Welcome to the Fieldhockey.com Archives

Daily Hockey news updated @ 10:00 GMT

News for 20 August 2015

All the news for Thursday 20 August 2015


Belgium men and women aiming for EuroHockey Championships title



Both the Belgium men’s and women's teams will be heading to London desperate for a first place finish. For their men, the Red Lions, it is a matter of pride – too many second place finishes. For the women, it is their last chance to qualify for Rio 2016.

The Belgium Red Lions are ready to roar at the Unibet EuroHockey Championships with the team, under head coach Jeroem Delmee, hoping to change a string of second place finishes into a gold medal.

Certainly the team will be determined to go one better than its silver medal finish against Germany in this competition two years ago.

Delmee has made two omissions from his selection – Thomas Briels and Simon Gougnard are not in the 18-man squad.

The Red Lions have made no secret of their determination to win a major trophy and, although the team secured its place at the Rio 2016 Olympics by virtue of their second place finish at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Antwerp, Delmee, Dohmen and company would like nothing more than to take the European title in London.

The team certainly has the players to do the job. In Tom Boon and Tanguy Cosyns, Belgium have world class strikers and both Sebastien Dockier and John-John Dohmen were in impressive form in Antwerp.

The team has just played in the four-match Ergo Masters tournament in Hamburg, where they faced Germany, England and Spain. The Red Lions finished second behind Germany, with Boon ending the tournament top goal scorer, signalling his readiness for the challenge ahead.

For the women's team, qualification for Rio 2016 is still a goal, although the team will know they will have their work cut out at these championships.

They face Spain and Poland in their group, both matches that head coach Pascal Kina will view as winnable, but they also face the world number one side, the Netherlands, in the final pool match. The team knows that only a first place finish will seal a trip to Rio next year.

However, like their male counterparts, Belgium women - the Red Panthers, are ambitious and will certainly hope to take a podium position at least. They finished fourth in the 2013 European Championships and were unlucky to be beaten by eventual winners Germany in the semi-finals in penalty shoot-out after the match finished 2-2.

Kina has omitted Anne-Sophie Weyns and Caroline Struijk from his 18-player squad and Anne-Sophie De Scheemaekere has also indicated that she is not available for selection.

The engine room of the team will once again be the powerful Stephanie De Groof, while Alix Gerniers and Barbara Nelen can be relied on to lead the attack.

Belgium Men: Gauthier Boccard, Tom Boon, Cedric Charlier, Matthew Cobbaert, Tanguy Cosyns, Alex de Paeuw, Felix Denayer, Sebastien Dockier, John-John Dohmen, Jeremy Gucassoff, Alexander Hendrickx, Loick Luypaert, Emmanuel Stockbroekx, Jerome Truyens, Vincent Vanasch, Florent van Aubel, Arthur Van Doren, Elliot Van Strydonck. Reserves: Amaury Keusters, Simon Gougnard.

Belgium Women: Jill Boon, Louise Cavenaile, Aisling D'Hooghe, Stephanie de Groof, Aline Fobe, Alix Gerniers, Barbara Panels, Joanne Peeters, Emma Puvrez, Anouk Raes, Manon Simons, Megane Simons, Emilie Sina, Lieselotte Van Lindt, Stephanie Vandenborre, Judith Vandermeiren, Louise Versavel, Caroline Wagemans.

FIH site



Euro expert Cobbaert eyes Belgian breakthrough



An expert on the European stage at underage level, Mathew Cobbaert is looking to help Belgium to continental glory on the senior stage following his inclusion in Jeroen Delmee’s panel for London 2015.

He says he is “super happy” to be included in the squad for this tournament “after the disappointment of non-selection for the World League semi-final. It is a reward for the hard work I have put in the last few years”.

And the 22-year-old is ambitious that good performances can help push his claims for a more permanent place in the national panel after a glittering youth career.

