News for 09 July 2016
All the news for Saturday 9 July 2016
USMNT Display Continuous Improvement Against Canada
SURREY, Canada – Thursday, in their second game of a four match series, the U.S. Men’s National Team went head-to-head against the Canadian National Team. Although the game started very evenly for both squads, Canada prevailed with a score of 4-1 over Team USA.
Quick off of the starting line, Canada earned a corner in the first minute of play, however, the attempt was cleanly denied USA’s defense. Eager to develop their own forward momentum, the red, white and blue maintained possession in their attacking end for the first quarter. The scoreboard lit up in the second period when off of a penalty corner opportunity, Will Holt (Camarillo, Calif.) crushed a fast flick into the top left corner of the goal to convert. Quick to respond, Canada crossed the goal line with a direct drag flick from a penalty corner to secure an equalizer going into halftime.
Canada controlled ball possession and was able to capitalize on key moments going into the third quarter as a result of the absence of Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Calif.) who sustained an injury during the first game. Team USA was forced to fill various roles to cover for Dhadwal owned very well. Canada took the lead with a 2-1 advantage, however, the USA countered immediately with a fantastic variation on an attack penalty corner where the ball was plucked out of mid air on the goal line after the deflection beat the Canadian keeper, but was unable to score.
The opportunity to take the 2-2 could have made a big difference in the game to keep USA’s offensive intent alive. Canada was able to edge ahead 3-1 in the 41st minute and again in the 56th minute from field goal conversion. The final match report recorded a score of USA 1, Canada 4.
“The steps we made overnight were very pleasing, and this can be seen in the match, to be in a position at halftime 1-1 and then the 2-2 opportunity,” said Chris Clements, USMNT Head Coach. “We will continue to add to this with the team we have here moving into the final two games.”
Canada won 6-3 in the first matchup against USA.
The USMNT will contend against Canada again on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time.
USFHA media release
Super Scots U21 women draw with highly-rated England
Scotland U21 women v England 2016
Scotland 1 England 1
A superb performance by Scotland U21 women against a highly-rated England U21 side ended in a draw at the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow.
England got the match started but it was Scotland who looked the stronger side in the opening stages. The hosts were pressing well, although they were met by a stubborn English defence.
Fran Lonergan had the first shot on goal in the game but her strike from range didn’t take any desired deflections, and failed to trouble the England goal.
Then some good running by Millie Brown for Scotland allowed an opportunity for Amy Costello to smash the ball into the D, but no Scottish stick could connect. Charlotte Watson was next to have a go at unlocking the England defence but her charge into the England D was well defended.
Scotland were unlucky not to open the scoring when Emily Newlands ran into the shooting circle, and found Ellie Hutcheson, but some good work in defence by England saw the danger cleared.
England began to threaten as well. A powerful shot from just inside the circle saw Erin Gilchrist dive to her left and pad the ball away.
Cruickshank then broke down the right for Scotland and found Hutcheson who played the ball across the goal, but nobody could get on the end of it to score.
England’s Georgina Bathurst looked dangerous and had a shot saved again by the impressive Gilchrist. Kathryn Lane then took the opportunity to hit the ball into the Scotland box; it took a deflection but was kicked clear by Gilchrist.
Then, just before half time, England scored. The impressive Lane threw herself towards a pass across the goal, and managed to knock the ball over the line despite the best attempts by Gilchrist in the Scotland goal.
Half Time Scotland 0 England 1
Scotland U21 women v England 2016
Scotland went on the attack right away from the restart with Amy Costello leading the charge, but her shot skimmed wide of the goals.
England then set about trying to double their lead but were prevented by a great save again by Scotland's Erin Gilchrist. A high shot from a short corner was batted away by the goalkeeper having a superb game for Scotland.
A piece of individual magic came when McKenzie Bell set off on a fantastic run down the right for Scotland. She ran the length of the pitch, leaving the opposition in her wake, and won a short corner for the hosts. Charlotte Watson nearly scored from the opportunity for Scotland but couldn’t quite direct the ball into the goal.
Then Cruickshank nearly scored for Scotland; her run into the D ended with her powerful strike towards goal, but the ball hit the wrong side of the post.
Scotland then scored their well-earned goal to level the score. A quick passing exchange sent Watson running through on goal and she slid a shot under the goalkeeper to make it 1-1.
