News for 27 August 2016
All the news for Saturday 27 August 2016
Favourites KLHC held in Malaysia Hockey League
by Aftar Singh
KLHC player Meor Muhamad Azuan Hasan (left) fighting for the ball with UNIKL player Daragh James Walsh in the Malaysian Hockey League match at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium yesterday. Both sides drew 1-1. - IBRAHIM MOHTAR/ The STAR
KUALA LUMPUR: Fancied Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) stumbled to a draw but still held on to the top spot in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
Although KLHC drew 1-1 with Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium yesterday, they’re still sitting pretty at the top with seven points from three matches.
KLHC took the lead through South Korean Nam Hyun-woo in the third minute, but UniKL hit back through Pakistani Muhammad Toseeq Arshad in the 51st minute.
It was a spirited display by UniKL as many had expected KLHC to steamroll past them.
UniKL coach A. Arulselvaraj said that his players went into the match brimming with confidence and self-belief.
“I must say my boys showed tremendous spirit ... they were undaunted by the fact that they were up against a formidable side,” said Arulselvaraj.
“The draw is a bonus ... I hope my boys will perform much better in our coming matches.”
KLHC goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin feels that they did not play to their true form.
“We wasted a few good chances ... we can’t afford to do that if we hope to win the league title,” he said.
Another highly-rated side, double champions Terengganu, also suffered a hiccup yesterday, drawing 4-4 with Tenaga.
The result was all the more shocking as Tenaga had lost their first two matches and fielded an all-local line-up.
Tenaga got their goals through Syed Mohd Syafiq (second and 53rd minutes), Norhizzat Sumantri (24th) and Muhammad Hafizhuddin Zaidi (29th).
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (first and 27th minutes), Muhammad Irfan Aslam (31st) and Nicolas Enrique Della Torre (57th) scored for Terengganu.
In Malacca, Sapura chalked up their second win by defeating Maybank 2-1.
Joel van Samuel Huizen gave Sapura the lead in the 17th minute before Dangerous Lee doubled the score in the 37th minute.
Juan Tuboi narrowed the deficit for the Tigers in the 38th minute.
RESULTS
Premier Division: Maybank 1 Sapura 2, UniKL 1 KLHC 1, Tenaga 4 Terengganu 4.
First Division: Nur Insafi 3 BJSS 2, UITM-KPT 1 SSTMI 1, ATM Airod 0 Politeknik 5, Ipoh City Council 1 TNB-THUNDERBOLT 4.
The Star of Malaysia
Women’s hockey team comes out victorious after a final score of 6-5
Mini hockey festival at the Hockey Farm on August 6
Fanisile Nkuna
The Hockey Farm was definitely the place to be where different activities such as hockey clinics, dancing, gymnastics, cross country and a mini hockey festival took place on August 6.
One of biggest games to be played was between the South African Women’s Indoor Hockey team and the u.16 Pro Series Indoor (PSI) Mpumalanga Mambas. The boys held their own against the ladies, but in the end it was the SA team that walked away with a victorious final score of 6-5. Entertainment was provided by the local Golden Stars Gymnastics club and the New Life Church dance group.
“Our aim for the weekend was to introduce the Hockey Farm and our indoor field to the SA Ladies team. We also wanted to provide a platform for our hockey club members and locals to meet the SA team. But above all it was just to have good old fun for the young and old,” said Ms Tracey Flowers from the Hockey Farm.
Witbank News
UMaine erupts early to upend Providence in field hockey opener
By Larry Mahoney
University of Maine's Danielle Aviani (right) moves the ball around Providence's Madison Deeds during their season opener field hockey game on Friday in Orono. Ashley L. Conti | BDN
ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine field hockey team got off to a fast start in its mutual season-opener against former UMaine assistant Diane Madl’s Providence College Friars on a sultry Friday afternoon.
Coach Josette Babineau’s Black Bears, ranked 21st in the country in the National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association’s preseason poll, scored four times in the first 13:31 en route to an impressive 7-1 victory over the Friars.
Junior Maddy Cummings, sophomore Libby Riedl and freshman Brianna Ricker each scored a pair of goals, and Riedl and Ricker also had an assist for the Black Bears. Samantha Wagg scored the other goal.
Casey Crowley and Danielle Aviani had two assists apiece, and Ella Mosky had one.
UMaine’s Emma Cochran allowed one goal in the first half and didn’t have to make a save, and Emily Corbett had two stops in the second half.
The Black Bears outshot Providence 31-7.
Kali Kilmer scored for the Friars, and Megan Guilbert made eight saves.
“Maine has a fantastic team,” said Madl. “They play such a good attacking style. They’re solid all-around. I have the utmost respect for them and the job Josette is doing with them.”
“They’re a really good team. They’re really fast,” said Providence senior forward Kilmer. “They have really good ball speed — passing, cutting. They got behind us a lot.”
Cummings opened the scoring just 1:56 into the game when she flipped home her own rebound after Guilbert had made a nice save on her initial shot.
