan 8) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

THE TRAINING SQUAD

Goalkeepers: S. Kumar, Roslan Jamaluddin, Mohd Hafizuddin Othman.

Defenders: Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin, Azlan Misron, Azreen Rizal Nasir, Baljit Singh Charun, Faiz Helmi Jali, Mohd Sukri Abdul Mutalib, Mohd Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin, Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim.

Midfielders: Meor Mohd Azuan Hasan, Mohd Fitri Saari, Mohd Ramadan Rosli, Mohd Azri Hassan, Mohd Marhan Mohd Jalil, Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor, Mohd Shharun Nabil.

Forwards: Faizal Saari, Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin, Mohd Firhan Ashaari, Mohd Haziq Samsul, Mohd Rashid Baharom, Mohd Shahril Saabah, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil.

The Star of Malaysia



Terengganu, the new force in Malaysia Hockey League

By Aftar Singh


Terengganu hockey team players, officials, staff and fans celebtate after they clinched the overall title of the Malaysia Hockey League last week, beating KLHC in the TNB Cup final. - BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu made their debut in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) last season. In just the second year, they have won the double – Premier Division and overall titles.

It’s really a feat as other clubs take years before winning a title.

The reason for Terengganu’s success is the strong financial support from the state government. This season, they splashed the cash by roping seven national players and five South Korean internationals.

The East Coast team also hired former national coaches – Sarjit Singh as coach and German Paul Lissek as consultant.

With a solid team and top notch coaches, Terengganu ended the domination of four-time double champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) with a 2-1 win in a penalty shootout in the final of the TNB Cup on Sunday. Both teams failed to break the 3-3 deadlock in regulation time.

Three Terengganu players also won the individual awards. Mohd Hafizuddin Othman was named the best goalkeeper and the Saari brothers –  forward Faizal and midfielder Mohd Fitri – won the top scorer award with 16 goals and man of the match in the final respectively.

Team manager Mohd Saberi Salleh denied they they bought success by spending millions of ringgit.

“It is not true as we used the money wisely to hire the right local and foreign players to get the desired results,” said Mohd Saberi, the former secretary of the Terengganu Hockey Association.

“We will try to get better quality foreign players next year to defend the titles. Our hope is to see more local players playing in the league rather than foreigners.

“We will propose to the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) that clubs be permitted to hire six foreigners but only three are allowed  to be fielded to give the local players more playing time on the field,” said Mohd Saberi.

“We also want the MHC to increase the number of teams next year as only six teams took part this season.

“How we are going to have a bigger pool of national players with only six teams featuring in the Premier Division? We hope to see 10 teams competing next year,” said Mohd Saberi.

He also called on the MHC to increase the prize money.

“We spent a lot of money and only received RM140,000 in winning both the league and overall titles. The MHC should increase the total prize money to RM200,000,” said Mohd Saberi.

KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj also agreed that the MHC should increase the number of teams to make the league more competitive and interesting.

“More local players, especially the juniors, will get to play if the MHC increase the number of participating teams. The players featuring in the Under-19 MJHL (Malaysia Junior Hockey League) must also feature in the Premier Division to further improve their game.

“Only a handful of juniors played this season and this will not help the country produce more talented players for the future,” said Dharmaraj.

Besides Terengganu and KLHC, the other participating teams this season were Tenaga Nasional, Maybank, Sapura and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL).

The Star of Malaysia



Hockey coach who won four consecutive titles fired

By David Leggat

Auckland Hockey has axed James Grant as senior men's coach, despite his having overseen four successive national titles.

Grant has been replaced by two former internationals, Lloyd Stevenson and Dion Gosling.

Both have played over 100 matches for the Black Sticks and Auckland Hockey chief executive David Curtis said a desire to broaden the province's coaching resources was a key plank in the decision taken by the Hockey Working Group, made up of club representatives, and backed by Auckland Hockey.

"We've had unprecedented success under James, which has been terrific, but like any organisation we need to build a body of coaches." Grant was assistant coach in one of the past four years, and the head in the other three. Auckland shared the 2011 title with Central, and won the last three crowns outright.

Grant did reapply for the job but Auckland Hockey had taken what Curtis called "a strategic view".

"We've said we've had a good year, got a good group of players coming through so it's a good year to try and get a new coach and see how it goes."

He confirmed there had been "very significant discussions".

"It's not a reflection on him," Curtis insisted, more about looking to build a legacy and depth in the coaching stocks.

Grant was head coach of one of the two Junior Black Sticks teams at a Gold Coast tournament last week.

He was instrumental in bringing one of the great players of the modern game, Australian striker Jamie Dwyer, across for the National League this year.

The New Zealand Herald

Fieldhockey.com uses cookies to assist with navigating between pages. Please leave the site if you disagree with this policy.
Copyright remains with the credited source or author