As the game came to a close the action was end-to-end with both teams hunting the victory. There wasn’t to be a winner and in the end a draw was a fair result for both sides.
They meet again 9 July at 2pm, and 10 July at 10am, at the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow.
Full Time: Scotland 1 England 1.
Scotland U21 women v England 2016
Scotland
32 Erin Gilchrist
1 Megan Inch
3 Ellie Hutcheson
5 Lorna Cruickshank
6 Millie Brown
7 Charlotte Watson
8 McKenzie Bell
9 Chloe Hardie
10 Amy Costello
11 Mairi Drummond
12 Iona Armour
13 Katie Robertson
14 Emily Newlands
15 Ali Eadie
17 Fran Lonergan
18 Ellie Halliday
19 Shona McNab
20 Cat McLellan
England
1 Brooke Butler
2 Kath Sommerville
3 Emily Kilner
4 Charlotte Calnan
5 Alicia Callard
6 Lydia MacDonnell
7 Kathryn Lane
8 Maddy Newlyn
9 Holly Hunt
11 Georgina Bathurst
12 Olivia Page
13 Ella Cusack
21 Harriet Pittard
15 Nic Moss
16 Lydia Clissit
24 Alice Willis
18 Meg Crowson
19 Eloise Stenner
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Hockey players await Schengen visa
LAHORE: It seems the Pakistan under-21 hockey squad will not be able to reach Holland on time for two matches as the players are still waiting to receive Schengen visas.
Head coach Tahir Zaman told Dawn, “We have to reach Holland on July 15 to play two matches against their U-21 team and then travel to Germany to play a four-nation tournament starting on July 24, which also involves Belgium, Germany and Holland.
“But we are still in the process of applying for visas since the new system does not allow us to file group visa applications and the Schengen visa authorities in Islamabad are inviting players individually on different dates. Some dates given for individual interviews are falling in the month of August, which do not serve our purpose.”
Tahir said the PHF will plead its case again before the authorities in Islamabad after the Eid holidays.
Meanwhile, the PHF has invited 31 probables to attend the training camp here from July 10 to prepare the squad for the European tour.
Goalkeepers: Ali Raza (NBP), Hafiz Ali Umair (SSGC), Usman Ghani (Railways), Muneer-ur-Rehman (SSGC), Roman Khan (KP Whites).
Fullbacks: M. Atif Mushtaq (NBP), Hassan Anwar (SSGC), Mubasshir Ali (NBP), Zahid Ullah (PAF).
Halves: Abu Bakar Mahmood (NBP), Faizan (NBP), M. Junaid Kamal (NBP), M. Usman (Railways), Mohammad Qasim, Tanzeem-ul-Hassan (Railways), Mohammad Adnan (SSGC), Ammad Shakeel Butt (NBP), Ali Raza (SSGC).
Forwards: Shan Irshad (NBP), M. Azfar Yaqoob (NBP), Mohammad Dilber (NBP), Mohammad Atiq (NBP), M. Bilal Qadir (NBP), Mohsin Sabir (Navy), Rana Sohail Riaz (SSGC), Sami Ullah (PAF), Mohammad Rizwan (SSGC), Mohammad Naveed (NBP), Bilal Mahmood (Wapda), Fahad Ullah (PAF), Amir Ali (NBP).
Officials: Khalid Mukhtar Farani (manager), Tahir Zaman (head coach), Zeeshan Ashraf and Irfan Senior (coaches), Waqas Butt (assistant goalkeeping coach), Mohammad Adnan (doctor), Rana Ghazanfar Ali (nutritionist), Zahid Ali (video analyst).
Dawn
Army boot camp for hockey players to kick start on Monday
KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), with the help of the army, will begin a fitness boot camp for senior players starting from Monday, revealed the PHF.
The Federation and management has analysed the team’s performance and decided to give the players an intense training.
“Right now we are entirely focused on the fitness of the senior players, neither do they have the pace or stamina required for modern hockey,” said PHF secretary Shahbaz Senior. “The camp will last for two weeks and if we don’t get the results we want, the camp will be extended.”
He added that the camp for junior players will also begin from July 10 at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore.
“The junior team is scheduled to tour Europe next month and also play the Junior World Cup in India by the end of the year,” said Shahbaz Senior.