He won the 2009 Under-18 Euros at the age of just 15 with Michel Kinnen – the Royal Daring coach for the first half of last season – giving him his chance. A bronze medal followed ay the Youth Olympics in Singapore.

A year later, he won the Under-18 Euros for a second time with Philippe Goldberg – now the national assistant coach – in the coaching role. It led naturally to the 2012 Junior European Championship crown in Den Bosch.

“I had some great memories with the youth national teams and learned a lot about the game thanks to some world class coaches. Now we hope to get some titles with the men's national team.”

In addition to the national coaching, he has also benefitted at club level, impressing in the Euro Hockey League.

“As a player of KHC Dragons, I played already a lot of games at the EHL and it is a great competition to compete in. It's a tournament where you play against world class players that you will meet again in international hockey. With the Dragons we can always do that extra to rise above our level.”

And now, Cobbaert is hoping they can translate some of that magic to aid Belgium’s rise on the world stage, saying it is time for Belgium to start winning major world-level titles.

“In the last 10 years, we have grown enormously. In 2013, we got the closest ever to winning a title. After that tournament the reputation of the Belgian hockey changed drastically.

“We went from underdog to a respected competitor for the titles. As a team, we kept growing but the last steps to the top are very small and very hard. It comes down to details and perfection. With this motivated, coherent and fun group, we are a team to be afraid of.”

Euro Hockey League media release



Medal tally quickly adding up for Ruhr



Quickly becoming one of the most fearsome strikers in the world game, Christopher Ruhr says that his German side is still ravenous for more glory to add to an already spectacular past 12 months.

Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar? Gold. World League semi-final in Argentina? Gold and an Olympic spot. A third European championship title in a row?

“Everyone in the team is still hungry for more success; it doesn't matter how many medals each of us has won in the past!”

He is respectful of what is an enticing Pool B group line-up with the dangerous Belgians alongside two of world hockey’s most improved sides – Ireland and France.

“I think that it is a very exciting group stage. Of course, Belgium is a strong side that are developing from year to year. That will be an interesting match at the beginning.

“We played Ireland before the World League and there already, they showed, why they are a team that can qualify for the Olympics and now, I guess, they will be very confident in the Euros.

“France had some good moments in the World League in Antwerp. They have lots of players who were Junior World Cup Runners-Up 2013 in India, losing the final against me and my German team. We will take them very seriously and  of course want to win every match.”

Reflecting on the year gone by, he says the European championships is a different challenge, especially with cut-throat nature of the group stages without the safety net of the quarter-final phase.

“Well, the Champions Trophy and even the World League got a different playing modus so this tournament is not comparable. In the Euros, you have to show good performance from day one, otherwise you will be playing for fifth or seventh place, which is, of course, not what we expect from ourselves.

“But the gold medals showed us, that everyone in the team is still hungry for success. That's an amazing thing which you can observe and feel in every training session and off the pitch as well.

“The last year was great and made us want those medals even more, so we're aiming to win the third consecutive European Title in London. We will see how that works out.”

Euro Hockey League media release



Belief key for Spain star Roc Oliva



Pooled against the Netherlands and England – two sides in the world’s top five – Spanish star Roc Oliva says his side “believe in ourselves” and anticipates a good performance in London.

Oliva has come back into the side having missed out on the World League semi-final earlier this summer and is eager to make an impact in what will be his second European championships in England having won silver back in 2007 in Manchester as an 18-year-old.

At the World League, Spain dramatically salvaged a fifth place finish with a stunning late  comeback against Korea before winning a shoot-out. A follow-up win over New Zealand means they are now on the brink of qualifying for the Rio Olympics, something they will secure if they win the competition outright or help deny France, Ireland and Russia.

And Oliva says that target is very prominent in their minds: “It is our goal to qualify for Rio and there are really big chances we'll do it here in London.

“We're now focussing on the European Cup because it is one of the most important tournament for us and we can qualify straight. However, our preparation for Rio will start just the day after we finish the European Cup.

