News for 15 June 2016
All the news for Wednesday 15 June 2016
Kookaburras reach final as GB end Germany’s title defence on Day 4
Australia’s Kookaburras have secured a place in the competition final at the men’s Hero Hockey Champions Trophy, but their opponents in the showpiece gold medal match still remains a mystery. India, Great Britain and Belgium are all still in the running ahead of the final round of pool matches on Thursday.
The Aussies hard-fought 2-0 win over Belgium proved to be enough for a final berth, while India’s 2-1 victory over Korea means that they ended competition day four on seven points, two points clear of Great Britain, who tied with title holders Germany in the final match of the day to end their opponent’s chances of defending their crown.
To qualify for the gold medal match, home favourites Great Britain need Australia to beat India in Thursday's first match before they in turn require victory against Belgium, a team that currently remains in the hunt for a final spot, in the evening game.
The pool phase of the competition will conclude on Thursday (16 June) with Australia taking on India at 1600 (UTC/GMT +1), Korea versus Germany at 1800 and Great Britain playing Belgium at 2000.
Match 10: India 2, Korea 1
India bounced back from conceding a late equaliser to defeat Korea in the first match of the day four to keep alive their chances of reaching Friday’s competition final. The result moves the Asian champions onto seven points from the four matches they have played at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
Lively India attacker SV Sunil, who was captain for the day, started and finished a brilliant attacking move to give his side a 1-0 lead nine minutes after half time. A cool deflection from Kim Juhun three minutes from full time looked to have sealed a point for Korea, but India hit back seconds later through Chandanda Thimmaiah who scored from close range after a defensive error from the Korean side.
“We had a lot of chances up front but we couldn’t convert”, said India striker Manpreet Singh. “I think overall our team performance was very good because we conceded a goal late but in the next minute we hit back with a goal of our own.”
Match 11: Australia 2, Belgium 0
Tristan White scored his second goal in two games to help reigning World champions Australia claim a hard earned triumph over Belgium’s Red Lions.
The contest - a rematch of the title match at last year’s Hero Hockey World League Final, which Australia won 2-1 - was close throughout, although it was the Australians who proved themselves most deadly in front of goal. Glenn Turner broke the deadlock eight minutes after half time, volleying in from close range before White drilled home from the top of the circle eleven minutes from the end. It was White’s fifth goal in 79 appearances, but second in successive matches following his strike in Australia’s victory over Germany on Monday.
“I don’t score too many goals, as everyone keeps reminding me”, said Australia’s Tristan White, a player clearly relishing stepping up from the defensive line into the Kookaburras midfield. “They are just falling for me, I am just the guy in the right place at the right time. I’d say that they are team goals forced through pressure, but if someone is going to be there to hit it in and that is me than I’m happy with that.”
Match 12: Great Britain 1, Germany 1
A fourth quarter penalty corner from Ashley Jackson earned Great Britain a crucial point to keep alive their chances of reaching the competition final. However, the 1-1 result has ended Germany’s interest in defending the title they won in Bhubaneswar, India in 2014.
To qualify for the gold medal match, Great Britain need Australia to beat India before securing victory against Belgium, who also remain in the hunt for a place in the gold medal match going into the Thursday's last day of pool matches.
“I think we’d love to be sitting here right now in Australia’s position, knowing that we’ve pretty much reached the final and we can be looking forward to that", said Great Britain goalkeeper George Pinner. “That said, we are still in the running and that is what we said we wanted at the beginning of the tournament. We want to be competing for that and hopefully by the time we come to play Belgium we will know that we can still make the final.”
#HCT2016 #BestOfTheBest
FIH site
Kookas reach grand final
White & Turner put Aussie men in Champions Trophy final
Holly MacNeil
After a slow first half, the Kookaburras have come away with the victory against the Belgium Red Lions after Glenn Turner and Tristan White scored field goals in the second half of the game.
The Belgium team began the match with sustained attacking pressure, scoring the opportunity for a penalty corner five minutes in to the match, however Andrew Charter kept the ball out of the net and the Kookaburras managed to quickly get the ball back down in to their circle.
After an uneventful quarter the first term ended with both teams yet to score. The second quarter saw much of the same with both teams running the length of the pitch a number of times.
The third quarter began with an early shot on penalty corner for the Belgium team, but the Red Lions were unable to convert to a goal. They followed up with another penalty corner opportunity only minutes later but again the Australian defence were too good.
In the 38th minute of the game, the first goal of the match finally came to Glenn Turner after a deflection from Aran Zalewski. Flynn Ogilvie followed up by doing everything he could to get the ball back in the Kookaburras circle, sliding across the pitch and stopping the ball from going out of play.