The Express Tribune
USA Field Hockey Selects AAU Junior Olympic Games Coaches
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Field Hockey is pleased to announce the 8 coaches selected to coach at the 2016 AAU Junior Olympics, which will be held at the Houston Sports Park in Houston, Texas,August 2-6. The Amateur Athletic Union’s Junior Olympic Games are known as the largest multi-sport event for youth in the United States. The AAU Junior Olympic Games bring together more than 12,000 athletes each year to compete in 24 sports. In the sport of field hockey, USA Field Hockey selects eight U-16 teams to participate in the annual event. The event provides U-16 athletes the opportunity to experience an Olympic-like multi-sport competition while enjoying the camaraderie and inspiration from top athletes in other featured sports.
Player selections for the AAU Junior Olympic Games were made by USA Field Hockey from the Citi National Futures Championship (NFC) that was recently held at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa. from June 21-29. Congratulations and thank you to the volunteer coaches selected to coach the AAU Junior Olympic Games teams:
Will Byrne is currently the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Northwestern University and has worked with a number of club and high school programs. He has worked with the Element Athletics club in Greenfield, Mass., the SPark club in Severna Park, Md., and the Denver Club in Denver, Colo.
His high school coaching experience includes stints at Amherst Regional High (Amherst, Mass.), Sidwell Friends School (Washington D.C.) and Colorado Academy (Denver, Colo.), helping the latter reach a pair of state finals.
Byrne graduated from Colorado State University with degrees in English and Music in 2007 before earning his master’s degree in Creative Writing from American University in 2014.
Rebekah Herbert is entering her second year as an assistant coach at Smith College, where she is also studying for her Master’s in Sport and Exercise Studies. She has experience coaching within the USA Field Hockey Futures Program, including being head coach for the NE Region U-19 team at the NFC.
She moved to Smith from Gloucester, England where she coached professionally for 3 years at local schools and clubs. She was the head coach for goalkeepers in Gloucestershire and also coached goalkeepers at the England Hockey Junior Regional Performance Centers.
In addition to her coaching experience, she played National Conference for Gloucester City Hockey Club, and also won the 2nd XI Cup with Clifton in 2013. She spent 5 years playing British Universities Premier Hockey for the University of Gloucestershire, while studying for a BS in Sports Education and an MA in Sports Development.
Elzeth Hetzler is the head coach and founder of East Bay Field Hockey Association in San Ramon, Calif. since 2010. She arrived in California in 2006 from South Africa and has been coaching and playing for the last 25 years.
During her high school playing career her team won state championships in both her junior and senior year. After high school, Hetzler continued to play competing in the premier league in South Africa, as well as club level hockey in Germany and England during her travel years. She continues to play, competing in the Super’s Division at the California Cup.
Along with running her club and coaching U-6 through U-19, Hetzler also coaches for the Futures Program starting off as an assistant coach in 2012 and promoting to head coach at two sites at Stanford for the past two seasons.
Kelley Hubbell begins her seventh season as the head field hockey coach at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Prior to Wittenberg, she served as a graduate assistant coach for Ithaca Field Hockey from 2009-2010 and in fall 2008 she helped the Wooster Scots to an 11-1 conference record, NCAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance as the interim head coach.
Hubbell also served as the assistant field hockey and women’s lacrosse coach at Wooster from2006-2008, where she was an All-American in 2005. Prior to coaching the college level, she worked for her high school program in Vienna, Va. Hubbell enjoys working with the Futures Program in Columbus, Ohio for the past 4 years.
Austin Pile is entering his seventh year as a Division I coach. After spending four years at UC Davis, Pile will coach his third season at University of California, Berkeley this fall. Prior to coaching college field hockey, he spent six years at the high school level in Colorado, winning a state championship in 2007.
Along with his collegiate coaching experience, Pile has an extensive background with the Futures Program. After serving as a head coach for sites in Northern California, Pile took over as regional director for the western region. He oversees the program on the west coast and is responsible for twelve Futures sites and more than 400 athletes.
In addition to his coaching experience, Pile has years of playing the sport under his belt. He was a member of the U.S. Junior Men’s National Team for six years, where he played in several tournaments in eight different countries including the 2005 Junior Men’s. Pan American Championships held in Havana, Cuba.