“We're happy to be almost qualified but it is not our goal just to be qualified; we want to be in Rio because we believe that we can have a really good Olympics and make big things happen. In order to do that, we must work hard and get the best out of ourselves.”

And he says that the side is in decent shape for the challenges ahead this week after a preparation series against India but there are a few tweaks still to be made.

“We are playing well and improving in some areas of the game, but we need to work harder and work on some other areas that will make the differences in the tournaments. We're making good steps but there's still room for the improvement and we're are very focused on those points.”

On the home front, Oliva will return to his hometown club Atletic Terrassa for the 2015/16 season after spells with Amsterdam and HGC in the Hoofdklasse.

And he cannot wait to return to the place where he “learned everything about hockey”.

“I had a great time in Holland playing with Amsterdam and also with HGC, I made really good friends and I had an awesome time there, but I was feeling homesick and I decided to return to Atletic which I consider my home.

“We'll have a very good team and we want to be one of the most important clubs in Europe as we used to be. As Atletic, we twice became European champions and we played in the last two finals of the former European Club Championships but since then, we haven't achieved good results at the EHL.

“So our goal for the coming season is to play our first final four. I played it with Amsterdam but now I want to play it with Atletic.”

Euro Hockey League media release



Rybacha's Poland make Euro top tier debut



Marlena Rybacha says the experience learned at the World League semi-final in Antwerp will be invaluable as her Polish side embark on their debut in the top level of the EuroHockey Championships this weekend.

Promoted from the second tier in 2013 in Cambrai, Poland followed up with a fine second place finish in India in World League round two. It set up battles with highly ranked Australia and New Zealand who proved too good but close run ties against Belgium and India showed the distance they have come.

A 5-1 win over France meant they finished ninth overall and captain Rybacha says that her side – who rarely get to play against the top sides – have learned a huge amount from the experience last month.

“The tournament in Antwerp was a great but painful lesson for us though we were happy to get that experience,” she told the EHL website. “Before the tournament, most of the girls could not have imagined the huge difference between top teams and the second division teams.

“The good thing is, now we are more aware of how much work is still front of us and which direction we need to go to get better. It starts from fitness and individual hockey skills, right through to efficiency and adjusting our tactics for the team. All of us have to make progress and bring the team on higher level.”

The side is grouped against the world number ones, the Netherlands, whom they play on Saturday before facing Spain and Belgium in their other group ties.

Rybacha has some first-hand experience of the Dutch side as she has played her club hockey with MOP for the past four years. The experience has given her a huge boost “on the hockey field both at trainings and games, improving my technical skills, tactical knowledge, and adapting to the speed and the more dynamic nature of hockey in the Hoofdklasse.

“Being there helped me to I grow as a player and leader in my national team. The Dutch competition is one of the best in the world, definitely great place to play hockey.”

But, for each tie in London, her Poland side will be the underdog and Rybacha says that it means that they focus on developing their side and maybe rattle a few cages.

“We are going to London to continue developing after Antwerp and to improve and learn from the best. It’s first time in the history that the Polish women’s team is taking on the EuroHockey first division.

“Definitely, it would be great if we can avoid relegation. It will give us a chance to be in top eight teams in Europe and great opportunity to compete against them again.”

Euro Hockey League media release



Scottish officials appointed to EuroHockey 2015

In addition to the Scottish Women’s team competing at the EuroHockey Nations Championships, there are five officials who will be representing Scotland at the event in London.

Sarah Wilson will umpire in the Women’s competition. She was promoted to World Development List after her performance at World League Semi-Final making her one of the top 20 umpires in the World.

Sarah has also umpired the final of the Champions Trophy in Argentina last year and a semi-final at the Commonwealth Games. She is a graduate of the European Hockey Federation’s Umpire Development programme ( UDP), which a number of young Scottish Umpires are on.