The final quarter came with Australia looking to maintain their lead. In the 49th minute, Tristan White not only maintained the lead, but extended it by scoring a field goal, taking the Kookaburras out to two nil against Belgium.
The Red Lions had two opportunities on penalty corners with only minutes to go in the game, but the Kookaburras defence kept them at bay giving the Australian's a two nil victory.
Head Coach Graham Reid said: “It was a good lesson for us. We didn’t wake up until the second quarter of the game, and then we started to play a bit better.
“The numbers behind the scene weren’t good for us tonight, whereas normally they are. They’re usually a sign that we create a lot of opportunities and that we don’t give too many away but tonight was opposite.”
Tristan White commented: “It was a really tough first quarter, they’re big, strong guys and they kind of put it to us in the first quarter and we knew we had to wake up as Graham [Reid] said to us at the break. We worked hard and were able to run over the top in the end so it was really pleasing.
Commenting on his goal, White said: “The goal just fell for me; I swung and it went in so I’m happy with that.”
The Kookaburras next play India on Thursday 16 June at 4pm BST / 11.00pm AWST / 1am AEST (Friday 17).
Results today
IND 2 – 1 KOR
AUS 2 – 0 BEL
GBR 1 – 1 GER
KOOKABURRAS 2 (0)
Glenn Turner 38 (FG)
Tristan White 49 (FG)
BELGIUM 0 (0)
Kookaburras’ squad v Belgium
Daniel Beale (Brisbane, QLD) 79/15
Josh Beltz (Hobart, TAS) 13/2
Andrew Charter (Canberra, ACT) 113/0
Matthew Dawson (Killarney Vale, NSW) 45/7
Tim Deavin (Launceston, TAS) 130/6
Trent Mitton (Perth, WA) 92/34
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 276/65
Matthew Swann (Mackay, QLD) 139/6
Glenn Turner (Goulburn, NSW) 128/93
Tristan White (Wollongong, NSW) 79/5
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA) 90/11
Used Substitute
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 30/26
Jeremy Hayward (Darwin, NT) 58/17
Flynn Ogilvie (Wollongong, NSW) 32/11
Simon Orchard (Maitland, NSW) 201/56
Andrew Philpott (Melbourne, VIC) 27/1
Unused Substitute
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC) 188/114
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA) 68/0
Kookaburras' Fixtures
Thursday June 16, AUS v IND: 4pm BST / 11.00pm AWST / 1am AEST (Friday 17)
Friday June 17, TBC
Hockey Australia media release
Australia enter Champions Trophy final, Germany knocked out
Australian players celebrate after a goal against Belgium in their Champions Trophy match. (Getty Images)
LONDON: Australia secured their place in the final of the 36th Hero Champions Trophy with a 2-0 win over Belgium in the preliminary league, while defending champions Germany were out of contention after being held 1-1 by Great Britain.
Title holders Germany are without a victory from four outings, drawing three and losing one. This puts them out of contention from the title encounter.
Britain stay in the hunt for the second spot in the final with five points from four matches and need to win the last fixture against Belgium tomorrow to stay in contention.
World No. 1 Australia boosted their points tally to 10 from four matches to ensure that they would feature in the title showdown irrespective of any result in other matches.
India are in the second place with seven points, followed by Britain on five and Belgium on four.
Open play goals from Glenn Turner in the 38th minute and Tristan White in the 49th gave Australia the upper hand against the Belgians, who tried to put up a good contest but suffered from poor shooting.
Australia, winners of the Champions Trophy for a record 13 times, take on India in their last round-robin league fixture tomorrow. That match is extremely important for India, who are on seven points from four outings.
Germany today took the lead through a penalty corner goal by Tobias Hauke, who made good use of a rebound from the goalkeeper in the 29th minute.
Britain shot back through a penalty corner strike of their own through Ashley Jackson to equalise in the 48th minute and split two points with Germany, who had won the title two years ago in Bhubaneswar.
The Times of India
Jackson earns Great Britain a draw with Germany
Ashley Jackson scores the equaliser from a penalty corner. Credit Ravi Ghowry
A second half penalty corner from Ashley Jackson secured a hard-earned draw for Great Britain in their Hero Hockey Champions Trophy match with Germany. Bobby Crutchley’s side went into the final quarter trailing to Tobias Hauke’s 29th minute goal, but Jackson, his country’s all time top scorer; stepped up with 12 minutes left to ensure a share of the spoils.
