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All the news for Friday 16 December 2016

Belgium, Germany, Australia and India reach Men’s Junior World Cup Semi-Finals



Belgium, Germany, Australia and India were all winners on Quarter-Final day at the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Junior World Cup Men Lucknow 2016, meaning that the Semi-Final fixtures are now known. 

Belgium overcame Argentina to set up a Semi-Final meeting with reigning champions Germany, who defeated England in the second Quarter-Final of the day. The Dutch wait for a first men’s Junior World Cup title continues after being beaten by Australia in the third Quarter-Final, with the Burras now facing a Semi-Final showdown with hosts India, who overcame Spain.

The competition Semi-Finals will take place on Friday (16th December), with Belgium playing Germany at 15:45 (India Standard Time – UTC / GMT +5:30) before Australia and India take to the field at 18:00.

The first Quarter-Final match saw Pool B winners Belgium given a stern test by Pool A runners up Argentina before eventually triumphing in a shoot-out. Belgium had the better of the first half chances but found Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Bosso in fine form to make a series of excellent saves to keep the Red Cougars off the score-sheet. Argentina threatened on the counter-attack throughout the first period, and it was they who took the lead early in the second half when team captain Maico Casella smashed a volley off the underside of the crossbar from close range. Bosso continued his brilliance throughout the second period and even saved a penalty stroke before Belgium eventually got their leveller, with Belgium captain Victor Wegnez scoring two minutes from the end to send the match into a shoot-out in which Belgian shot-stopper Loic van Doren excelled. Van Doren was beaten only once, with Nicholas Poncelet, Arthur de Sloover, Wegnez and Henri Raes scoring the goals to put Belgium into the Semi-Finals. “It is a fantastic feeling”, said Belgium captain Victor Wegnez after the match. “We have been working on shoot-outs a lot because we lost in the European Cup two years ago in the Semi-Final and also the bronze medal match against England, so it was very important for us and we did a fantastic job.”

Belgium’s opponents in the Semi-Final will be reigning junior world champions and Pool C winners Germany, who survived an impressive fight-back to emerge as 4-2 winners against England, the second place finishers in Pool D. Goals from Jan Schiffer and Lukas Windfeder gave Germany a 2-0 lead at the break before Florian Scholten made it 3-0 with 18 minutes of the match remaining. England coach Jon Bleby removed his goalkeeper in the latter stages and it was a decision which was instantly rewards, with competition top scorer Ed Horler netting twice in two minutes to drag the team back into the match before a breakaway goal from Olympian Timm Herzbruch sealed the victory for Germany. “I was very concerned”, said Germany coach Valentin Altenburg, referring to England’s late rally. “You could see that the game slowed down, they scored a penalty corner and they were suddenly alive again. I think that we were a little bit too much in the semi-finals in our heads, so I was concerned. We really needed that fourth goal and I’m very happy that we actually made it.”

The third Quarter-Final of the day was a bruising battle between Pool A winners Australia and Pool B runners up the Netherlands, with the Burras sealing their Semi-Final spot with a 2-1 triumph. Australia took the lead thanks to a wonderful piece of skill from Kirin Arunasalam, who produced a brilliant touch in front of Dutch goalkeeper Maurits Visser to find the net. Blake Govers squandered a gild-edged chance to double the advantage from the penalty spot just before half time, and it proved costly when Jip Janssen slammed home a penalty corner drag flick midway through the second half. The Australians were not to be denied, however, with Jack Welsh firing home a close-range winner following some persistent work along the backline from man of the match Lachlan Sharp. “It is going to be great to play in the Semi-Final of the Junior World Cup”, said Sharp after the match. “They are always tough opponents, the Dutch, but we were lucky enough to come away with the win.”

With a massive crowd watching the final match of the day, Pool D winners India were determined to impress the home fans in the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium and started brightly, but it was Pool C runners up Spain who ended up taking a 1-0 lead into half time thanks to a penalty corner drag-flick from Marc Serrahima. Spain were superb defensively, keeping the dominant Indians at bay until the 57th minute when Simranjeet Singh finished off a penalty corner rebound to spark a deafening cheer from the crowd. With four minutes remaining, the winning goal arrived thanks to a fine penalty corner effort from Olympian Harmanpreet Singh, who produced his best drag-flick of the day to send India into the final four.

FIH site

Germany, Belgium and Australia book semifinal berths


Belgium (red) and Argentina players vie for the ball during the Hockey Junior World Cup quarter final match. (PTI)

Six-times world champions Germany stormed into the semi-finals of the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup in style, brushing aside England 4-2 at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.

They would now play against Belgium, who eked out a 4-1 win over Argentina in the shoot-out after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time in the first quarterfinal of the day. Australia became the third team who made it to the last four after knocking out Netherlands 2-1 in the third quarterfinal encounter.

Argentina remained the most unlucky team of the day as they had to face a defeat despite leading by a solitary goal till 69th minute. Maico Casella (44th minute) scored for Argentina in the regulation time, but Victor Wegnez drew level (69th) for Belgium just a minute from the final hooter to take the match into shoot-out.

In the shoot-out, Nicolas Poncelet, Arthur de Sloover, Victor Wegnez and Henri Raes converted their chances while Tomas Domene was the lone lucky player for Argentina.

As expected, defending champions Germany raced to a two goal lead in the first half through Jan Schiffer (22nd) and Lukas Windfeder (31st) before Florian Scholten (52nd) and Tim Herzbruch (70th) found the net after change of ends for the defending champions.

England’s goals came from the sticks of Edward Horler (65th, 66th minutes) in a span of two minutes, but it didn’t make any difference to their better rivals.

Just before India could begin their battle against Spain in the last quarterfinals of the day, Kiran Arunasalam opened the account for Australia with a fine field goal in the 18th minute before Jip Janssen (47th) restored parity for Netherlands from a penalty corner. Jack Welch then scored the winner for Australia in the 58th minute to take his side to the semi-finals.

Hindustan Times

India books semifinal spot

Uthra Ganesan


DOING IT FOR INDIA: Harmanpreet Singh, despite not being in the best of form, scored the decider in the quarterfinals against Spain. 
Fortune favours the host as it downs Spain 2-1

Luck and pluck played equal roles as India managed to put down Spain 2-1 and book a spot in the semifinals of the Junior World Cup here on Thursday.

This would be the first last-four outing for India since 2005, where it finished fourth. India will meet Australia, which got past the Netherlands by an identical margin, in less than 24 hours.

For a large part of the game, the Indians, cheered on by a capacity crowd at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, were erratic, aimless and frustrated by a defensive Spain that managed to shoot out for the occasional counter-attack before going back to protect its citadel. Those few forays into the attack were enough to disrupt the Indian defence.

Poor outing for Harjeet

A poor outing for captain Harjeet Singh did not help matters. Harjeet, who has been the team’s key playmaker, couldn’t stop the ball, mispassed and conceded turnovers.

His best move came in the 63rd minute when he feinted a right, turned left and put the ball into the circle, earning a penalty corner that resulted in two more and the winning goal. But that was the only time.

Setback

Spain earned its only penalty corner in the 22nd minute and made it count to go ahead. The setback saw a desperate India lose its structure and it tried to attack all the time without bothering to build up.

India kept attacking and could boast of almost double circle penetrations and possession, but it mattered little.

A goal by Mandeep Singh in the 17th minute was disallowed for being dangerous and also affected the team. But what would concern India the most is the continued poor form of Harmanpreet Singh, otherwise a reliable player, during penalty corners.

India earned eight — the first coming in the third minute and the last in the 68th. Only two were converted, a couple of them not even stopped cleanly, but the two conversions were enough to ensure victory.

The second of them was controversial, with the Spanish team management indicating as much without saying in as many words.

Dipsan Tirkey had a great game and was often the last man standing against Spain. The rest struggled, finding it hard to shake of their markers.