Martin Madden is a World Panel Umpire and like Sarah he is a member of the Road to Rio Programme for umpires with the potential to take part in the Olympics next year. Martin is used to officiating at big events, having umpired the Commonwealth Games Final, Champions Trophy final and the Bronze medal match at the World Cup last year.

Ged Curran, returns to the Olympic Park where he umpired the Olympic Final in 2012. As one of the Umpire Managers, Ged’s responsibilities will include appointing the umpires, supporting them and helping them to improve over the tournament. Ged is the Chair of the Scottish Hockey International Appointments Panel helping to support and develop the Umpires and Technical Officials in Scotland.

Jean Duncan has also got Olympic experience as an umpire and will be looking to pass that experience on, as she supports the female officials in her role as an Umpire Manager. Jean is an active member of the EHF Education committee and a mentor to a number of UDP umpires across Europe.

Martin Monaghan is a former International umpire, who is active in domestic umpiring and officiating. Martin will be one of the Judges for the Tournament and has been a judge and Technical Official at a number of European and World Events including the Commonwealth Games. He will be helping to ensure that all the off field activities during the match go smoothly.

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Batch looks ahead to crucial Oceania Cup


Photo: www.photosport.co.nz

The Black Sticks Men are preparing for one of the most important tournaments they have played in recent years - the Oceania Cup in Stratford from 21-25 October.

The tournament is an Olympic qualifier, giving the Black Sticks Men a final chance to book their spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Over the four days of play, the Kiwis will face Fiji and Samoa and most critically, world number one Australia.

The Black Sticks Men finished sixth at the World League Semi-Final in June, three places away from an automatic Rio qualification, and head coach Colin Batch isn’t mincing his words when he explains where to from here.

“It’s fair to say that everyone went through some soul-searching following that tournament. There are some good lessons to take forward, and there have been some good signs in the recent training block, but there’s a long way to go.

“It’s clear what we have to do at Oceania Cup and we have no other alternative than to prepare in the best way possible.”

Following the upcoming Ford National Hockey League in Whangarei (12-20 September) Batch will name is Oceania Cup Squad, from which the final 18 players for the tournament will be selected.

“There will be changes to the team from the World League Semi-Final – there has to be. We can’t keep failing at those critical tournaments.

“There’s a bigger push from the players to be more responsible for their own performance – at trainings and during competition. And so we are trying to replicate as best we can the pressure that Australia will put on us during each training.”

Batch says players know they have the ability to beat Australia - in April this year in Malaysia, New Zealand beat Australia 3-1 on shoot-outs to claim the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

“It does help, we also know that we normally perform well against the best teams in the world. But Australia will be tough and they will prepare well.

“We don’t know which players Australia will bring across – but whoever comes will make for a difficult game and we just need to focus on our own preparation. They have already qualified for Rio, so they will have players trying to impress and secure their spot in the team.”

Batch said the support of the crowd in Taranaki should not be underestimated.

“There was great support at the event two years ago and the team really appreciates it and responds. There are Auckland clubs that are putting on busses to get people down there – people will come from various regions I’m sure – the more support, the better.”

The Black Sticks Women will also play against Australia, Samoa and Fiji during the same period. The team have already secured Rio qualification, but will be playing for valuable ranking points.

Multi-day, family and VIP tickets are on sale now, with the Sunday VIP function already SOLD OUT.

Tickets are limited so it’s recommended you buy online here. Daily tickets will go on sale on 31 August.

Hockey New Zealand Media release



Black Sticks games confirmed for Blenheim


New Zealand player Olivia Merry looks for support during a Black Sticks match against Argentina in Gisborne in April. PHOTOSPORT

It's official, international hockey is coming to Blenheim later this year.

It was confirmed on Thursday that the Black Sticks women's team will play Argentina at Blenheim's College Park in two test matches, on Saturday, October 3, and Sunday October 4. The games begin at 2pm each day.