Great Britain started well and created the first clear chance of the match. Henry Weir found space in the channel on the right and slid the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper only for a defender to slide in to clear off the line. Germany’s first threat came from a penalty corner. A nice move involving Lukas Windfeder and Tom Grambusch brought the best out of Barry Middleton who cleared off the line. At the other end Nicolas Jacobi performed heroics to repel a Mark Gleghorne penalty corner. It was a real end to end contest but it remained 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was no less frantic and Germany forced a series of penalty corners. Grambusch’s shot got a deflection and seemed to hit Mikey Hoare on the goal line. A penalty stroke was awarded but on referral it was downgraded to a penalty corner. Grambusch resumed his duel with Pinner but again the goalkeeper excelled making a fine save. Germany were knocking on the door and Pinner was keeping it slammed shut, denying Grambusch again whilst at the other end Adam Dixon’s thunderous shot hit the woodwork to frustrate the hosts. Some lovely skills from Nick Catlin won GB a penalty corner but Jacobi performed heroics to stop Jackson scoring and Middleton’s follow up flew over the bar.
With a minute to go to half time, Germany finally ended Pinner’s resistance. A slick penalty corner routine forced another good save from the goalkeeper but the rebound was slammed in by Hauke to make it 1-0 at the interval.
Great Britain forced an early penalty corner in the third quarter. Jackson opted to go low but Jacobi got down well again to save. Great Britain’s No7 seemed to be taking the match by the scruff of the neck and after some outrageous close control in the circle he drew another good save from the German goalkeeper. Jacobi was at it again just before the break, somehow getting a left glove on another Jackson rocket from a set piece to preserve Germany’s lead heading into the final quarter.
Three minutes into the final quarter and Great Britain finally found a way through. Jackson stepped up to take the penalty corner once again and despite Jacobi getting his body behind the ball the shot was too powerful for the goalkeeper and it went through him and over the line to level it up.
Great Britain continued to press for another goal and had Germany on the back foot. Despite this, they were indebted to their goalkeeper once again with a few minutes left. Jonas Gommol was clean through but Pinner somehow snaked out a left pad to block brilliantly. There was still time for Germany to mount one last assault on goal. A late penalty corner beat the goalkeeper but Captain Middleton was on hand to hook the ball away with a cricket style shot to preserve the score and help Great Britain to hard-earned point.
Nick Catlin said afterwards:
“We always want to win but a point is a fair result on reflection. Both goalkeepers played superbly. George made some fantastic saves and there were a lot of corners, so it’s surprising it was only 1-1. We put in another solid display and we’re still progressing. We want to finish the tournament on a high.
Our corner defence is so important. We’d like to concede fewer but our defence is digging us out of a hole a little bit. We pride ourselves on it and in Dan Fox we have the best number one runner around, so we’re happy with how that’s going.
We’re always confident going into games. We’ve played Belgium a lot over the years but it’ll be interesting to see where they are. We’ll recover tomorrow, take a look at the video and come back strong for another tough game.”
In today’s other games, India defeated Korea 2-1 and Australia beat Belgium 2-0. The results mean Great Britain need to beat Belgium on Thursday and hope for a favourable result from India vs. Australia in order to make the final.
Great Britain 1 (0)
Ashley Jackson 48 (PC)
Germany 1 (1)
Tobias Hauke 29 (PC)
Great Britain Hockey media release
Misfiring India manages full points against Korea
s2h Team
Indian forwards misfired. Koreans waited patiently. Indian shooters went inside the circle as a routine, had enough pleasure just being there. Some penalty corners came very late on a barren land, still did not merit seriousness from India. Fitter India was not better today, but surely, India has three points. That is, if crucial, what it matters. India labours to defeat slow paced Koreans 2-1.
India waited for a goal from Nikkin three minutes from the hooter to emerge winner. But it doesn’t do any good for a professional side like India, which even dreams medal at Rio, to fritter away a dozen gilt edged chances.
Helped by decent defence, India maintained a clean slate at half time. But it had every reason not to be happy at that halftime scoreline.
Talwinder Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Mandeep Singh and more just gave away, caved in, with gem of feeds.
They were slow inside D, not sharp to collect, trap, effect shots. They fumbled with chances especially in the TEN minutes spell that came after initial, mandatory exploratory 7,8 minutes.
See below how India missed out to take lead when dominated.