There appeared little understanding as well-placed passes went waste. Spain also cut down space along both the flanks, forcing India to try and switch them or go through the centre, but the forwards were often out of position and the final pass not accurate.

Spanish captain Enrique Gonzalez almost single-handedly ripped apart the Indian structure, toying with the midfielders, opening up gaps in the defence and thwarting the attack.

Defending champion Germany beat England 4-2 after leading 3-0 and will play Belgium, which edged past Argentina 4-1 in the shootout, in the other semifinal.

The results (quarterfinals): Belgium 1 (Victor Wegnez) bt Argentina 1 (Maico Casella) (4-1 on penalties); Germany 4 (Jan Schiffer, Lukas Windefeder, Florian Scholten, Timm Herzbruch) bt England 2 (Edward Horler 2); Australia (Kiran Arunasalam, Jack Welch) bt the Netherlands (Jip Janssen); India 2 (Simranjeet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh) bt Spain 1 (Marc Serrahima).

Friday’s schedule: 15/16 playoff: Egypt vs Canada (11.15 a.m.); 13/14: Japan vs Korea (1.30 p.m.).

Semifinals: Belgium vs Germany (3.45 p.m.), India vs Australia (6 p.m.).

The Hindu

Scary quarterfinal but success for India

s2h team

India entered the semifinal of the home Junior World Cup after dishing out a thrilling victory over fighting Spain the quarters today in Lucknow.

Its India's fourth semifinal entry in the annals of Junior World Cup, after missing out in the last two editions.

Marc Serrahima in the 22nd minute silenced the crowd with an immaculate conversion of first penalty corner that came after frustrating India in its two penalty corner attempts.

The hosts in this spell were very tentative, sluggish and its was obvious they buckle under pressure of the crowd.

However, the second half was India's.

Simranjit Singh's tap in goal from close range in the 56th minute off India's fifth penalty corner gave life to struggling India and level the score 1-1.

Thereafter, Harmanpreet Singh came to his form to strike off the eighth penalty corner to give India the semifinal berth.

The decision to award this penalty corner turned out to be somewhat debatable, as it seemed the goalie has cleared a shot, but the umpire considered it as a wilful clearance out of backline.

India struggled throughout first half with sloppy plays and mediocre basics but dominated the next session.

It got a series of penalty corners but the Spain goalkeeper would not buckle.

When India struggled, at times in the second session, Harmanpreet Singh and Dipsan Tirkey showed extraordinary game sense and patience in keeping Indian citadel safe.

Harmanpreet Singh was declared Man of the Match

"We played normal game when things were going tough, we did not panic. This gave us this good result" he said.

Stick2Hockey.com

Hosts score late in the game to down Spain 2-1 and move into the semis

Indervir Grewal


The Indian team celebrates a goal during their quarterfinal against Spain in Lucknow on Thursday. Hockey India

Lucknow: Despite an error-laden performance, a spirited India “did what was needed to win” against a defensive Spain (2-1) and reach the semifinals of the junior hockey World Cup for the first time since the 2005 edition.

All that could have gone wrong with India's performance almost did, while all that Spain could have done right to pull off an upset, they almost did. The junior matadors took the proverbial bull by the horns — their defence making favourites India suffer (as their coach had proclaimed before the match) right till the end. It was a performance that earned them the respect of the home crowd.

All the recurring talk from the Indian team management of the players not being under any pressure was laid bare by a nervy performance that was riddled with errors. In front of a near full house, India were far below the standard they had set in the pool stage, making many missed-passes and missed-traps (13). They returned to their bad habit of unnecessarily running with the ball. But, in the end they got the win, which was the most important thing, as team manager Roelant Oltmans said later.

“At this stage of the tournament, it is about winning,” Oltmans said at the post-match press conference after being asked if he was satisfied with the Indian performance. “We could have played a brilliant game and lost 1-0 and you guys (media) would have asked different questions.”

“There were many good things but also some things we could have done better. We got many penalty corners, though converted only two,” he added. “But, we created many chances, look at the circle penetrations; so we deserved to win.”

Flawless Spain

But credit must also go to the Spanish team, which stuck to its “perfect” strategy of defending hard and attacking on the counter. While India made errors, the Spanish players were almost flawless with their strategy. They were at their energetic and anticipating best, winning common balls and making interceptions; their individual defence complemented their structural unity, making crucial tackles all day long.

After countering India's initial push, they got a foothold in the game and took the crucial lead in the 22nd minute. After that it was about frustrating India and they almost got the result.

“Our plan was perfect and we played well,” said Spain coach Roger Pallarols. “In the end, India had to come at us all out. We expected that, but couldn't hold on.”

After a disappointing first half, India changed their tactics, according to Oltmans, but it was still the same for long. Their slack body language when they returned to the pitch after the break seemed worrisome. But, “egged on” by the loud fans, as Harmanpreet Singh said later, India somehow found the energy. They put Spain under immense pressure, and Simranjeet Singh equalised from one penalty corner, while Harmanpreet converted another to give India the lead.

“These are very clever boys,” added Oltmans, impressed by the “way the Indian players were able to make the switch during the game”.

Belgium defy ARG

In arguably the best match of the day, Belgium produced a measured and mature performance to break down an impressively tight Argentina to find the equaliser in the penultimate minute, before winning the penalty shootout 4-1.

The Argentines being a defensive and counterattacking team, Belgium were always going to dominate possession. But the controlled game of the Belgian players, not losing the ball easily by trying something fancy, denied any real counterattacking opportunity to Argentina. But it was their patience -- unwaveringly playing to their game-plan — despite conceding the goal (44th minute) against the run of play, made it the performance of the day. They even missed a penalty stroke, saved by Emiliano Bosso, who was unbeatable today. They kept building their attacks, kept missing the chances and losing momentum before starting again until they finally got the goal. In the shootout, however, it was one-sided as the Belgians scored with ease. Bosso admitted that he was “too passive” in the shootout.

Germany, Australia win

Meanwhile, Germany completely outplayed England (4-2) in the first half of a tactical contest before almost giving it away in the final minutes by conceding two goals and playing with a two-man disadvantage. Australia kept the skillful Netherlands players quiet to win 2-1. The Dutchman missed many chances — after having equalised and putting Australia under incredible pressure — and conceded a sloppy goal.

The Tribune

India breach Spain barrier

Asheem Mukerji

LUCKNOW: India came back from behind to sink the Spanish Armada and enter the semi-finals of the Junior Men Hockey World Cup at Major Dhyan Chand stadium. But before that, they had to wage a grim battle against the doughty Spaniards to earn a 2-1 result on Thursday evening.

India now play Australia on Friday. This is the fourth time the home side has reached the semi-finals of the championship, having won it in Hobart in 2001.

After a disappointing opening half, the Indians brushed up their game to mount concerted attacks on the Spanish goal to score twice off penalty corners to settle the issue in their favour.

Though the Indians had the better of the exchanges all through, inability of the forwards to score meant that the match went tight. Also the fast pace of the game unsettled the Indians. Down by a 22nd minute penalty corner goal by Marc Serrahima, the Indians showed character and discipline in the second-half to rattle the visiting side.

Slowing down the game a little, the forwards started moving well to create chances upfront. And that paid dividends as the side earned six penalty corners in the second half in comparison to the two in the opening half.

Off the sixth set-piece in the 57th minute, Varun Kumar took the shot and ball rebounded off Perez's pads and came to Simranjeet Singh who slotted it home much to the joy of the sizeable home crowd. The equalizer seemed to pump up the Indians, as they mounted immense pressure in the rival area. And, the decider also came off a short corner. That time, Harmanpreet Singh finally put one past Perez's right to carry the team forward.