“We wanted to come out strong and get on the board as soon as possible and we did,” said Belfast’s Cummings, who added that the team focused on playing at a “high tempo.”
Riedl, an All-America East Rookie team pick a year ago, scored her two goals off reverse hits 57 seconds apart to make it 3-0 with Aviani passes setting up both.
She first rocketed a shot into the far corner from the right side of the circle and then sliced right to left through the circle before firing the ball past Guilbert.
“We played real well,” said Riedl. “We had good connections with everyone.”
Wagg, who was strong in the back and broke up a number of Providence attacks, made it 4-0 with a blast off a penalty corner from the top of the circle.
After Kilmer squeezed the ball through Cochran, Ricker closed out the half by deflecting Crowley’s shot past Guilbert.
“I kind of put my stick there, and it went in,” said Ricker, who just returned to the team earlier this week after practicing with the Canadian National Team.
Cummings and Ricker added second-half goals.
Ricker called her debut “pretty exciting.”
Babineau was pleased with her team’s performance.
“We talked about our decision-making inside the circle because you’re only going to get so many of those chances,” said Babineau. “Goal scoring isn’t just about putting your head down and striking the ball as hard as you can. It’s about where you are in the circle, what is around you and having the composure to be able to look at all that. That was pretty good today.”
UMaine hosts Sacred Heart (Connecticut) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Bangor Daily News
Give equal opportunities to hockey players for Olympic success: Tirkey
Dilip Tirkey
Tirkey says coach Roelant Oltmans has transformed the players’ fitness levels and mindset. This proves coaches should be given a free hand to train. (AFP)
I was impressed by the men’s hockey team’s performance at the Rio Olympics. The team led by PR Sreejesh was knocked out in the quarterfinals, but the fact that India beat Argentina 2-1 in the pool match shows the players had set higher goals for themselves.
Our performance in Rio also indicated that the national team means business when it comes to major tournaments.
If the players were able to showcase their talent in Brazil, it was due to Roelant Oltmans. The Dutch expert has been at the helm for the past one year, and has transformed the players’ fitness levels and mindset. This proves that we should give coaches a free hand to train on a long-term basis.
Instead of brooding over not entering the semifinal at Rio, we should start preparing for the 2018 World Cup, which is on home turf. A good performance will build the momentum for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To sustain our efforts at the international stage, we shouldn’t ignore grassroots development. Youngsters should be provided with facilities that are given to the core group preparing for the Asian Games or Olympics. So, when a young player makes the transition from the state to national team, he should be comfortable.
Lack of planning
It has been observed that due to lack of planning at the school level, players with potential are not able to advance to the senior level. We are making half-hearted efforts. At the sports hostels and academies, we invest in a player for five or six years, but due to lack of foresight the players aren’t able to move up. Like we invest our hard-earned money in a better way, we should do the same while nurturing a talented player.
I feel foreign coaches should be nominated to oversee the training of the national school team, as it will help us strengthen the foundation.
The academies and sports hostels are supposed to be breeding grounds but hardly have facilities to groom talent. There are no physios, masseurs or sports medicine experts to keep the players injury free. The coach does multi-tasking, as he is the mental trainer and manages injuries. This is not the right way to build a strong foundation.
I believe the Sports Authority of India should have a wider outlook for the Olympics or Asian Games. Instead of focusing on three-four disciplines, the emphasis should be on 20 disciplines. With long-term planning and regular monitoring, we can have better results at the Olympics. For example, nobody thought gymnastics could fetch us medal, but Dipa Karmakar showed us the way. There are other disciplines too where we may not have a good chance at the moment but with right planning things can be better in the long run.
All this will be possible if we enhance our budget for sports.
The writer is former India hockey captain and Olympian
Hindustan Times
National Hockey Academy a reality now
s2h Team
The news that Sports Authority of India has been contemplating a national academy over last one year has come true with 24 players having been inducted after first spell of selection trials held a month, and most of them joining boarding and lodging facility in Delhi.
The concept and formation of a National Hockey Academy, to provide excellence to select few on national scale, has been in the air for more than year.
It was the idea of Sports Authority of India, which has already put in place one National Academy for football and swimming.
However, the hockey academy could not be established in planned time due to lack of interest from the stakeholders part.
It is learnt the trials had to be postponed twice.
As a concept, Hockey India will provide list of probables for trials, while Sports Authority of India will provide infrastructure (paly fields, accommodation for players) and tournament and coaching facility.
Hockey India has sent names of about 70 young talents, scouted from Sub-Junior Nationals held in the last two years. A selection committee consisting of Roelant Oltmans, Indian national team chief coach, former Olympians MP Ganesh, Jagbir Singh and World Cup player Rajesh Chauhan could select final 24 for the National Hockey Academy.
The high budgeted proposal thus has taken off.
Last week, about 20 out of 24 selected have joined and the training has commenced with Dronacharya award winning coach NS Saini in the helm of coaching affairs.