Min 22: Akashdeep passes from midfield to Sunil on the left, but far off to him, a good defence splitting move wasted Others Delete
Min 19: Nikkin gets a great minus from left, but carried just only to beat gk Others Delete
Min19: Pardeep Mor on the right leads challenge from right, tripeed on the edge of D, lot of action from India but not fruitful for India though Others Delete
Min 18 Sunil, changing position from right to left, sweeps the ball into D, hits goalie, rebound not collected, India misses many chances Others Delete
Min: 17 Talwinder gets a feed from Manpreet, Talwinder inside D surprised, halfhearted stop, still managed to retrieve near right backline, dribbles and leaves it beyond backline, Others Delete
Min16: Manpreet could not keep his cross from left flank low. Attack fizzles out Others Delete
Min 15: Another counter from India, but loose ball into D, no forward to receive, gk clears Others Delete
14: SK Uthappa serves a platter for Talwinder, who fumbles a foot away from goaline, leaving gk to kick out, third good attempt in as many as minutes.
12 Danish surges into D from left, India attacks, shortly after a close range cross into D from Pardeep, but Danish slow, fails to trap and tap, another chance wasted.
India should have finished its task well within first 20 minutes, but dragged with wayward shooting in the circle.
When Sunil struck late, a big relief was there
But it short-lived.
A long push was cleverly deflected in for equalizer 1-1.
With a patient defensive game, and relying only on aerial balls for attacks, Koreans came within their objective of drawing reigning Asian Champions.
However in the same minute, Nikkin tapped in a diagonal from Talwinder to give his team full points, and the second win in four matches.
This is as of now what matters.
But we are sure the coach Roelant Oltmans will be worrying on our forwards
Stick2Hockey.com
Last gasp Thimmaiah goal helps India clinch thrilling win against South Korea
The narrow victory ensured India stayed in the hunt for a medal in the Champions Trophy.
Action during the match between India and South Korea (PTI)
India muffed chances galore before a deft deflection from Nikkin Thimmaiah enabled them to pip South Korea 2-1 in the 36th Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament in London on Tuesday.
At the Lee Valley Hockey Centre, India's domination earned them the lead through day's captain SV Sunil's 39th minute goal. South Korea equalised through brisk counter in the 57th minute, only for Thimmaiah to reclaim the lead within 30 seconds with a fine deflection on Talwinder Singh's diagonal cross from left.
The narrow victory ensured India stayed in the hunt for a medal in the Champions Trophy. India now have seven points from four matches going into the last league fixture against World champions Australia on Thursday.
India enjoyed territorial dominance from the beginning and broke into the rival circle on several occasions, but were not smart on the final pass and allowed the Korean custodian to breathe easy. India's first foray into the Korean circle was in the 11th minute after Mandeep Singh snatched the ball from a defender on the right flank and sprinted into the circle. He wasted the opportunity by not squaring the ball to Talwinder Singh and instead tried to himself move up further, thereby narrowing the angle and feebly pushing straight into the goalkeeper's pads.
Two minutes later, the Korean striker Lee Nam-yong received a long aerial ball on deep in the Indian right wing, but was crowded out of possession by the defenders. Sustaining pressure from the right flank, Indian striker SK Uthappa sent a diagonal pass into the circle, but Talwinder was not able to get control of the ball.
Defender VR Raghunath came to India's rescue with a good save in the 14th minute and also generated the Indian counter-attack, but the strikers were again at a loss of ideas after getting on top of the rival circle.
Chinglensana Singh opened up the Korean defence with a fine cross from the left flank in the 22nd minute, but Nikkin Thimmaiah faltered as the ball struck his foot.
Two minutes later, striker Sunil was not able to reach a long through pass from Akashdeep Singh into the vacant area before the Koreans mounting their first dangerous raid. The Indian goal had a close shave with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh blocking the flick from close range. Defender Raghunath managed to control the rebound despite another striker lurking just behind him.
India's raids finally produced a goal in the 39th through Sunil, who exchanged passes with Akashdeep Singh and then side-stepped the onrushing goalkeeper to push the ball into an open goal. Watching the Indians move into the circle, goalkeeper Hong Doop-yo committed himself to moving up to tackle Sunil and that gave Sunil the chance he capitalised upon.
The first penalty corner of the match was earned for India by Thimmaiah as he deftly put the ball on to the defender's foot in the 42nd minute. The penalty corner was wasted a the push was not stopped, but the Indian strikers tried to continue the attack and Manpreet's crack into a crowded circle was deflected out. India forced two consecutive penalty corners in the 48th minute, but Raghunath failed to breach the Korean defence.
On a brisk counter-attack in the 49th minute, the Koreans threatened the Indian citadel, but Lee Nam-yong did not take a shot at the goal. He tried a pass instead, only to see Uthappa intercept it and ward off danger.