The Times of India

Spirited India beat Spain 2-1 to enter semis

LUCKNOW: Favourites India overcame a goal deficit to edge out Spain 2-1 thereby sealing a semi-final spot in the men's Junior Hockey World Cup on Thursday.

The hosts will meet Australia in the semi-final on Friday.

It was a far from impressive performance by the Indians, who are touted as title contenders as they fumbled in almost all departments of the game.

A packed Major Dhyan Chand Stadium stadium heaved a sigh of relief when Simranjeet Singh (57th) equalised for India after Marc Serrahima gave Spain the lead in the 22nd minute.

The Indians earned as many as nine penalty corners but could utilise just two with Harmanpreet converting the hosts' eighth set piece in the 66th minute to clinch a last four berth.

By virtue of this win, the Indian colts not only continued their domination over Spain but also managed to avenge their loss against the same opponents in the bronze medal match of the 2005 edition of the World Cup in Rotterdam.

Even though they enjoyed their share of ball possession, Indians looked completely off-colour in the opening half.

There was a distinct lack of co-ordination. There were sloppy mistakes while trapping and releasing the ball during the first half.

The Indian colts though created more openings but Spain utilised the lone opportunity they got in the first half.

Spain came out with a tight defensive structure and relied on man marking to stop the attacking Indians.

India though had the two opportunities to take the lead when they secured two penalty corners early on in the opening half but wasted both as one first occasion skipper Harjeet Singh failed to stop the push and then Spanish goalkeeper Albert Perez came up with a fine save to deny Varun Kumar.

Spain then took the lead in the 22nd minute through Serrahima's penalty corner conversion much to the stunned silence of the partisan crowd.

Three minutes later Mandeep Singh's deflection from Santa Singh's cross found the back of the Spanish net but it was disallowed by the umpire because of raising ball to go into the breather trailing by a goal.

After the change of ends, the Indians went all out attacking in search of goals but failed to make any headway, courtesy miss-passing and miss-trapping.

Four minutes into second half, Spain almost extended their lead but custodian Vikas Dahiya came to his side's rescue to deny Serrahima.

The Indians continued to attack but goals eluded them as Spanish goalkeeper Perez came up with a double save to deny Armaa Qureshi first and then Manpreet (Jr) from the rebound.

It was story of missed chances as India wasted two more penalty corners soon.

Nilkanta Sharma then came close in the 53rd minute but his deflection from Harmanpreet's defence splitting pass went just wide of the goal.

India finally tasted success in the 57th minute from their fifth penalty corner. This time too, the hosts failed to stop the push but Sumit did enough to get a shot at the goal which was saved by the Spanish goalkeeper and from the rebound Simranjeet scored to the delight of the home fans.

In the last 10 minutes, India got four more penalty corners and the penultimate one was eventually converted by Harmanpreet to take the lead for the first time in the match.

It was a tense last couple of minutes for the hosts as they were reduced to 10 men after Armaan was shown yellow card for an unnecessary tackle.

Earlier in the day, Belgium defeated Argentina in a shoot-out to set up a semi-final clash against six-time champions and title holders Germany.

Belgium eked out a 4-1 win over Argentina in the shoot-out after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time in the first quarterfinal of the day.

Maico Casella (44th minute) scored for Argentina in the regulation time but Victor Wegnez drew level (69th) for Belgium just a minute from the final hooter to take the match into shoot-out.

In the shoot-out, Nicolas Poncelet, Arthur de Sloover, Victor Wegnez and Henri Raes converted their chances while Tomas Domene was the lone lucky player for Argentina.

Germany had a relatively easy outing against England as they recorded a comfortable 4-2 win to seal their place in the last-four round.

The Germans raced to a two goal lead in the first half through Jan Schiffer (22nd) and Lukas Windfeder (31st) before Florian Scholten (52nd) and Tim Herzbruch (70th) found the net after change of ends for the defending champions.

England's goals came from the sticks of Edward Horler (65th, 66th minutes) in a span of two minutes.

Later in the day, Kiran Arunasalam drew the first blood for Australia with a fine field goal in the 18th minute before Jip Janssen (47th) equalised for Netherlands from a penalty corner.

Jack Welch then scored the winner for Australia in the 58th minute to take his side to the semi-finals.

The Times of India

Indian players are deserving winners, says Oltmans

LUCKNOW: Favourites India had a narrow escape against Spain in the quarterfinals of Junior Hockey World Cup but Roelant Oltmans and Harendra Singh feel that the hosts were deserving winners.

"If you can win matches on luck then I feel we would have won in 2005. I compliment my players. Despite trailing they kept calm and composed heads. They did not do hara-kiri which is generally associated with Indian hockey," Harendra said at the post-match press conference.

"I don't believe in luck, it is their (players) hard work which is producing results."

Oltmans, who is the chief coach of the senior side and is currently with the junior side as the manager, agreed with Harendra's views.

"After every game, there is room for improvement. But in this phase of the tournament it's all about winning. It is very simple. We did many things good today and there are couple of things we could have done better," the Dutchman said.

Oltmans said they made some changes in their strategy in the second half and the players executed their plans perfectly after the change of ends.

"We changed the structure little bit at half-time. We tried to intercept the ball early and tried to put pressure on their defence and in the process earned penalty corners and made circle penetrations," he said.

"The players executed the plans very well in the second half. They (Spain) played a defensive game and tried to come out with counter attacks. They have very skilful players. But we did a good job in our defence today," he added.

Harendra too said they expected a tough fight from Spain, whom they have defeated twice in the recent past.

"Spain's performance was on expected lines. They are very nippy and skilful. If you look at the shots on goal there weren't many but after taking the lead they defended in numbers. But at the end of the day, results matter," he said.

India earned as many as nine penalty corners in the game and utilised just two. Asked Harendra about the conversion rate, he agreed it is a matter of concern.

"Penalty corner conversion is a concern but it just not the drag-flicker who is at fault. There are three main elements which come into play during a penalty corner, injector, stopped and drag-flicker who come at the last. The turf is also a little bumpy here. It sometimes can favour you and also act against you.

"But at the end of the day, we won the match by a dragflick," Harendra said.

"We shouldn't forget that we were playing in the quarterfinals where top eight teams of the world qualified. We should also need to respect our opponent."

India's second goal from their eighth penalty corner created a bit of a controversy after the onfield umpire awarded the set piece, accusing the Spanish goalkeeper for deliberately kicking out the ball.

"Umpires take a decision and we have no opportunity here for referrals. If you look at the game, there is only one team which deserved to win," Oltmans said.

"One of the Spanish player told me after the match that umpire felt that the goalkeeper kicked the ball deliberately over the backline but they said it was not deliberate," he added.

Spain coach Roger Pallarols, however, feels the decision was little unfair.

"I would like to congratulate India but we have the feeling that the second goal was gift to India. We have doubt (about the penalty corner)," he said.

"But we respect the Indian players, the organisers. India has been fantastic host. We respect the umpire's decision so we are not lodging any complaint."

Pallarols, however, was proud of the way his wards played against a tough like India today.

"Our plan was perfect but we were playing against a very good team. We lacked in experience but we are proud (of our performance)," he said.

The Times of India

Belgium wins the thriller in shoot out

s2h team

Belgium struggled for most of the times against Argentina after conceding a counter goal in the first quarterfinal, but its captain Victor Wegnez came out with a stunner just one minute and 26 seconds remained for the hooter.

Capitalizing on the life-saver, Belgium went on to win the shoot out easily after two Argenitna players missed out within first four takes.

Fittingly enough, the same captain Victor converted his part in the shoot out and then did what the winners do, going on cloud nine.

Argentina captain Maico Casella capitalized after receiving a feed from other flank, and tapped in the high ball in to the net in the 44th minute. Till then its Belgium that kept the attack almost but the counter changed the course of the match. Till conceding the goal, Belgium has got three penalty corners but Fabrice van Bockrijck could not penetrate the wall of Argentina goalie Emiliano Bosso.