However, the idea of running a stream for girls did not get much success, which we will apprise in appropriate time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce the formation of National Hockey Academy Naitonal Sports Day.
Stick2Hockey.com
Sporting integrity top priority for hockey
Whilst it was a fabulous spectacle of sport to the watching world, the Rio Olympic Games once again highlighted sport's drive to protect the integrity of competition. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was once again leading the drive to keep the sport clean.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the eradication of illegal or unethical activities in sport needs to be a priority for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the individual International Federations.
For that reason the IOC put together a package of sound measures that were put in place during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, including in the Athletes Village and behind-the-scenes at all events.
The FIH once again played a leading role in this area, supporting the IOC's activity in Rio as part of their continued quest to protect the integrity of sport at the Olympic Games.
“FIH was very happy to be one of the pioneering sports in this initiative because we are totally dedicated to keeping hockey a sport that is inclusive, sustainable and, above all, has integrity,” says FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather. “We are fully supportive of the IOC and its measures to combat illegal activity – be it doping, suspicious betting behaviour or anything else that threatens the integrity of the Games as a whole or of an individual sport.”
Fairweather is also pleased that lessons learnt from London and Rio will be taken forward to Tokyo 2020.
The Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, has reiterated the IOC’s commitment and drive to protect clean athletes and the integrity of sport.
For the first time, athletes at the Olympic Games took part in educational awareness programmes, which highlights the sort of manipulation that sports can become victim to.
The IOCs integrity eLearning platform challenges athletes and officials’ awareness of the fight against the manipulation of competitions. More importantly, it teaches them the role they can play in protecting themselves and in preserving the integrity of their sport and competitions.
Featuring real-life scenarios, this eLearning was available to athletes in the Olympic Village’s IOC Space, on their mobile phones as well as online.
“The decision to include the athletes in the battle to maintain the integrity of the Games is the sensible way forward,” says Fairweather. “It helps to highlight potential pitfalls that athletes can succumb to - often through ignorance in the first instance. The eLearning platform is a powerful tool that will help athletes recognise situations and respond correctly.”
The practical measures that were in place for the Rio Games included a fully operational Joint Integrity Intelligence Unit (JIIU) working in collaboration with experts from the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, as well as a reinforced Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS).
The JIIU has been responsible for the prevention, monitoring and assessment of any unethical activity related to the Olympic Games, and has been supported by the Department of Federal Police (DPF), the Secretariat of Security for Major Events (SESGE) and, in the case of any criminal activities, INTERPOL.
This Games time related activity follows news that a total of 1,224 top-level hockey athletes and support personnel from 25 different countries have completed either WADA’s on-line anti-doping education programme “ALPHA”, or a course led by a National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO). Those undertaking the educational course included all 432 athletes going to Rio.
As part of its Hockey Revolution, FIH aims to build a recognised, powerful image for hockey and at the core of this is providing a clean, ethical sport for millions to enjoy.
For further information on the IOCs activity in this area, visit: www.olympic.org/playfair
For more information about the Hockey Revolution, click here.
FIH site
'Sad we have to demand an award for Dhyan Chand'
Biswajyoti Brahma
NEW DELHI: A group of hockey greats will be meeting in the Capital on Sunday afternoon to demand the Bharat Ratna for hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. It's not for the first time that such a demand will be made. But come Sunday, legends of the game like Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal, Ajitpal Singh, Zafar Iqbal, MK Kaushik, AB Subbaiah, Mohammed Riaz, Ashish Ballal, Mukesh Kumar and Dilip Tirkey will get together at Jantar Mantar to ask the government to fulfill their long-standing demand.
"We have been trying to get the honour for the man who is acknowledged for his greatness as a sportsman. It's sad that we are still demanding for an honour which he should have got long back," Tirkey , a former India captain and a member of the Rajya Sabha, told TOI.
Dhyan Chand won three Olympic gold medals in hockey - in 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles) and 1936 (Berlin). "All Indian sportsman and the Indian people want him to get the honour. We tried hard in the past and he was close to getting it. But he did not. It's an irony that his greatness is acknowledged everywhere but not in his own country," added Tirkey.
Tirkey said the group's attempt is a tribute to the former player, whose birthday on August 29 is celebrated as National Sports Day .Following the gathering at Jantar Mantar, the former players plan to submit memorandums to the President, Prime Minister, home minister and sports minister.
Dhyan Chand's name had earlier been suggested for the highest honour by the sports ministry three years ago. In a letter written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2013, the then sports minister Jitendra Singh had recommended his name as the "most deserving" sportsperson for the award. "Late Major Dhyan Chand is the most deserving sportsperson for Bharat Ratna, as he fulfills the criteria of exceptional service performance of highest order in the field of sports which made the country proud. It was for his amazing performance that he was nicknamed "hockey wizard", the minister's letter said.
The PMO had then decided to confer the honour that year on cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao.
The Times of India