Tests will also be played in Nelson and Christchurch, with the series serving as a lead-up to the Rio Olympic Games next year.

Argentina are ranked third in the world, with the Kiwis sitting in fourth position. Both have qualified for the Games in Brazil.

The Black Sticks' visit will be the team's first international test series on Marlborough soil. The only previous visit to Marlborough by a New Zealand team came in 1958 when the men's squad competed against Australia.

Marlborough Hockey is contributing $10,000 towards the costs of staging the games and will receive 50 per cent of the gate takings. Any profits made by Hockey New Zealand will be reinvested in legacy projects for Marlborough Hockey.

The Marlborough District Council's community and finance committee has agreed to give $15,000 towards temporary set-up of facilities at College Park.

Blenheim's Andy Rowe, who sits on the Hockey New Zealand board, said Marlborough Hockey had plans to make it a festival weekend. "We would encourage people to come and see the best hockey they will ever see in the district."

The games would be live streamed.

Stuff



U21 Burras squad named

18 athletes to play at Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia in October



Hockey Australia has today announced the Under 21 men’s squad, the Burras, to compete at the forthcoming Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia in October.

The Sultan of Johor Cup marks the first tournament opportunity for the Burras in their build-up towards the Junior World Cup qualifying tournament in early 2016.

Australia’s Burras will face Argentina, Great Britain, India, Pakistan and Malaysia in the six team round-robin competition in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, between 11-18 October. After departing on 4 October, Australia will play a series of warm-up matches in Singapore prior to arriving in Malaysia on 9 October.

The Burras will be led by National Junior Coach Ben Bishop, who will be at the helm for the Burras throughout their Junior World Cup campaign.

Bishop was Assistant Coach at the 2009 Junior World Cup, which was held in Singapore and Johor Bahru, and has previously led Australia ‘A’ tours. Bishop is also the Head Coach for men’s and women’s hockey at the ACT Academy of Sport.

“Following the U18 and U21 Australian Championships and our national junior camp in Canberra, we were able to obtain a range of quality information on our athletes around the country,” said Ben Bishop.

“The team to compete in Johor was selected with one eye on current performances and the other on starting our journey towards the 2016 Junior World Cup in India. We are lucky to have a large pool of athletes to be able to select quality teams from and the players that missed out will almost certainly get an opportunity to play for the Burras over the next 12 months.”

Discussing the development opportunities that this tournament provides younger Australian athletes, Bishop said, “The Sultan of Johor Cup has become one of the most important international competitions in the world for our junior athletes. It provides an international touring opportunity while also giving them the opportunity to play against international level opposition.

“This year we will be benefiting from playing against Asian, European and South American teams, giving the athletes a fantastic development opportunity.

“We are very grateful for the support of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association whose assistance allows such a great development opportunity for our athletes.”

The squad’s participation in the tournament has been made possible thanks to the support of one of Hockey Australia’s key partners, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, through its NextGEN AUSComGames program.

Australian U21 Burras squad, Sultan Johor Cup 2015
Athlete name (Institute, Hometown, State)
Kiran Arunasalam (VIS, Doncaster, Victoria)
Hayden Beltz (TIS, Old Beach, TAS)
Joshua Beltz (TIS, Old Beach, TAS)
Matthew Bird (WAIS, Coolbellup, WA)
Joshua Bretherton (VIS, Brighton, VIC)
Oliver Crane (QAS, Casuarina, QLD)
Matthew Finn (QAS, Paddington, QLD)
Stephen Gale (VIS, Bulleen, VIC)
Frazer Gerrard (WAIS, Cottesloe, WA)
Max Hendry (VIS, Camberwell, VIC)
Tim Howard (QAS, Wakerley, QLD)
Sam Liles (NSWIS, Tamworth, NSW)
Kurt Lovett (NSWIS, Parkes, NSW)
Andrew Scanlon (VIS, Werribee, VIC)
Joshua Simmonds (VIS, Ringwood, VIC)
Nathanael Stewart (NSWIS, Narellan, NSW)
Ash Thomas (NSWIS, Baulkham Hills, NSW)
Jack Welch (TIS, Old Beach, TAS)