Chris Pothier has been the owner and director of Cape Ann Field Hockey Club for 5 years. Chris’s playing career includes 3 years in the USA Field Hockey Junior and Senior Men’s program. He is currently playing for the U.S. Men’s National Indoor Team. He is the former head coach for Worcester State University where he has seen a spike in the program’s success since his debut, where his first season finished 3-15 and in 2013 finished with a 12-8 record, a Little East Conference tournament appearance, the program’s first ever ECAC tournament win.
Pothier is also the assistant coach for the USA Field Hockey’s Olympic Development Pipeline, East Coast High Performance Center, where it is his role to aid the development of the Junior Men’s National Teams. He also is an active coach for the U.S. U-18 and U-21 Men’s National Teams. He seeks out learning opportunities, one of which is being a Performance Analyst for the U.S. Junior and Senior Men’s National Teams.
Recently, Pothier has been named to the board of directors for the Northeast Premier Hockey non-profit organization that has taken on the task to promote adult, collegiate and club hockey in the Northeast.
Pothier was named assistant field hockey coach at Division II powerhouse, Merrimack College in April 2016. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, with a Bachelor’s in in Exercise Science.
Tamika (Mimi) Smith graduated from Old Dominion University where she had an impressive career. While at ODU, Smith helped win three CAA Championships, three Final Four appearances and a National Championship during her senior year. Smith received 2nd Team All-American nominations twice, prior to being named 1st Team All-American. She was a repeat member of the CAA All-Tournament and NCAA All-Tournament teams. Personal highlights of her collegiate career are CAA Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and winning the prestigious Honda Broderick Award given to the standout female athlete in her sport.
Smith went on to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team for 6 years. She was a member of the 1999 Pan American Team and the 2000 World Cup Team. She played field hockey in more than 14 countries, creating endless memories and making wonderful friendships.
After taking some time off from hockey, Smith got involved in coaching club field hockey and officiated in high school. She has been an active club coach for 6 years and started her own club, Reach Field Hockey Club in 2012. She also coached varsity field hockey at St. Paul’s School for Girls for 4 years. She has been involved in the USA Field Hockey Futures Program for several years, running a futures site in Maryland and supporting others by coaching at various sites. She is also a Level II certified USA Field Hockey Coach.
Smith continues to enjoy the game on a personal level as an active and still very competitive member of the adult club field hockey teams, Team Heineken (Md.) and DC Dragons. She is also an active NCAA Division I, II, and III field hockey official.
Don Warner is entering his 21st year as a physical education teacher and varsity field hockey coach at St. Catherine’s School. In addition to teaching and coaching responsibilities with St. Catherine's, he is a coach for the Saints Hockey Club. Prior to these roles, he spent time as an assistant coach at Radford University and as a middle school coach for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
In addition to his three levels of coaching experience, Warner has a long connection with USA Field Hockey. He has worked with both U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, the U.S. Women’s National Indoor and has toured with both the both Junior National Teams either an assistant coach and/or manager. Most recently he led the Region 8 Level 1 Futures site as head coach at the NFC in Lancaster, Pa.
Warner began his playing experience as member of the Detroit Field Hockey Club more than 30 years ago. He still enjoys playing the game having recently competed for the U.S. O-50 Men’s National Team in Canberra, Australia. He returns to Houston for the first time in 30 years as an alumni of the USA Olympic Festival East team of 1986.
USFHA media release
We need a strong junior hockey side to develop senior team: Harendra Singh
NEW DELHI: Indian junior men's hockey team coach Harendra Singh believes the idea behind a strong youth team is not just about winning but also providing the senior national team with a steady production line.
"The idea behind a strong youth team is not just to win and play tournaments at this level, but also have a steady production line of prospects up for the senior team. For that to happen, the gap between the two must not be too varied," Harendra said ahead of his wards opening match at the EurAsia Cup in Russia on Saturday.
"With Harmanpreet (Singh) and Harjeet (Singh) staking strong claims in the senior side right now, we have already proved that India has a huge depth in talent. Now the trick is to ensure consistency. This has to happen regularly," he added.
With an eye on the Junior World Cup in Lucknow later this year, the primary objective of the junior team will be to gain perspective about their abilities and learn from experiences of playing at the big stage.
"The idea behind these tours is not just to gain experience individually, but to gain experience as a side. It is important," Indian junior team captain and defender Dipsan Tirkey said.