After the goal, Belgium pressed hard, Argentina showing no urgency in attack focussing on defending.

Belgium's hard work resulted in a flurry of goals, in all they got nine but neither Fabrice or his replacement for the drill Kino Antoine could break the Argentina citadel.

In fact, the lanky Kina even missed out penalty stroke that came off third of the continuous penalty corners that his team got in the space of two minutes from 58th.

In the penalty shoot out, Maico Casella and Ieena aNocolas missed out while all the four Belgium was sharp

Stick2Hockey.com

Burras through to JWC Semi-final!

Defeated the Netherlands 2 -1

Holly MacNeil



The Australian Under 21’s national team, the Burras, are through to the semi-final of the Junior World Cup after a spectacular match up against the Netherlands saw them victorious with a 2 -1 score line.

The first half of the game saw the Burras pressing the Netherlands to take ownership of the game, with ball changing possession many times before Australia took their chance in the 18th minute.

It was Kiran Arunasalam scoring the break-away goal, with a deflection from a number of Netherlands sticks hitting exactly the right spot to flick into the Aussie net, giving the Burras the lead as half time approached.

The Netherlands were chasing in the second half, and at minute 47, Jip Janssen managed to equalise courtesy of a penalty corner conversion. The flick deflecting into goal from the goalkeeper’s pad.

With twenty minutes to go, the score was level and it took something special for the Burras to pull through. With 12 minutes in the game, Lachlan Sharp worked the ball into the circle until it was directly in front of the net, before Jack Welch came through to score a field goal and give Australia the advantage again.

The Netherlands couldn’t come back, and the Burras came away with the win progressing through to the semi-finals of the Junior World Cup.

Burras head coach Ben Bishop said: “It was a really evenly contested match today. I thought we built a solid platform in the first half that held us through the match.

“The group was resilient as always. We are looking forward to improving again in the semi-final.”

The Burras next play the winner of the India in the semi-final on Friday at 8.30pm AWST / 11.30pm AEDT, with the game to be live streamed via the FIH's YouTube Channel.

BURRAS 2 (1)
Kiran Arunasalam 18 (FG)
Jack Welch 58 (FG)

NETHERLANDS 1 (0)
Jip Janssen 47 (PC) 

Burras Fixtures
December 16: Semi-final v India 8.30pm AWST / 11.30pm AEDT

Burras Squad v Netherlands
Name (Home town / suburb)
Kiran Arunasalam, (Doncaster East, VIC)
Joshua Beltz, (Old Beach, TAS)
Tom Craig, (Lane Cove, NSW)
Stephen Gale, (Bulleen, VIC)
Blake Govers, (Wollongong, NSW)
Max Hendry, (Camberwell, VIC)
Joshua Simmonds, (Ringwood North, VIC)
Tim Howard, (Wakerley, QLD
Kurt Lovett, (Parkes, NSW)
Ashleigh Thomas, (Baulkam Hills, NSW)
Jack Welch, (Hobart, TAS)
Corey Weyer, (Biggera Waters, QLD)

Used Substitutes
Matthew Bird, (Coolbellup, WA)
Frazer Gerrard, (Cottesloe, WA)
Sam Liles, (Tamworth, NSW)
Ryan Proctor, (Engadine, NSW)
Lachlan Sharp, (Lithgow, NSW)
Jack Welch, (Hobart, TAS)

Unused Substitute
Matthew Finn, (Paddington, QLD)

Hockey Australia media release

England sunk by Germany at Junior World Cup


England huddle before JWC QF with Germany

England were sent crashing out of the Junior World Cup after a 4-2 defeat to a classy Germany side in their quarter final. England trailed 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Jan Schiffer and Lukas Windfeder and despite a late double from Ed Horler a third from Florian Scholten and a late strike from Timm Herzbruch ensured the reigning champions progress to the semi-finals.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested with chances at a premium. The first clear opening fell to Germany with Thies Ole Prinz breaking through only to be halted by a fine save from Chris Wyver.

Germany dominated the territory but England were competing well for every ball. In the 22nd minute Schiffer broke the deadlock. The No27 won the ball inside the England half and broke into the circle to find the net with a strong backhand shot.

Germany defended superbly and limited England’s sights of goal with Jack Clee going closest with a spin and shot that flashed just wide. 27 minutes were on the clock when Germany made it 2-0 with a well-taken penalty corner from Windfeder.

On the stroke of half time Herzbruch’s shot was well turned over the bar by Wyver and it remained 2-0 at the interval. 

Germany pushed for a third goal to kill the contest off in the early part of the second half. Constantin Staib was denied brilliantly by Wyver in a 1v1 and then Windfeder sent a penalty corner inches wide of the post.

England threatened on the break and were unlucky not to get on the board. Chris Proctor showed excellent skills to break into the circle but his thunderbolt shot hit the goalkeeper’s body. Moments later Germany made it 3-0. Windfeder’s precise pass at a penalty corner was slotted in by Scholten.

England responded by removing Wyver to go to 11 outfield players with eight minutes left. The extra player paid off and from a charged down penalty corner, Horler calmly slotted in England’s first goal with five minutes to play. A minute later Horler’s deflection found the net via a defender’s stick for his eighth goal of the tournament. England were running out of time and threw people forwards in search of the leveller. With Germany breaking out of defence Herzbruch was able to ghost into the circle and fire into an empty net to seal the win for Germany.

England will now play off for 5th-8th place, with their penultimate match on Saturday, time to be confirmed.  

Germany 4 (2)
Jan Schiffer 22 (FG)
Lukas Windfeder 27 (PC)
Florian Scholten 52 (PC)
Timm Herzbruch 70 (FG)

England 2 (0)
Ed Horler 65, 66 (PC, FG)

England Hockey Board Media release

Germany survives late English surge

s2h team

German juggernaut rolled smoothly before Peter Scott's brace of goals scared, and overcame more late English surge with grit and determination to book their semifinal of the Lucknow Junior World Cup.

Scoreboard that stood 4-2 in the end doesn't reflect the thrilling last five minutes ordeal.

With goals apiece from Jan Schiffer (22nd minutes), Lukas Windfeder (31st minutes) and Florian Scholten (52nd minute) the defending champions were cruising along towards semifinal slot.

A brace of goals that England put it out the space of two minutes changed the course all of a sudden

In the 65th minute, Peter Scott struck capitalizing on a defence lapse.

Same Peter came out with a narrow grounder to beat goalie Lennart Kuppers off the team's penalty corner to narrow down the score to (3-2).

Around this time, Florian Scholten got green card suspension, and the losing side had replaced goalie with an additional attacker.

Peter's goals came when the 9 vs 11 drama was unfolding

Sensing their chance, dominant German withered their lethargy and made an interesting interception which saw England players overcrowding rival's citadel were hopeless in defending Timm Herzbruch's solo run.

He ran full ground with an immaculate ball control and whacked a diagonal which crashed into the right corner of the cage.

The siren also just blown.

Stick2Hockey.com

Stats Speak: India vs. Australia (Juniors): at a glance

By B.G.Joshi (Sehore-Bhopal, India)

India had never won against Australia in Junior World Cup

Silver lining: as Indian Juniors won thrice against Australia
 after 2013 junior World Cup:

Fieldhockey.com

SA colts brave system, adversaries

Indervir Grewal


South Africa’s hockey teams were stopped from competing at the Rio Games by the country’s Olympics committee. The colts, however, have made it to Junior World Cup. Tribune photo

LUCKNOW: Representing the country at the highest level is the greatest motivation for every player. But what if the country doesn’t believe in you.

Earlier this year, despite having qualified for the Olympics, South Africa’s men’s and women’s hockey teams were stopped from competing at the Rio Games by the country’s Olympics committee.