Coaching and support staff
Ben Bishop, Head Coach
Nick Lenoir, Assistant Coach
Chris O’Reilly, Assistant Coach/Manager
Grant van der Ploeg, Performance Analyst
Suzie Goodall, Physiotherapist
Brian Fitzpatrick, Psychologist

Hockey Australia media release



FIH promotes Deepak to International Outdoor Umpire

NEW DELHI: Hockey India's national-level umpire Deepak Joshi has been promoted to the International Outdoor Umpire panel by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday.

The FIH took the decision after seeing his performance in the recently concluded U-21 Volvo Invitational Tournament, held in Breda, The Netherlands in July.

Deepak started his career as a hockey umpire from the SAIL National College Championship in 2012 and has officiated at the 35th National Games held in Kerala this year.

He was a regular umpire in the Hockey India National Championships including the Senior Men National Championship 2015, Division A and Division B.

The 27-year-old was a hockey player and had represented Uttarakhand in the National Championships from 2007 to 2010. In 2011, he completed a Diploma in Sports Coaching from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala and in 2012, he started working as a Coach at the MDC National Stadium, New Delhi. Presently, he is a regular coach for Delhi Hockey.

Deepak is among those young umpires from India who have recently been upgraded to international-level tournaments.

This year, 24-year-old Deepa has also been promoted as International Outdoor Umpire in the Women's Hockey by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

With Deepak and Deepa, a total of 13 Indian umpires (9 Men, 4 Women) are now in the category of International-level umpires and officiate FIH tournaments around the world.

Congratulating Deepak Joshi, Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India said: "This is another achievement of Hockey India as we not only produce the best international players, but also international-level umpires. Deepak is very professional about his work and his consistent hard work has paved the way for this reward."

The Times of India



Former hockey international Tushar Khandekar enjoys passing his knowledge to current players

Taus Rizvi


Khandekar Tushar Khandekar at the MHAL Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. Taus Rizvi

Even after the match between Bharat Petroleum and Union Bank was over with the former winning with ease, the man with jersey No. 14 and initials TK printed on the back was not done yet.

He called out his colleagues to join him for a cool down session that included some stretching followed by lessons on hockey and the mistakes made in the game.

The man in focus was not Bharat Petroleum's coach or captain, but the assistant coach of the Indian team, Tushar Khandekar. In Mumbai doing his duties for his employers, he played a crucial role as his team romped to a 6-1 win, with Gurpreet Singh scoring a hat-trick, in the 11th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament at the MHAL Stadium on Wednesday.

When not busy with the Indian team or assisting Hockey India director and coach Roelant Oltmans, Khandekar spends time on the hockey turf as a player.

"Hockey will be there till my last breath. Ask any former player who has turned coach, the player inside you never dies. Age may be a factor, body may not support you but the mind and heart says that you are still a player," says the fit-looking Khandekar, who can give still give any youngster a run for his money.

"It was only last month that I played nationals for Uttar Pradesh in Pune, where we lost to Indian Railways. So, I play whenever there is an opportunity. As long as I am there, I will enjoy hockey, whether as a coach or as a player," said the 30-year-old who comes from the family of hockey players.

Khandekar, known for scoring the all-important goal that helped India beat South Korea to win Asiad bronze in 2010, is one of the fittest coaches around.

"I love to train myself. As you can see, I also play. Even when I am in the camp, in the free time I run and work out in the gym to keep myself fit," he said.

Khandekar is enjoying his experience as a coach. "It has been a good experience considering that you want to give back to the country. It is great working under Oltmans. Frankly speaking, it was difficult as player because there was hardly any place in the Indian team, so I thought of doing something for my country as a coach" he added.