South Korea came back to equalise in the 57th minute through a brilliant deflection by Kim Jun-hu on a long ball into the boards, leaving defender Surender Kumar and goalkeeper Sreejesh stunned.
But a quick retort saw India regain the lead within 30 seconds as Talwinder's diagonal cross from left went wide of the Korean goalkeeper and Thimmaiah deflected the ball into the goal for the winner.
DNA
For once, India on right side of late-goal finish
Nikkin Thimmaiah scores 3 minutes from time to help his side thwart South Korea’s fightback and win 2-1in Champions Trophy.
Nikkin Thimmaiah and SV Sunil scored the two goals for India. (FIH)
India have been guilty of allowing late goals to lose a winning contest on multiple occasions. For a change, on Tuesday, they scored a late winner to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions Trophy final alive.
Nikkin Thimmaiah tapped in a Talwinder Singh cross in the 57th minute to help India register a 2-1 win over South Korea at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London on Friday. The narrow victory ensured India stayed in the hunt for a medal in the Champions Trophy. India now have seven points from four matches going into the last league fixture against World champions Australia on Thursday.
For a few moments, though, it looked like India’s old habit of conceding late goals would cost them once again as South Korea’s Kim Jun-Hu cancelled out a brilliant SV Sunil goal, which gave India the lead in 39th minute. At that point, it looked like match would end in a draw, which would have affected India’s hopes of qualifying for the final. However, India replied strongly and took the lead once again moments after Korea’s equaliser.
The scoreline could have been much better had Indian forwards converted the chances they created. India enjoyed territorial dominance from the beginning and broke into the rival circle on several occasions, but were not smart on the final pass and allowed the Korean custodian to breathe easy. India’s first foray into the Korean circle was in the 11th minute after Mandeep Singh snatched the ball from a defender on the right flank and sprinted into the circle.
He wasted the opportunity by not squaring the ball to Talwinder Singh and instead tried to himself move up further, thereby narrowing the angle and feebly pushing straight into the goalkeeper’s pads. Two minutes later, the Korean striker Lee Nam-yong received a long aerial ball on deep in the Indian right wing, but was crowded out of possession by the defenders.
Sustaining pressure from the right flank, Indian striker SK Uthappa sent a diagonal pass into the circle, but Talwinder was not able to get control of the ball. Defender VR Raghunath came to India’s rescue with a good save in the 14th minute and also generated the Indian counter-attack, but the strikers were again at a loss of ideas after getting on top of the rival circle.
Chinglensana Singh opened up the Korean defence with a fine cross from the left flank in the 22nd minute, but Nikkin Thimmaiah faltered as the ball struck his foot. Two minutes later, striker Sunil was not able to reach a long through pass from Akashdeep Singh into the vacant area before the Koreans mounting their first dangerous raid. The Indian goal had a close shave with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh blocking the flick from close range.
Pressure pays off
Defender Raghunath managed to control the rebound despite another striker lurking just behind him. India’s raids finally produced a goal in the 39th through Sunil, who exchanged passes with Akashdeep Singh and then side-stepped the onrushing goalkeeper to push the ball into an open goal.
Watching the Indians move into the circle, goalkeeper Hong Doop-yo committed himself to moving up to tackle Sunil and that gave Sunil the chance he capitalised upon.
The first penalty corner of the match was earned for India by Thimmaiah as he deftly put the ball on to the defender’s foot in the 42nd minute. The penalty corner was wasted a the push was not stopped, but the Indian strikers tried to continue the attack and Manpreet’s crack into a crowded circle was deflected out.
India forced two consecutive penalty corners in the 48th minute, but Raghunath failed to breach the Korean defence. On a brisk counter-attack in the 49th minute, the Koreans threatened the Indian citadel, but Lee Nam-yong did not take a shot at the goal. He tried a pass instead, only to see Uthappa intercept it and ward off danger.
South Korea came back to equalise in the 57th minute through a brilliant deflection by Kim Jun-hu on a long ball into the boards, leaving defender Surender Kumar and goalkeeper Sreejesh stunned. But a quick retort saw India regain the lead within 30 seconds as Talwinder’s diagonal cross from left went wide of the Korean goalkeeper and Thimmaiah deflected the ball into the goal for the winner.
Indian Express
Encounter against South Korea was a quarterfinal for us: Sunil
India prevailed 2-1 over South Korea. (Getty Images)
LONDON: Indian vice-captain SV Sunil said his team treated the Champions Trophy league fixture against South Korea as a knockout quarterfinal and played attacking hockey to live up to the occasion.
Champions Trophy: Thimmaiah strikes as India clinch 2-1 victory over South Korea
"We went all out to win this match and were pleased to have achieved our target," Sunil said after India prevailed 2-1 over South Korea to keep alive their medal hopes in the tournament.
