News for 11 April 2017
All the news for Tuesday 11 April 2017
FIH confirms final line-ups for women’s Hockey World League Semi-Finals
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the final line-ups for the women’s Hockey World League Semi-Finals following the conclusion of Round 2 and the subsequent update to the women’s FIH Hero World Rankings.
Between 21 June and 2 July 2017, the Stade Fallon in Brussels, Belgium will welcome Italy, Malaysia and Scotland. They qualified from the Hockey World League Round 2 along with Spain and join the reigning Hockey World Cup champions Netherlands, 2014 Asian champions Korea, China, Hockey World League Final 2015 runners-up New Zealand, 2014 Hockey World Cup silver medallists Australia, and hosts Belgium, whose participation in this event was confirmed earlier this year.
The other women’s Hockey World League Semi-Final will take place at Wits Hockey Club in Johannesburg, South Africa between 8-23 July. Joining this event from Round 2 are India, Chile, Ireland and Poland. They will play reigning Hockey Champions Trophy and Hockey World League champions Argentina, England – who will include many of the Rio 2016 gold medallist athletes who represented Great Britain, Rio 2016 bronze medallists Germany, Japan, reigning Pan American champions USA and hosts South Africa, winners of the 2015 African Hockey Championship.
These latest women’s qualifiers were allocated to each event based on their position within the FIH Hero World Rankings which were updated following the conclusion of Round 2 this morning. This latest update eliminated points earned by nations during 2013 as well as reducing the number of points all nations earned in 2014 and 2016.For the updated women’s FIH Hero World Rankings, click here.
The top teams from Brussels and Johannesburg will qualify for two of hockey’s showcase events – the Women’s Hockey World League Final 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018 in England.
Depending on final standings, teams will be awarded FIH Hero World Ranking points, which will prove crucial in relation to qualification for future events. Fans can therefore expect to witness some action-packed hockey full of excitement and drama during the Semi-Finals.
FIH is now finalising the event schedules with partners and will announce shortly. For those looking to attend the Semi-Final in Brussels however, tickets for all sessions, including the all-important classification matches, can be purchased here.
The finalised event schedule for the men’s Hockey World League Semi-Final in London, England was also confirmed earlier today. There hosts England, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists Argentina, reigning European champions Netherlands, Asian champions India, Pakistan, Korea and Round 2 qualifiers Canada, Malaysia, China and Scotland will take part in the event. More information about the schedule and ticket/hospitality packages can be found here.
To keep up to date with all the latest news relating to these events over the coming months, visit FIH.ch and follow FIH via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Hockey World League Semi-Finals
10 teams will take part in each Semi-Final. They are comprised of the hosts plus five teams who qualify based on their FIH Hero World Ranking, whilst the remaining four teams qualified through Hockey World League Round 2 events which took place between January and April 2017. In total, 20 men’s and 20 women’s teams will be taking part in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals.
WOMEN’S Hockey World League Semi-Finals
Brussels, Belgium (21 June – 2 July 2017)
Pool A: Netherlands; China; Korea; Italy; Scotland.
Pool B: Australia; New Zealand; Belgium; Spain; Malaysia
Tickets: here
Johannesburg, South Africa (8-23 July 2017)
Pool A: England; Germany; Japan; Ireland; Poland.
Pool B: Argentina; USA; South Africa; India; Chile.
MEN’S Hockey World League Semi-Finals
London, England (15-25 June 2017):
Pool A: Argentina; England; Korea; Malaysia; China.
Pool B: Netherlands; India; Pakistan; Canada; Scotland.
Tickets: here
Johannesburg, South Africa (8-23 July 2017)
Pool A: Australia, New Zealand; Spain; Japan; France.
Pool B: Germany; Belgium South Africa; Ireland; Egypt.
FIH site
FIH announces finalised Men’s Hockey World League Semi-Final 2017 schedule for London
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced the finalised schedule of the men’s Hockey World League Semi-Final 2017 in London, England following the allocation of Round 2 qualifiers last week.
Taking place between 15 and 25 June at Lee Valley’s Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Hockey World Cup 2018 qualifier will feature 10 of the world’s best men’s hockey teams.
Hosts England, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists Argentina, reigning European champions Netherlands, Asian champions India, Pakistan, Korea and Round 2 qualifiers Canada, Malaysia, China and Scotland will take part in the event.
‘Super Sunday’, 18 June, is bound to set pulses racing with one of sport’s fiercest rivalries resuming. The first game of the day pairs Pakistan with India and with 11 Olympic titles between them this is bound to be a thrilling encounter. Follow that up with hosts England going head to head with the Argentina, the number one team in the FIH Hero World Rankings, tickets will be in hot demand.
There’s many more exciting matches throughout the week, with the full schedule published on the official event website here.
Considering London’s multi-cultural population, the announcement of the full fixture list will no doubt see a rise in interest in tickets as communities turn out to cheer on their favourite teams in the iconic setting of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
‘Super Sunday’ is already proving popular amongst fans along with the crucial quarter-final, semi-final and final matches as well. Fans are therefore being urged not to miss out on what will be one of this year’s greatest sporting events featuring historic sporting rivalries and the world’s top men’s hockey teams. With tickets beginning at just £2.50 for children and £10 for adults, fans can buy tickets by visiting the official ticket site by clicking here.
A number of hospitality packages are also available for those looking to entertain clients or enjoy a memorable day out with family and friends. VIP hospitality, including the best seats in the house, are included and can be purchased by clicking here.