"Personally, I learnt a lot from Oltmans and am still learning. The same with Terry Walsh too. With coaching, I am getting to learn and improve. I am sharing my thoughts and whatever I've learnt. At the end of the day, I want to become a good coach and do something good for Indian hockey," he said.

Khandekar felt there was a lot of difference that can be seen in Indian hockey. "The foreign coaches are coming to India and working on the players and helping us. You saw how we did in Commonwealth, Asian Games and the Spain series. The coaches and players have improved a lot," he said.

Khandekar did not want to look at Rio 2016 so early. "We are playing well. We have a long way to go. There is time for Rio and the preparations are on. Hopefully we will do well," said Khandekar, who played India for a decade.

Results: Indian Oil 6 (Sunil Yadav 2, Pradhan Somanna 2, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur) beat Northern Railway 1 (Shamsher); ONGC 8 (PP Macheiah 3, Mandeep Antil, Amit Malik, Diwakar Ram, Sumit Kumar, KH Jayanta) beat Western Railway 1 (Jaykaran); Bharat Petroleum 6 (Gurpreet Singh 3, Tushar Khandekar, Hari Prasad, Ravi Pal) beat Union Bank of India 1 (Vikram Singh)

DNA



Grove Menzieshill appoint former Scotland captain Linda Clement as 1st XI coach



Grove Menzieshill Hockey Club have announced the appointment of Linda Clement as Ladies 1st XI coach with immediate effect.

Scotland’s most capped hockey player and captain of the Scotland squad at Glasgow 2014 will take on the challenge of leading the club as they begin a new campaign in the Scottish league and in Europe.

Charlotte Jones, who has coached the team for the past decade, announced her retirement at the end of last season. She will, however, remain as Performance Manager of the club and has agreed to provide Linda with any assistance that she may need.

Newly appointed head coach Clement said, “I am excited by the opportunity to take on the coaching of one of Scotland’s top teams. I know that I will be working with and supported by a good group of players, and that I will be supported by Charlotte, who has done a great job as our coach over a number of years.”

“Last season ended on a high as we won the European Champions Challenge in France, and I hope that we can build on this momentum to bring more honours to the club. We also have a growing junior hockey programme and I look forward to working with these players as they progress towards the first team.”

Club President Kyle Moir said, “We are delighted that Linda has agreed to become our new coach. She has all of the attributes that we were looking for, and is obviously well known to all of our club members. We are certain that the club will support her as she embarks upon this new challenge.”

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Whittington nets first hockey festival hat-trick

Nigel Simon

Atiba Whittington got the first hat-trick of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) Eight-A-Side Carnival Hockey festival as Petrotrin whipped Paragon 4-1 in their men’s Open Division match when the tournament flicked off at the Queen’s Park Oval Ground, St Clair on Monday night.

Shaquille Daniel scored the other goal for Petrotrin while Jabari Perez got the lone reply for Paragon.

Also in winners row was Queen’s Park II, who claimed a 4-3 win over Queen’s Park I led by two goals from Damion Bright while Jordan Reynos and Jarryon Paul chipped in with one each. The trio of Jerezano Bell, Nicholas Camacho and Azad Ali were on target for QPCC I, in the loss.

And in the other match, Courts Malvern and Fatima played to an entertaining 3-3 draw.

In the Mixed Division, Petrotrin also got off to a winning start, 4-2 over Malvern thanks to a brace from Fiona Le Blanc, and one each from Michelle Pierre and Nicholas Grant to cancel out items from Jovan Wren, and Christopher Lazar:

Drinks United got goals from Amanda George and Yesenia Luces to blank Paragon 2-0 while Don’t Trust Us and Coal Pot drew 2-2.

National champions Paragon and Pink won their Women’s Open Division matches in contrasting style, 3-1 against Harvard Checkers and 2-1 over Magtastic, respectively.