The victory gave India seven points from four ties, going into the last league match against World champions Australia.
"Even if the match-winner came late in the match, our target was to earn the maximum three points and that's what we got," said Sunil.
India forced three penalty corners but did not concede any to South Korea. The Koreans depended on quick breakaway moves or long diagonal balls into the circle, one of which got them their only goal.
"We played attacking hockey throughout the match that was a must-win game for us," said Indian striker Talwinder, who set up the match-winner with a fine pass from the left flank to Nikkin Thimmaiah.
Talwinder claimed the equaliser had not affected the Indian team, which looked to breach the Korean defence throughout the match.
India's domination did not translate into many goals as they muffed several goal scoring chances, but Sunil said the team had improved with every outing.
The Times of India
Black Sticks downed by Netherlands
Olivia Merry gets past the Dutch keeper. Photo: www.worldsportpics.com
The Black Sticks Women have been defeated 2-0 by Netherlands in a one-off test match in the build up to this weekend’s Hockey Champions Trophy in London.
In front of a vocal home crowd, the world number one Dutch scored in each half through Maartje Paumen and Kelly Jonker.
New Zealand put together some good attacking pressure but couldn’t put any goals past the goalkeeper.
Head coach Mark Hager said it was a tough encounter against the world’s top team on their home turf, but one that will ultimately help them get better.
“As always, playing Holland proved a tough task. Our girls showed some very good fight and determination at stages, but this needs to be more consistent for the full 60 minutes,” he said.
“We were not able to make the most of some good goal scoring chances but we need to head away and improve for our first game in London this weekend.”
Netherlands had the better of the first half and made the most of a well worked penalty corner deflection from Paumen in the second quarter.
The Black Sticks came out fighting in second half and were able to apply good pressure and create some excellent scoring opportunities.
Both teams pushed for goals as time wore on, with the Dutch getting a good break away and Jonker scoring from a deflection in front of the keeper.
The Black Sticks travel to London tomorrow to prepare for a rematch against Netherlands in their opening game at the Hockey Champions Trophy at 3am on Sunday (NZ time). The game will be broadcast live on SKY Sport 2.
BLACK STICKS 0
NETHERLANDS 2: (Maartje Paumen, Kelly Jonker)
Halftime: Netherlands 1-0
Hockey New Zealand Media release
Ireland 2-2 Canada
Ireland finished the test series with Canada with a 2-2 draw at the Trinity Sports Grounds, in Santry, earlier this morning.
Ireland opened the scoring in the 11m from their first PC of the game, won by Gareth Watkins, and duly dispatched with a fine low draw by Alan Sothern . They doubled their lead a minute later following a fine overhead from Gormley, Darling with a sublime finish and a 2-0 lead after 1st quarter.
In the third quarter Jermyn almost made it 3 from Ireland’s 2nd PC but his shot cannoned off the crossbar. Canada got one back this time from a stroke after the initial shot from their 1st PC was adjudged to come off Gormleys’ body. Canadian Captain Scott Tupper finished. Tupper was instrumental in setting up Pearson for the equaliser in the 55m.
Speaking after the game Fulton said: “We are happy with the series but we are never happy when there is a game at stake like this. We played well to get to 2-0 and hit the post for a third but, in the last 15, it got a bit messy. All credit to Canada, they came out flying in the last quarter which was a good test for us. “We had enough chances on the day to do something but we have had a good series and built on each game.”
Craig Fulton confirmed he will cut his panel down to 20, in the coming week. He says it will be the toughest stage in the process, saying: “it’s always hard to make these cuts; guys have committed and put everything in. We just need to get the right balance.
“It will go to 20 there were a lot of good performances in the last eight games. We just want to get the right group, the right spirit and make sure we cover every situation.”
His side are on a rest week now before picking up again with a six-team tournament in Valencia featuring five other Rio-bound teams. The Tournament commences on 27th June until 3rd July.
Ireland 2 (Mitch Darling & Alan Sothern)
Canada 2 (Scott Tupper & Mark Pearson)
Ireland: D Harte, R Gormley, M Watt, J Jermyn, E Magee, N Glassey, M Darling, T Cockram, P Gleghorne, L Cole, S Loughrey
Subs: G Watkins, A Sothern, M Bell, M Robson, C Harte, S Cole
Canada: A Kindler, F van Son, S Tupper, R Hildreth, J Gill, A Froese, M Pearson, J Smythe, I Smythe, M Guest, T Curran
Subs: B Martin, G Ho-Garcia, K Pereira, G Johnston, M Sarmento, S Panesar
Irish Hockey Association media release
Canadian men head to Spain for “crucial” stage of Olympic lead-up
Shaheed Devji
Matthew Guest and Gordon Johnston compete in Canada’s final game in a four-game against Ireland in June 2016 (Courtesy of The Hook Hockey Blog)
Canada’s men’s field hockey team wrapped up the Irish leg of its pre-Olympic European tour with a 2-2 draw Tuesday in Dublin.