The teams had qualified by winning the African Championships, but the Olympics committee wanted them to qualify through the World League, which they failed to do. It was the first time in 20 years that South Africa did not participate at the Olympics.

A huge step backwards for South African hockey. Did the decision have a negative effect on the junior men’s team, which is participating in the World Cup here? “Obviously,” said coach Garreth Ewing.

Did that make the coach’s job of motivating the youngsters harder? “On the contrary, it has motivated them more. The Olympics decision hurt our hockey; but now we have realised that our level is not good enough,” he added.

“We discussed in our team meetings that we are the future and we need to set a new standard so that we can control our destiny. They are here to prove a point,” he added. The colts were lucky enough to make it to the tournament, but they didn’t get much match practice before coming here because of fund crunch. The team alone can’t change everything without support?

“A lot is happening, from the government side. Despite being an amateur sport, hockey is big in South Africa. Our promoters tell us there is a market of 1,30,000 at the school level. The Premier Hockey League, supported by the government, had its first edition this year. All this will help us raise our profile and the effects will start showing in two-three years,” he added.

More indigenous

The change in fortune might take some time, but there is another noticeable difference in this junior team from the earlier junior teams or the senior team. A large majority of South Africa’s population is indigenous, but that has never showed in the hockey teams. But almost half of the players in this team are indigenous. “There has been a conscious effort to involve more people of colour, in all the sports,” said Lindsay De Kock, who is part of the team management. “There is no quota and the selection is on merit.”

“With such a huge indigenous population, imagine the potential,” he added.

De Kock added that the initiative was started 20 years ago. So, how has it taken so long for the results to show? “Most of these boys come from modest-income families and sport isn’t a priority. It is a long process with emphasis on all-round development, which includes education,” De Kock added.

“More kids at grass-roots are picking up the sport, and the level of the younger kids is very good. Wait and see in the next 10 years,” he said.

How has hockey helped? “Good players get scholarships in universities. My son is a perfect example. He played for the country at the junior level, got to university and is doing well for himself now,” he said.

One of the indigenous players, midfielder Ryan Julius said hockey has helped getting more people of colour into universities. Julius, who belongs to Cape Town, is pursuing B. Com from University of Western Cape.

In South Africa, hockey is played in clubs and the league in Cape Town is the strongest, Julius added. “But they don’t pay,” he said.

What about the Premier Hockey League? “There were cash prizes for the Man of the Match winners and for the winning team,” he added.

Interestingly, all the money from the Man of the Match prizes went into a pot to fund this team.

The boys know that a good performance here will not only redeem the faith of their supporters but also prove a point to their detractors. They are one win away from matching their best finish at the tournament. Though ninth place, it will be an improvement from the last three editions — South Africa finished 15th in 2013, 14th in 2009 and 12th in 2005.

The Tribune

Paying 'Penalty': Rs 500 fine for latecomers in Oltmans' class

LUCKNOW: These are days of demonetisation and India's hockey players are 'extra cautious' with their hard earned cash with strict disciplinarian Roelant Oltmans imposing a fine of Rs 500 on any player, who is late for their training sessions, get-togethers or official functions.

Discipline and no-nonsense approach have been two key principles in Oltmans' approach and many feel that it has worked wonders for Indian hockey as the team is now ranked 6th in the world.

"Oltmans is a strict disciplinarian on and off the field and he expects the same from the players. Anyone who is late for team meetings, get-togethers, official functions, video sessions or even the team dinner, he fines them Rs 500," a source associated with the Indian team told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing men's Junior Hockey World Cup.

"It is his way to make everyone realise that discipline and punctuality are key to success," added the source.

The amount which is collected from fines later spent on food and drinks during team outings. The rule is strictly enforced for the senior team while the juniors have been given some leeway.

Some well-known Indian players to have faced the brunt of Oltaman's rule are striker SK Uthappa and Sardar Singh.

No doubt these are the principles behind Oltmans success as a coach. His first major achievement was with the Dutch women's team when he guided them to World Championship title in 1990 in Sydney.

A year later, he joined to the men's team and won the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 1998, he guided Netherlands men's team to World Championship crown in Utrecht.

After his successes in hockey, Oltmans stepped on to football and until 2002 was the technical director of football NAC. He also coached Pakistan men's hockey team before assuming his current role in India.

The Times of India

Black Sticks drop game three to Malaysia


Photo: www.photosport.nz

The Black Sticks Women have suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss to Malaysia in game three at the TET MultiSports Centre in Stratford.

Despite controlling the game early, New Zealand struggled to put shots on goal and allowed Malaysia to play their way back into the match in the second half.

The visitors secured the winning goal three minutes from fulltime when Fatin Sukri converted from a penalty corner.

Black Sticks assistant coach Sean Dancer said it was a disappointing performance.

“The result is disappointing and our basics were poor tonight,” he said.

“We started well and created some good opportunities but unfortunately our final touches and shots at goal weren’t good enough.

“To Malaysia’s credit they were able to take their chance to win the game but we certainly need to be better for our next game.

The Black Sticks take on Malaysia in game four at 3:00pm on Saturday, with tickets still available through www.hockeynz.co.nz

The Black Sticks Women vs Malaysia series is proudly supported by the Taranaki Electricity Trust (TET).

BLACK STICKS WOMEN 0
MALAYSIA 1: (Fatin Sukri)
Halftime: 0-0

Hockey New Zealand Media release

Malaysian women stun New Zealand in third Test

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women’s hockey team turned the tables on New Zealand to win the third Test 1-0.

The Malaysians had gone into the match having lost the opening two clashes – 3-0 and 2-0 – in the five-Test series.

Yesterday, Fatin Shukri starred for Malaysia by scoring a penalty corner in the 57th minute in Straford, New Zealand.

National coach K. Dharmaraj was overjoyed with the win.

“We were looking for a draw. The Kiwis are a top ranked team and to get a win over them is great. I’m sure we can build on this result and try harder in the next match,” he said.

Dharmaraj attributed the success to the players’ improved commitment.

“We kept the game tight. And we were able to counter the Kiwis’ attacks with moves of our own. There was also consistency in the first two quarters.

“I’m glad the players are willing to learn from past mistakes and follow the structure we’ve in place,” he said.

The fourth match will be held tomorrow.

The Star of Malaysia

PHF plans to play hockey series with Australia, New Zealand

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has finalised series with Australia and New Zealand next year before playing the Hockey World League, which is a qualifying round for the World Cup. A PHF spokesman said Thursday they had signed series of three matches each with Australia and New Zealand, which would be played in February and March. “Both series are essential in raising our team for the 2018 World Cup. They will provide us the right platform to check the potential of the Pakistan team before fielding it in the World League in June 2017,” he added. He said Pakistan under-18 would also tour with the senior team to Australia where they would play matches against their Under-18 counterparts.

“The PHF has little opportunities to play hockey at international level. Foreign teams’ refusal to visit Pakistan is also depriving us of international competitions. We have now decided to increase the number of international matches for all strings.” He said that after touring Australia and New Zealand, the senior team would attend a training camp in Pakistan, tour Malaysia for the Azlan Shah Cup in April and go to London in June for the World League. Unfortunately, Pakistan could not qualify for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics as the country was witnessing huge decline in its performance.

When asked what strategy the PHF had adopted to counter India, which had not issued visas to Pakistan players on time due to which Pakistan had to miss the ongoing Junior World Cup being held in Lucknow, India, he said the PHF had a serious concern over it as more world hockey competitions would be held in India. “The PHF will utilise all forums, including the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), to bring this last incident into the notice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC),” he said. “Under the IOC Charter, no political or any other reason can stop a country from participating in any international competition. As the FIH is affiliated with the IOC, the international body will hopefully solve the matter amicably,” he said. India is to hold the next World Cup in 2018 and the Asia Cup.