He said the junior team always draws inspiration from the senior team. "Having watched their (seniors) performances of late, especially in the Champions Trophy, we are highly motivated to ensure the standards do not dip. We will do our best to learn from the way they played and ensure we produce good performances on the tour," Tirkey added.
After the EurAsia Cup Indian colts will travel to England later this month for a six match series.
The Times of India
Indian women GLORIOUS HIGH FIVE
K Arumugam
Indian women, an oasis in the desert of Asian subcontinent, have always been in the mind for all right reasons.
Smaller base, lesser activities, meagre resources, no glorious history in the colonial India, did hardly affect them in producing some scintillating, ever-green performances over the years.
Their sporting attire kept on changing time to time, from mini-skirt to body huggers, but their determination has never.
There can be any number of glories with women hockey, but I catch just GLORIOUS HIGH FIVE:
1974 World Cup: It was women’s world’s first major competition, coming six years before they were admitted to Olympics. India had a very nice team led by enigmatic persona of Ajinder Kaur. The team won three matches in the pool, lost one, but topped the pool. Ajinder’s daredevils met Holland in the semis, but last by a solitary goal. Bronze also eluded to Germany, again just by a goal.
1982 Asian Games: Women entered the Olympic hockey arena thanks to then Indian prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But our girls, despite west boycott, missed out the podium on overconfidence. How ever just 18 months later at Delhi, where the Asian Games for the first time saw women hockey in its ambit, Indian women were the toast of the nation even since the ball was rolled at the pre-modernized Shivaji Stadium. Indian girls led by Eliza Nelson with such stars as Razia Zaidi, Varsha Soni, Sudha Chaudhary, Anurita Dubey, Prem Maya, young sensation Rajbir Kaur, Selma D’Silva rolled like a colossus before getting crowned with the glittering title. The scores read like Indian men of Pre-Independent India. India 22 Hong Kong 0, India 5 South Korea 1, India 4 Malaysia 0, India 3 Japan 0, India 3 Singapore 0.
2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games: With top ranked Australia, New Zealand and England, Indian girls were never given a medal chance. Some stirring performance, engineered by the ever-green midfield what with Sita Gussain, Sumrai Tete and playmakers in Sanggai Chanu and Manjinder Kaur and penalty corner specialist in Suman Bala, India proved the pundits wrong. India met South Africa in the Quarters. Despite conceding three unanswered goals, the Indian women came back strongly in the second quarter to force extra time, where Sunit Kullu struck the golden goal. New Zealand was beaten, even today an believable proposition! 17th ranked Indian angels beat 5th ranked Kiwis! An hour after this history, England did a huge favour for India defeating Australia in the other semis. India-England, which played a draw in the pool, again played out but an electrifying draw. Mamta Kharab struck the golden goal off a stunning shot by Suman Bala in the penalty drill. This win changed the perception of Indian girls: shortly Chak de India film was made out of Manchester magic. 
2009 Asia Cup: At Bangkok, where a decade before Dhanraj Pillay’s dream team won the Asian Games after a gap of 32 years, our girls produced some electric shows before winning the silver. Its not gold, but worth it, as the semifinal win ensured them world cup berth, and it came amidst touch challenge mounted by the Koreans. The semifinal was more than the final, as only top two teams will get next year’s world Cup. Not often did India perform against Korea s they did in that need of hour., India took 3-2 lead with gems of goals from Jasjeet Kaur and Surinder Kaur, but it was under constant threat. At the stroke of hooter, Korea got a Penalty corner. Goalie Deepkia Murthy and defenders Subhadra Pradhan and Binita Toppo brought their best, and stood to task even as Korea got another two PC as follow up. Coach MK Kaushik rightly nominated Subhadra Pradhan for the Player of the Tournament award. India actually won the Asia Cup twice, but the stakes were not much then. That's why Bangkok silver is significant.
2015 Antwerp HWL Semifinals: Sometimes, as above in the Bangkok Asia Cup, what matters is wining crucial matches that is more important than the titles, which comes as a bonus. The essence is win a match where you do or die. This situation emanated in Antwerp 13 months ago. It was World League’s semifinals. India need to come at least fifth in the rank to enter the elusive Olympic berth. As expectedly, India was beaten lock, stock and barrel in the quarter final, 0-7 by the Dutch. India huffed and buffed before a tie-break success against Italy in the 5-8th classifier.