For Paragon, Keima Gardiner, Alanna Lewis and Gabrielle Thomas each netted while Rosa Keli Thomas replied for Checkers, and in the other encounter, veteran Stacey Siu Butt got both items in a 2-1 defeat of Magtastic which had Savannah de Freitas on target.

There was also action in the Veterans Division, with Queen’s Park beating Fatima 3-0 and Malvern edging past Carib 2-1.

Results

QPCC Carnival Hockey festival division and groupings:

Men’s Open: QPCC I, QPCC II, Petrorin, Courts Malvern, Fatima, Paragon

Women’s Open: Pink, Magtastic, Paragon, Harvard Checkers, Hikers (Guyana)

Mixed:

Group A: Paragon, Supligen, Petrotrin, Courts Malvern

Group B: Hikers (Guyana), Don’t Trust Us, Coal Pot

Veterans: QPCC, Carib, Courts Malvern, Fatima

Monday’s results:

Men’s Open Division:

Petrotrin 4 (Atiba Wittington 3, Shaquille Daniel) vs Paragon 1 (Jabari Perez)

QPCC II  4 (Danion Bright 2, Jordan Reynos, Jarryon Paul) vs QPCC I 3 (Jerezano Bell, Nicholas Camacho, Azad Ali)

Malvern 3 (Teague Marcano, Christopher Lazor, Nicholas Wren) vs Fatima 3 (Andrew Vieira 2, Jordan Vieira)

Women’s Open Division:

Paragon 3 (Keima Gariner, Alanna Lewis, Gabrielle Thompson) vs Harvard Checkers  1 (Rosa Keli Thomas)

Pink 2 (Stacey Siu Butt 2) vs Magtastic 1 (Savannah De Freitas)

Mixed Division:

Drinks United  2 (Amanda George, Yesenia Luces) vs Paragon 0

Petrotrin 4 (Fiona Le Blanc 2, Michelle Pierre, Nicholas Grant) vs Malvern 2 (Jovan Wren, Christopher Lazar)

Don’t Truss Us 2 (Kadeem Fortune, Reiza Hosein) vs Coal Pot 2 (Andrew Vieira, Samantha Olton)

Veterans Division:

QPCC 3 (Raphael Govia, Rob Wyatt, Robert Mouttet ) vs Fatima 0

Malvern 2 (Anthony Marcano, Nicholas Wren) vs Carib 1 (Randal Ramsammy)​

The Trinidad Guardian



PHF body submits report on hockey debacle

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation has received the report on hockey team’s dismal performance at the Rio Olympics qualifying round from its fact finding committee on Wednesday.

The green-shirts had secured eighth position in the qualifiers held in Belgium from June 20 to July 5 and as a result failed to qualify for the 2016 Games hockey event.

After the debacle, the Inter-provincial ministry and the PHF had formed their separate committees to probe the performance.

The IPC committee, headed by Olympian Col Mudassar Asghar, had already submitted its report putting responsibility on PHF officials and the team management.

The PHF committee, headed by Olympian Shahid Ali Khan, pointed out that preparation of the national team for such a big event was not perfect and players also displayed below par performance.

PHF secretary Rana Mujahid said he had received the report but would not disclose its findings as they were meant only for PHF and IPC.

He said the report was comprehensive, having useful suggestions, and if they implement them the national game would revive.

Rana added that the PHF would take some steps in preparing the national junior team which would participate in the qualifying round of the World Cup, to be held in India in October this year.

To a question how worthy the report was since that was prepared by the PHF’s own appointed committee, Rana said he had great respect for all members of the committee.

“The PHF formed the committee and it considers the report worthy,” he said.

He admitted that missing next year’s Rio Olympics was a great disappointment for every Pakistani but it was not the end of the world.

India missed the 2012 London Olympics and now South Korea and Malaysia, who have lucrative budget for hockey, have also failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics, he added.

Dawn

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