The Daily Times

Schopman Announces Additions to USWNT High Performance Staff



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Field Hockey warmly welcomes three new High Performance staff members to the U.S. Women’s National Team roster. With the implementation of Nicholas Shedd as the Strength and Conditioning Coach, Christa Miller as the USWNT Manager and Yuko Kimura-Koenig as the USWNT Medical Manager, Team USA looks to build upon the firm foundation of positive program growth displayed during the past 3 years.

"We are delighted to welcome Nick, Christa and Yuko to the U.S. Women’s National Team staff," said Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey's Executive Director. "Each are experts in their areas and put us in a strong position to continue to build on the impressive progress the U.S. Women’s National Team continues to make."

Shedd possesses a thorough understanding of strength and conditioning, speed and agility movement skills, and corrective exercise that allow him to successfully pursue his passion of upgrading the performance of elite athletes. He honed this wheelhouse through his previous role as a Performance Specialist for EXOS, a performance training and nutrition program in Virginia Beach, Va. Here, Shedd was responsible for the training of youth, high school, collegiate, elite and tactical athletes as well as general and special populations.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine/Wellness from Averett University in Danville, Va., where he also played football. Shedd furthered his education by attending Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. where he received a Master of Science Degree with a specialty in Strength and Conditioning. As a result of his studies and real world applications, Shedd has a wealth of knowledge conducting ongoing data and analyzation of key performance indicators with each athlete which will serve him well in his new position. He also excels in strength and conditioning program design and periodization as well as linear acceleration, absolute speed, multi-directional and plyometric training.

"Nicholas is someone who has great vision how he sees our strength and conditioning program," said Janneke Schopman, UWNT Soon-to-Be Head Coach. "He is very thoughtful about long-term but also embraces the recovery process. He has kind of a holistic approach on training and that fits well with my approach on training and coach, and this I believe will make him a great fit."

"My main goals as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the USWNT are to prevent as many non-contact injuries as possible while maximizing the performance of the athletes," said Shedd. "Squeezing the last morsel of genetic potential out of world-class athletes takes meticulous planning and collaboration between the strength and conditioning staff, the coaching staff, athletic training staff and medical personnel. It is my job to maximize the strength, speed, endurance and durability of each individual. I am here to support Coach Schopman and the team so that we can continue making strides on the international stage." 

Pulling inspiration from his father, a former member of the U.S. Judo Team for many years in the '70s and ‘80s, Shedd sees his appointment with USA Field Hockey as an exciting chance to follow in his family's footsteps at the professional sport level.

"It has always been a goal of mine to be able to represent our country internationally as he did," noted Shedd. "Getting this opportunity in my professional career is a dream come true. I am fully committed to the success of the USWNT and intend to serve on all capacities necessary to achieve ultimate success in international competition."

Miller will join Team USA in a managerial capacity. Graduating from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania located in Lock Haven, Pa. she majored in Sport Administration with a Coaching Minor. Miller will bring her highly energetic personality and strong communication skills to USWNT. Miller already holds a true commitment to making a positive impact in the field hockey community by taking a personal interest in the sport. Since 2011, she has devoted time and energy to coaching hockey at Lampeter-Strasburg School District. 

Previously as a Health and Wellness Director for the Lancaster Family YMCA for 5 years, Miller developed skills that assist her with team administrative and operations tasks, competition management, accounting and finance as well as tending to athlete and coach needs. In the 2 years prior, she worked in professional sports with Philadelphia Union. Through these endeavors, Miller has come to love working in the customer service industry creating, implementing and assessing programs.

"Christa will be a good addition to the staff as she is very ambitious, young, has a love for field hockey," commented Schopman. "She is also local which I think is very important in the role of the U.S. Women's National Team manager as she understands the town and community. She will be like the spider in the web between our stakeholders at Spooky Nook Sports as well as in the community and within the community outreach. I think with having her on board will be a great asset for us."

"I believe that if you are passionate about your job than it will never truly be a job," said Miller. "I love the sport of field hockey and am passionate about growing the sport not only in this area but across the nation. I see this as something I can contribute to as the USWNT Manager. I am also the weirdo that truly enjoys doing budgets and planning, so I think that will help as well."

Miller has lived in Lancaster County her whole life and absolutely loves it there. She has been the head coach of the junior high team at Lampeter-Strasburg School District for 6 years.

"Coaching is an absolute passion of mine and I love the junior high age group," said Miller. "I love seeing how a kid who has never touched a stick before, become this athlete that they never thought they could be. The kids are goofy and make me feel like I have 24 extra daughters during not only the season, but year round. Being called Coach Miller is such an honor and I just always hope that they learn not only hockey skills but a few life lessons that they will carry with them as well."

Kimura-Koenig will join the staff as the Medical Manager for the USWNT. A native of Japan, Kimura-Koenig first came to the U.S. as a junior in college when she won a year-long scholarship to study at one of the branches of the University of Tennessee. She returned to Japan to graduate but had aspirations to go back to America to become an athletic trainer. Just four months after graduating, she returned and attended Missouri State University where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Athletic Training and later continued her education at Old Dominion University, where she earned her Masters in Science in Education with an emphasis in Athletic Training. While in Norfolk, Va. she got to know the sport of field hockey and had the opportunity to work with former ODU head field hockey coach, Beth Anders, as the graduate assistant athletic trainer.

This was back when the U.S. Women's National Team was based in Virginia Beach, Va. and Kimura-Koenig eventually started volunteering for USA Field Hockey at National Events and helped out with the USWNT practices as well as traveled with the U-21 USWNT on many tours and to major international events. Throughout the years, she has even volunteered at the Women's National Championship, Women's Junior National Championship, Junior National Camps, National Hockey Festival, National Indoor Tournaments and within the Futures Program.

"Athletic training to me is my job but it is also a pleasure," said Kimura-Koenig. "Whenever I had the opportunity to go overseas with USA Field Hockey as a volunteer, that really got me interest in wanting to work at the highest level, which is with the national team or with Team USA. This is what really sparked my interest in really wanting to work for the USOC."

On a visit to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, Calif in 2012, Kimura-Koenig found out about a sports medicine volunteer internship program. In order to submit an application for this program, one had to be practicing athletic training for a minimum of 5 years. With the application review and waiting time of about ten years, she promised herself that she would one day come back to the OTC to work, not just to visit.

"Because of the work I had done with USA Field Hockey, I was pulled out of the pool and only had to wait 2-3 months," commented Kimura-Koenig. "At that time, I worked U-17 and U-19 training camps and roughly 5 years later I accepted this position with the U.S. Women's National Team."

Since 2006, Kimura-Koenig has been the head athletic trainer as well as an anatomy, health and physical education teacher at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Va. On top of holding a full-time position, she also has a contracted position with the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter in the sports medicine division.

"I think Yuko is a very caring person," mentioned Schopman. "She volunteered a lot of her time working for USA Field Hockey with junior programs and also with the events. I think her expertise and nature of primarily taking care of the athletes along with the pride she takes in that will sit very well with our high performance environment. The girls need someone who puts that as their highest priority."

"Working for Janneke is an honor," added Kimura-Koenig. "I first met her at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Germany and I consider her one of the best coaches to work for as she made me feel like one of the staff members and made me feel very important. Working for her is like a dream."

USFHA media release

All-Stars glowing in praise of PSi tournament



Moritz Fürste and Nicki Leijs hailed their South African experience as they played their part in the All-Stars series victory over the home side’s national team at the Pro Series Indoor in Cape Town.

The festival of hockey saw thousands of children taking part in their national indoor hockey championships with the All-Star games providing a marquee event to run alongside it.

The visiting All-Stars – featuring a string of indoor World Cup and Olympic gold medalists – won the final tie 8-3 to add to a couple of earlier wins.

And, reflecting on the victory, UHC Hamburg’s Fürste said of the PSi: “I really love it here, it’s a perfect mix of fun and celebrating and progressing the game of Indoor hockey.