With the draw, Canada leaves Ireland with one point in the four-game series. But despite the lack of results in the win column, the Canadian men remain confident about where they stand in their preparation for Rio.
“Today we certainly wanted to get a victory. We thought that was important,” says team captain Scott Tupper, who was one of two Canadian goal scorers in the final match against Ireland. “And then we spoke a bit about it after and your goals change as the game plays out.”
Tupper and the Canadians found themselves behind 2-0 by the 12th minute as the home side came out strong in the final match of the series. Ireland – like Canada – is headed to the 2016 Olympic Games and is in the thick of its preparation for the Games.
But Canada was able to fight back in the second half, scoring twice to tie the game.
Tupper scored in the 37th minute on a penalty stroke to cut the deficit in half before Mark Pearson evened the scored in the 55th minute on a Canadian penalty corner.
“It was really important for us to dig our heels in and fight back and earn points,” Tupper adds. “I think that showed a bit of resiliency.”
The Canadians now head to Spain for three matches against the Olympic-bound Spanish.
While Canada couldn’t pick up a victory in Ireland, what played out on the field was encouraging to the man in charge.
“The first game we were really unlucky not to get something out of that, the second as well,” says head coach Anthony Farry. “And the third game was our best game. We created plenty of chances and just couldn’t get it in the net.”
“It has been a really good block for us.”
Good performance mean tough decisions for Farry, who took twenty men to Europe with the hopes that the games would flesh out any final decisions needed ahead of Olympic selection.
Sixteen players and two reserves will be named to Canada’ Olympic field hockey team shortly after the Canadians return home to Vancouver in a week.
“There are some guys who we know are probably going to be (at the Olympics),” Farry adds. “But the ones that are on the border are proving it to be really hard. And that’s what we wanted to see and we’ve seen that so far.”
“These next three games against Spain are going to be crucial to decide the make up of our team.”
Not only will the games be important in determining the Olympic sixteen, but they are also key in the team’s preparation on the field ahead of Rio.
“We need to put together some good performances against Spain,” Tupper says. “I think we’re pretty close to where we want to be.”
“I’m pretty confident that we’ll be rounding into form and able to put our best foot forward in August.”
Before the Olympics, the Olympic team will host the United States in four matches in West Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia in the first week of July.
Field Hockey Canada media release
Schedule set for pre-Olympic series with United States in Vancouver in July
Shaheed Devji
As a part of its preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games, Canada’s men’s Olympic field hockey team will host the United States in four games in the Greater Vancouver area this July.
Games in the Summer Games Send-off Series presented by London Drugs will be played on July 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th, with matches alternating between Rutledge Field at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and Tamanawis Park in Surrey.
The full series schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, July 6 – 7:00pm – Rutledge Field, West Vancouver
Thursday, July 7 – 7:00pm – Tamanawis Park, Surrey
Saturday, July 9 – 7:00pm – Rutledge Field, West Vancouver
Sunday, July 10 – 6:00pm – Tamanawis Park, Surrey
The full schedule and game results can be found here. All games are free to attend and open to the public.
The sixteen men who will represent Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games will be selected and announced publicly in the days prior to the Canada-U.S. series.
The competition will be the first internationally sanctioned matches Canada’s men will play in Vancouver since 2013 when it hosted Chile and Trinidad and Tobago for a three-nations tournament.
It will also be the first and only time the hockey community will have a chance to see Canada’s Olympic field hockey team in action prior to the Games in Brazil.
The Summer Games Send-off Series is part of an Olympic-themed week which also includes the 2016 Field Hockey Canada Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Olympic Sendoff Gala, which will be held at St. George’s Senior School on July 8.
The Olympic-themed event will feature the induction of Janet Ellis, Nick Sandhu, and the 1964 Men’s Olympic Field Hockey Team, and will commemorate the 2016 Olympic Team before it heads to Brazil.
Field Hockey Canada media release
Samoa withdraws from hockey league
Maikeli Seru
Hector Smith Sr, left and Robin Mitchell. Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU
FIJI now has more chances of retaining its Oceania Hockey World League status after the withdrawal of Samoa in the annual tournament.