Now, If India can win the Japanese, and get fifth position, it would have ensured Rio ticket, though the announcement to that effect will come much later. It was a tough match, where the other Asian power house dominated. However, when a deep defender just mishandled her possession, hawkish Rani Ramphal snatched from her on a quick turn and drew the ball into empty circle, whacked a shocker to give India a relief. Thereafter, the Japanese did every trick in the trade, but the defence won’t give up, wont crack. Half a dozen penalty corners were seen, double the number of attacks blunted what with Indian goalie turning out a Champagne stuff. This lone 1-0 win led India to the Rio, a journey which they missed quite often, and got again after 36 years wait.
Stick2Hockey.com
My father heart cried, my sport heart cheered.
Jacques Brinkmann
Successful hockey Olympian from The Netherlands, celebrated Author and acclaimed Coach, Jacques Brinkmann will be writing exclusive column 'JEWELS FROM JACQUES' for stick2hockey.com. The column will seek to provide perspective glimpse in to the global hockey, especially Dutch and India.
Elite sport can be compared to a rollercoaster: high peaks and deep valleys. Athletes of zero to hero and back. And that too time after time.
The difference between gold and a meaningless place in the rearguard is sometimes wafer thin.
Max Verstappen and Steven Kruijswijk were the victims of just one steering error. In a fraction of a second changed their status of being inviolable to 'people of flesh and blood', meaning ordinary.
Royal Dutch Hockey Federation Coach Max Caldas just took just a few moments to bring my son Thierry from the clouds to the ground. “You are no longer part of the Olympic hockey selection”.
It meant for Thierry the end of his Olympic dream. The European champion in the summer of 2015 will at home on the couch during the Olympic Games in Rio.
The laws of the top sport take extremely tough on him.
The largest glory in life is not falling, but always get up.
The case of blood, sweat and tears. I was proud of the way in which Thierry coped with the biggest disappointment of his career, Olympic dream came crashing down. On social media he wrote: 'setbacks are involved, after the summer weather full bucket flames'.
My father heart cried, my sport heart cheered.
Doubt makes more dreams melt away than disappointment will ever have.
Remaining convinced of your own qualities is the key learning process in elite level sport. It is not only a question of routine. It is also learning from mistakes, adapt to where possible and with confidence to move toward new peak moments.
It does not matter whether you are car driver, cyclist or hockeyer.
His son Thierry Brinkmann
The Dutch’s Olympic contingent for Rio is comprised of about 235 to 245 athletes. It’s a record. Individuals qualify, teams qualify. In team sports as hockey, handball and volleyball this means a hard competition for the final 16 players.
This was also the case for the team of Federal coach Caldas. He will have only sixteen hockey Heroes with him.
While they are on the Dutch hockey fields the last practice competitions finishing and under loud applause be waved goodbye, dozens of hockey players and with them hundreds of other athletes are already back in Tokyo 2020. They run their kilometers, lift anonymous kilos after kilos in gym, and pay attention to every bite they put in their mouths. They are at the bottom of the rollercoaster and waiting for the moment that they are featured on focused feel.
Whatever applies to athletes applies also for coaches.
Caldas was with the hockey women Olympic champion in 2012. Four years later that is now expected of him from men: Nothing less than gold. What we have to wait for the Caldas Status: Of Hero to zero.
This only time will tell.
Stick2Hockey.com
Rome hockey Olympian Joe Antic hospitalised
MUMBAI: Hockey Olympian Joe Antic has been hospitalised but his condition has improved today, according to family sources.
"He's unwell and is still in ICU. He was put on oxygen but it is off now. We are hoping he will recover fully," Antic's son William, said on Friday.
Antic, 90, represented the country in the 1960 Olympic Games at Rome where Pakistan ended India's glorious 32-year golden run by winning the final between the arch-foes 1-0.
A centre half, Antic also was part of the hockey squad that finished runner-up to Pakistan in the Asian Games at Jakarta two years later.
According to William, the former international player, who toured East Africa and Europe with the senior team in the late 1950s, had retired from Western Railway.
After his playing days, he took up coaching and was the national coach of the Oman team that took part in the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.
"He was the Oman national team's coach for two years," William said.
The Times of India