“I think from what I have seen the kids love the game and I have been impressed with the skill level.”

AH&BC Amsterdam’s Nicki Leijs agreed: “It’s my second time here and it’s been brilliant. It’s been a great show and it’s so special to be here. The German guys are the best hockey players in the world and to be on the same team as them has been absolutely special!”

In the final game, Fürste started the scoring within 22 seconds and they built a healthy lead with further goals from Robert Tigges, Benni and Timo Wess before Jethro Eustice – who has played for clubs in Ireland and England – and Rez Rosenberg pulled back a few by the end of the series.

“Every time I am at PSi, it's bigger it’s better and it's louder” shared the All Stars captain Robert Tigges. “We also brought a truly world class All Stars side and it’s been fantastic to play alongside one another. It’s also been great to see South Africa improving a little bit more each time and they need to believe that they can challenge in the future!”

Euro Hockey League media release

Beighton Cup hockey tournament to start on December 19

KOLKATA: The 121st edition of the All India Beighton Cup hockey tournament will start here on December 19, it was announced on Thursday.

The nine-day meet which is one of the oldest hockey tournaments in the world will have the qualifiers starting on Friday.

Three teams will qualify for the main round or the pre-quarter final round from the qualifiers.

Punjab National Bank are the defending champions. They rode on goalkeeper Jasvir Singh's heroics in the shootout to beat four-time defending champions Indian Oil Corporation and win their maiden title last year.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Narinder Batra announced earlier that the century-old competition, which has lost its sheen with time, will be telecast live on YouTube.

The Times of India

Three women hockey players get cheques from MP Govt

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Government today presented cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to three members of the Indian women hockey team that participated in the Rio Olympics.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan handed over the cheques to the three players, who were trained in the Madhya Pradesh Women Hockey Academy in Gwalior, at the secretariat here, said an officer from the Public Relations Department.

Those who were given the cheques were Priti Dubey, Monika Malick and Poonam Rani. Another player Anuradha Devi was also to be given a cheque of the same amount, but she could not make it to the function due to unavoidable circumstances, said the official.

Paramjeet Singh, a coach at the Madhya Pradesh Women Hockey Academy, was honoured on the occasion.

The State Government had earlier announced to honour all sportspersons from Madhya Pradesh who had participated in the Olympic Games held in August.

The Times of India

Amsterdam’s Loots to step down at end of season



Dirk Loots has decided not to renew his contract as head coach of AH&BC Amsterdam beyond this season, informing the club’s board to step down at the end of the current campaign.

Loots came on board halfway through the 2015-16 season with Amsterdam, taking over from Alyson Annan, following her appointment as coach of the Dutch women's team.

Fons Fonteijn, an Amsterdam top hockey board member, praised Loots for his work with the club: "Dirk came in halfway through a season and that's not easy. He took on the role with no problems, reaching the [Hoofdklasse] final playoffs and the EHL final.”

Loots said his decision will not see him slacking off in any way: "The team and I are very motivated for the second half of the season. We want to close in again on winning and then I'm going to divide my time again in a different way."

He currently combines his coaching role with a full-time job and so, from time to time, could not commit fully to Tuesday training sessions with the club.

And Loots feels it was right to inform Amsterdam early of his decision to step down: “The club now has plenty of time to see how they are going to do next season.

“And the players are mature enough there to also get on with it. And I'm very motivated to put in a good second half of the season with the team."

They return to Dutch league action in late February before going on to face HC Oranje-Rood in the EHL KO16 in Eindhoven.

Euro Hockey League media release

MP: No job for hearing- impaired hockey player

Shruti Tomar


Abdul Samad has represented MP in six senior men hockey national championships and four junior national championships. (Pic for representation)

He has represented Madhya Pradesh in the national hockey championships — the first hearing and speech impaired player to do so — and his skill with the stick have won him many awards. However, 26-year-old Abdul Samad has been running from pillar to post to land a job, despite many assurances from the state and sports fraternity for the same.

The goalkeeper has represented MP in six senior men hockey national championships and four junior national championships. He approached the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, Switzerland to participate in the World Deaf Hockey Championship. The international committee referred his matter to the All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD) — the Indian body does not have hockey as a discipline.

However, AISCD general secretary M Walter Fernandez took up his case and wrote on his behalf to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

“He has won many trophies and awards. He is disappointed that his application for employment has been turned down by the Railway Board, MP due to his impairment… We request you to assist him to get good job in your state,” Fernandez, in his letter to the CM, said.

Samad’s brother Abdul Subur feels that by denying him employment, society has rejected him. “My brother chose to play in the regular hockey team as he didn’t want any sympathy. But society forced him to realise that he was born with disabilities by rejecting him and by overlooking his strength and skill,” he said.

“During an Obaidullah Gold Cup match, the chief minister had assured Samad of providing help but nothing has happened. Now, we are hoping that this letter will help him,” he said.

Meanwhile, Samad himself seems cautiously optimistic. Talking to HT in sign language, he said, “I am happy that AISCD has taken up my case. I have earned a good name in hockey. I also joined an ITI so that I could earn livelihood. But nobody is willing to provide me with a job.”

Hindustan Times

Hockey #Vintage: once upon a time, hockey was played in Guanajuato

Josefina Chavez Diaz


Departure for 1974 World Cup, Mandelieu (France). Collection Angeles Chavira

Angeles Chavira is an icon of Mexican hockey. She was a pioneer in Guanajuato. Today, at 65, she cheers from the stands while she looks back in her memories. Her life has been entirely dedicated to hockey.

She is 65 and you can watch her going up and down the stands. She greets a group of technical officials with a bowl of strawberries with cream, typical fruit from Guanajuato. The World League Round 1 is being hosted at the Siglo XXI Stadium. She is excited, she cheers, she regrets, only yesterday she gave everything in every game.

She is 65 and she retired in 2002. She is fully dedicated to hockey. “This is my passion”, she says.

In 1972 at the age of 21 she was introduced to hockey at the Centro Deportivo Olímpico Mexicano (Mexican Olympic Center) coached by Zeeno Fernández D'costa and Saul Diaz De León.

A couple of years later she brought two teams to Guanajuato “Las Gacelas” and “Los Cometas”, for an exhibition game. At that time hockey, was only played in the capital city.

"This was a time when hockey was not as competitive, it was about a strong relationship between players and coaches." There was more sharing than competition. There were few sports items and carrying a "Karachi” stick made certainly the difference. It was not easy to get a goal-keeper equipment. We trained in a basketball pitch...”

“Our first team was formed with our nieces, sisters, friends, who invited their own friends. We soon had a female team and one year later we had a male team as well”.

“With the team equipped with sticks we got from my friends in  Mexico City, we started seeking for a pitch in Salamanca.  It was the Riama Club who allowed us to train at their venue, twice a week. It wasn’t easy”, Angeles recalls, while naming the officials of the club who started supporting the team by buying sticks and balls to develop hockey.

The first tournaments were delivered with big effort. “With the support of my family, we accommodated visiting teams at home when coming to play in Salamanca. My teammates contributed with meals and lodging, too. This was the way it worked for several years. Otherwise, there was no team to play against.  The first team came from the women side. Later we split and formed more clubs; the "Joggin's Snoopy" and "Reavens".  Men got organized later in 4 clubs; "Sticks", "Barquito", "Marlboro" and "Fox"”, says Angeles.

“In 1980 we started playing organized tournaments, every year more clubs joined us”.

Angeles Chavira was formally registered as a player in 1973, in Mexico City Association. Since then, she played at all national tournaments until 2002.

Her commitment and skills as a player, found her as a representative of her club and country at international tournaments. She played 5 editions of the Cal Cup, four times at the Torneo Internacional de la Amistad. She played three World Championships; France 1974, Germany 1973 and the Qualifier to the 1978 World cup in Spain against Canada. She also participated at the World Championship in Argentina in 1981. Plus other competitions in preparation to the top tournaments.