Fiji Hockey Federation president Dr Robin Mitchell said our south sea neighbours opted out because of ground problems at home.
"Samoa has withdrawn, so now we have nine teams taking part instead of eleven," Dr Mitchell said.
"Samoa has problems getting access to their hockey fields because of a national gathering taking place on their hockey field."
The Fiji men's team will contain three members from the gold medallist winning team in last year's Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea.
"They are captain Hector Smith (Jr), Amenatave Veitamana and Christopher Mock," men's coach Hector Smith (Sr) said.
"We also have a 16-year-old student from Lautoka who has been playing on grass courts all his life. He is coming to Suva to be part of the team. He is small, fit and a player to look out for in the tournament."
Team registrations for 12 players were sent to the International Hockey Federation headquarters in Switzerland last night. The names would be dropped to nine players a day before the tournament.
"The tournament starts on June 28 and the first part finishes on Friday for qualifiers for Round 2. The Hockey World League is held every two years and this is a qualifying for the World Cup in 2017. There are nine Round 1 competitions and the first one was in Singapore, ours the second and it goes to Mexico and other countries. The winners in the men's goes to Bangladesh next February, the women's winner goes to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur next January.
"The other main event is the preparation for qualification for Argentina Youth Olympic Games in 2018. Fiji will enter two teams in the Oceania qualification and this will come out after the secondary schools competition in Levuka in August.
"The main reason for competing is to get points to qualify for Commonwealth Games."
Teams: Men: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Women: Fiji, PNG, Solomons and Tonga.
The Fiji Times
Kazan favourites once more for Russian title
Dinamo Kazan will once again be the clear favourites going into the Russian club championship playoff semi-finals that get under way on Thursday.
They topped the regular season campaign by 13 points after 25 rounds of matches, finishing the series with a 6-1 win over DSP Krylatskoye who were shy some key players due to exams.
Linar Fattakhov and Anton Kornilov both scored inside the first six minutes to set the tone and further goals from Denis Shchipachev, Alex Korolev, Nikolay Yankun and Alexey Mayorov completed the win.
They advance to the semi-finals where they will play HC Tana who ended the campaign in fourth place. They closed out their regular campaign with a surprise 5-4 loss to Metrostroy in St Petersburg, especially after they led 4-1 after just 34 minutes.
The semi-finals takes on a best of three format with games on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday this week if required.
The other final four tie pits Dinamo Elektrostral against Dinamo Builder. The two teams met on the last day of the regular season with Elektrostal taking a 3-0 lead via Andrei Kuraev, Mikhail Proskuryakov and Dimitry Azarov.
But Builder bounced back to equalise with two goals from Alexander Lykov and one from Syed Imran Ali Warsi, leaving the tie at 3-3. They play their first game in Yekaterineburg on Thursday.
Euro Hockey League media release
Pauline Stott awarded MBE
Pauline Stott
Scottish Hockey are delighted to announce that Pauline Stott, Former GB Captain and two time Olympian has been awarded an MBE for Services to hockey and promotion of sport in Scotland.
Pauline Stott had a hugely successful international playing career. She gained 223 international Caps, retiring after the Olympics in Sydney in 2000. She made her debut for Scotland in 1988 and for Great Britain three years later. She competed in two Olympic Games, becoming the only Scottish women to captain a Great Britain hockey team at an Olympics.
As a volunteer she has been dedicating her time to hockey over 30 years. Pauline has been heavily involved as a coach and mentor within Midland District. She has supported or coached every age group within the District. She has been a huge supporter of the benefits of sport, and speaks to a range of schools on her experiences. She has been part of the Champions in Schools programme carrying out mentoring and support for pupils and young Athletes.
Pauline’s volunteering stretches a great deal further. She was a Scottish Hockey Board Director for 4 years, and as a result of her volunteering and achievements as a player was awarded both an Honorary Membership of Scottish Hockey, and a Thistle Award for her commitment to developing hockey.
She is heavily involved with Grove Menzieshill who gave her honorary membership of their club in recognition for her service and achievement. She was part of the Grove Menzieshill team that won the Grand Final this year, a family occasion that her daughter Katie an age group International was in the same team.
David Sweetman, Scottish Hockey CEO commented; “It is fantastic to see Pauline recognised for her services to hockey and sport in Scotland. Her playing achievements speak for themselves. She has provided huge commitment to hockey and sport both locally and nationally and I am delighted that she has been recognised with an MBE. Her passion and drive for hockey is infectious and I know that she will continue to inspire young athletes for years to come”
Scottish Hockey Union media release