She remembers all her teammates’ names and last names, and treasures some special moments. "In Berlin, at the 2nd World Championship, we ended at the 7th place, the best position ever for a Mexican team at international level. We felt much appreciated by people that came to us for autographs. It was a wonderful experience”.

She looks back, nostalgic but passionate. And that was the power that strengthened her for so many years to play and support hockey from any side.  Angeles is quite certain of what is needed to develop hockey and she strongly supports managers, coaches and players pushing the growth of hockey.

“There is a club named “Angeles” for children aged 4-13. I feel satisfied and proud of my accomplishments. Hockey was and will continue being my passion”, Angeles says.

Thanks to Angeles and others’ contribution, male and female players, coaches and managers, hockey has grown to a big extent in Mexico. Hockey is now played in 15 states and Salamanca contributes with an important number of players to the National Team.

And it was in Salamanca that Hockey World League Round 1 was played last September. At that time, we had the pleasure to meet and work with Angeles Chavira and her colleagues.

Pan American Hockey Federaion media release

Five in the race for 2016 Kenyan Coach of the Year award

By BRIAN YONGA


Harambee Starlets coach David Ouma reacts during a training session on September 5, 2016 at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

Five coaches from various disciplines are locked in a tight race for the 2016 Coach of the Year award in the annual Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya).

The five includes Harambee Starlets coach David Ouma, who took the national football women’s team to its first ever Africa Cup of Nations this year, athletics coach Julius Kirwa, who was in charge of Team Kenya at the Rio Olympics as well as Benjamin Ayimba, who led the national rugby sevens team to their first ever triumph in the World Sevens Series in Singapore.

Also vying for the coaching honours are Catherine Mabwi, the only female contestant and coach of the national under-23 volleyball team and Telkom Orange women's hockey team coach Jos Openda.

Ouma graces the awards for the first time after he made history by taking the Kenyan national women's football team to a first ever African Women Nations Cup in Cameroon last month.


Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario (left) joins FKF President Nick Mwendwa (right) to congratulate Harambee Starlets head coach David Ouma after the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Kenya and Algeria at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani on April 12, 2016. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

However, Starlets were bundled out in the group stages after losing all their three matches against Ghana, Mali and Nigeria.

Kirwa was head coach of Team Kenya that produced the highest medal tally in the country’s history at the Olympics in Rio.

In Rio, Vivian Cheruiyot became the first Kenyan woman to win gold in the 5,000m at the Olympics gold while Jemimmah Sumgong won the country its maiden title in women’s marathon.


Team Kenya athletics head coach Julius Kirwa on arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from the Rio Olympic Games. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |


Coach Julius Kirwa (left), Vivian Cheruiyot (centre) and Eliud Kipchoge at the Athletics Kenya 2015-2016 Gala Awards on December 7, 2016 at Panari Hotel. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

Ayimba was nominated for turning around Kenya's fortunes after a difficult 2014/2015 season. With Kenya lying third from bottom in series standing, he guided Kenya to a historic Main Cup win in Singapore.

Kenya Sevens were semi-finalists in Cape Town and quarter-finalists in the Hong Kong and Sydney legs of the IRB Sevens Series.

Meanwhile, Mabwi was in charge of the Malkia Strikers junior team that that recently qualified for the 2017 World U-23 Championships after finishing second behind Egypt at Kasarani.


National Under-23 volleyball team coach Catherine Mabwi during a training session on August 12, 2016 at Nyayo Stadium. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

Openda led Telkom Orange to a record 19th Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) national league title and as well as a fourth Sana Cup title. The team will be favourites to clinch a ninth African Club title at next year’s event set for Nairobi.


Telkom Orange head coach Jos Openda reacts during a past match. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |NATION MEDIA GROUP

He is also not new to the Soya fraternity having won the accolade in 2014.

Daily Nation

Colleen Quinn presented with Hall of Fame honour

Special luncheon held in Newcastle yesterday

Holly MacNeil



Hockey Australia 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Colleen Quinn was yesterday awarded with her accolade at a special luncheon at Customs House in Newcastle.

Unable to travel to Melbourne for the previously scheduled awards ceremony for health reasons, it was arranged that interim Hockey Australia President, Mel Woosnam, would present Colleen with the honour at a separate event.

Quinn first began playing hockey at the age of 17 in 1947, quickly progressing to play in the State Championships that year. Something that she did every year until 1971.



In 1959 Colleen was selected to be a member of the national women’s hockey team to represent Australia debuting in Bruges against Belgium.  which she did until 1962, and again from 1968 – 1971.

Colleen was chosen in the 1959 and 1963 Australian teams that attended the International Federation Women’s Hockey Association Tournament – now known as the World Cup.  In 1970, Colleen first captained Australia for tours to England and South Africa before she went on to captain Australia again at the 1971 World Championships.

Following her retirement, Colleen went on to coach the NSW team and the Australian team- whom she coached for three years.

Of receiving her induction into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame, Colleen said she was thrilled.

Hockey Australia would like to congratulate Colleen on her induction!

The re-scheduled Hall of Fame event is expected to be held in Victoria in early 2017.

Hockey Australia media release

Jerome Pels to take over as CEO of Hockey Ireland

Dutchman will succeed Rob Johnson and begin his new appointment on January 3rd

Johnny Watterson


Jerome Pels: will take over as CEO of Hockey Ireland on January 3rd.

Following on from Rob Johnson’s enthusiasm and energy as interim chief executive officer of Hockey Ireland over the last 12 months, a new appointment has been made to take the sport forward towards the next World Cup and Olympic Games.

Dutchman Jerome Pels will be starting in the role for Ireland from January 3rd 2017.

Mr Pels has had a great deal of experience in sports administration and was formerly head of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), an organisation he worked with for 17 years.

He was responsible for the day to day running of the federation from their headquarters in Southampton. Before that he held various roles of responsibility for the Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Pels took over the organisation’s top role in 2008 and held it until his resignation in 2014.

Earlier this year he became the interim CEO of Boccia England, the announcement of his appointment to Hockey Ireland coming this week.

Mr Pels is related by marriage to four-times Olympic champion and eight -times world champion sailor Ben Ainslie, as he is married to his sister Fleur.

His role in hockey is not an easy one as he tries to marry the aspirations of the women’s team to make the next Olympic Games and the men’s efforts to follow on from their success in making it to Rio.

The enormous cost of that commitment as well as running the organisation on a day to day basis on a slim budget will need a creative touch.

Asking Under-21 players for €1000 to represent Ireland at European events does not protect the sport against claims of being elite.

As it is Irish coach Craig Fulton has had to fund raise in the past, which is hardly his job, so Mr Pels comes in with clearly defined challenges for a sport that has, nonetheless, been successful in recent years.

Irish Times

Ex-international Manjit dies at 52

PETALING JAYA: Manjit Singh, a former Malaysian hockey international, has passed away at the age of 52.

The Tenaga Nasional employee succumbed to a lung infection at the Pantai Hospital at 4am yesterday.

Manjit was a goalkeeper for Malaysia at the 1985 Junior World Cup in Vancouver, Canada. Malaysia finished 11th.

Together with his brother Jasbere Singh, they were regular faces for Kilat Hockey Club in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) in the 1990s.

Last month, Manjit played for the Kilat Veterans at the Pesta Penang.

Besides that, Manjit also represented the Selangor Sikh Union (SSU), Kelab Aman and Police in the Gurdwara Cup.

Manjit was cremated at the Gui Yuan Crematorium in Petaling Jaya at 4pm yesterday.

The path da bhog will be held at the Gurdwara Sahib in Petaling Jaya between 5pm-8pm on Dec 23.

The Star of Malaysia