The Hockey World League, composed of four rounds and played over two years, shines a spotlight on the sport around the world. Even the smallest hockey-playing nations have the opportunity to write their own chapter in hockey’s history books. London provides the perfect stage for their dreams to become reality in what is a crucial event in hockey’s international calendar.
The top teams from London will qualify for two of hockey’s showpiece events – the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017 and the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, both in India.
Depending on final standings, teams will also be awarded FIH Hero World Ranking points, which could prove crucial in relation to qualification for future events. With so much on the line, fans will no doubt witness some action-packed matches full of excitement and drama this June.
To keep up to date with all the latest news relating to the Hockey World League Semi-Finals over the coming months, visit FIH.ch and follow FIH via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
#HWL2017
FIH site
Women's team confirm key date in World Cup prep
England Women
As a vital part of their preparation for London's Hockey World Cup in 2018, it has today been confirmed that the England women's team will play in the Hockey World League semi-final in South Africa in July.
The World League semi-final is a milestone on the road to the World Cup, with teams battling for the right to play in the world's biggest hockey tournament in London next summer. England have of course already qualified for the World Cup as hosts, but the World League is absolutely crucial to embed players into the squad and gain all-important momentum. Vital ranking points are of course also up for grabs, with England currently second in the world and looking to close the gap on leaders Holland.
The tournament will take place in Johannesburg between 8 and 23 July 2017, and also features Rio bronze medal winners Germany, as well as Champions Trophy holders Argentina, Pan American champions USA, African Hockey champions South Africa, plus Ireland, India, Chile, Japan and Poland. Our pool includes Germany, Ireland, Japan and Poland so there are some key tests in store.
The top teams in this tournament will go through to the Women's Hockey World League Final in Auckland later in the year, which offers further preparation and is likely to give us the opportunity to face further challenges against teams such as Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain and Scotland.
This is a hugely exciting period for women's hockey in this country, with our upcoming fixture against Holland selling out in record time, and then 10,000 Women's Hockey World Cup tickets being sold in an hour when sales began in early April. Seats are still available - click here to find out how to secure your seat.
Women's team key dates 2017
June 11: England vs Holland, Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre, London
July 8-23: Hockey World League semi-final, Johannesburg
August 18-26: EuroHockey Championships, Amsterdam
November 17-26: Hockey World League final, Auckland
Key dates 2018
April 5-14: Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast
July 21 - Aug 5: Women's Hockey World Cup 2018, Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
England Hockey Board Media release
Scotland Women Qualify for World League Semi Final in Belgium
Scotland Women Team Scotland’s senior women’s hockey team have qualified for the World League semi-final for the first time and will play in Belgium from 21 June to 2 July.
It has been a long wait for the team, who following their third place finish at World League 2 in Spain, have had to wait nearly two months for the final World League 2 in Canada, where their place was confirmed on Saturday night when India beat Belarus in the semi-final.
The team can now look forward to playing some of the best hockey nations in the world, in an exciting period, as they also prepare for the European Championships in August and the Commonwealth Games in April 2018.
The World League semi-finals are also a step closer to the World Cup which is being held in London in June 2018. A strong performance in the semi-finals would take Scotland back to the World Cup for the first time since 2002. The World Cup has a special significance for Scotland, as the trophy is a Quaich that was originally presented to the winners of the World Cup in Edinburgh in 1975.
The qualification for the World League semi-final, achieves Scotland’s qualification standard for Team Scotland for the Commonwealth Games, and retains Scotland’s World Ranking of 17th.
Scotland women’s Head Coach Gordon Shepherd commented “I am thrilled that we have qualified for the World League semi-finals for the first time. We are looking forward to playing the best nations in the world as we challenge for World Cup qualification. I am delighted for the whole squad, as they have all worked so hard to make this happen.
Scottish Hockey CEO David Sweetman added “It is a fantastic achievement to have both our women’s and men’s teams secure qualification to the World League semi-finals for the first time. The squads and support staff have shown massive drive and commitment to achieve this and they deserve the opportunities to compete against the best teams in the world. With the European tournament for the men in Glasgow in August, and hosting several test series for the women, we are delighted that fans will be able to watch the teams compete as part of an exciting summer for hockey in Scotland”
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Sreejesh to lead India at Azlan Shah Cup, four rookies included
BENGALURU: Star custodian PR Sreejesh will lead an 18-member Indian hockey team at the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia, starting April 29.
Manpreet Singh will be Sreejesh's deputy in the squad that also has members from the junior World Cup winning squad.
Defender Gurinder Singh, midfielders Sumit and Manpreet were a part of the Junior World Cup winning squad and are slated to make their debut at the tournament.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper from Mumbai Suraj Karkera who was part of the junior squad that toured England in 2016 and participated in the EurAsia Cup in Russia and the Four-Nations Tournament last year, too finds his name in the team.
Ahead of the national camp for the senior men's core probable group, chief coach Roelant Oltmans had emphasized on giving juniors the right exposure with a vision of building a team that would bring laurels in the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
As a first step towards that goal, the chief coach has inducted these youngsters from the junior men's team.
The team also features drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh, Junior World Cup winning skipper Harjeet Singh and forward Mandeep Singh.
The trio, who were instrumental in the Indian team's success at the Junior World Cup, have played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in the previous edition where India won a Silver after losing to Australia in the Final.
"The idea was to try out new combinations ahead of the three important tournaments this year, which are the World League Semi-Final, Asia Cup and the Odisha Men's Hockey League Final Bhubaneswar 2017," explained Oltmans.
"We have a few tournaments before these big events like we play Belgium and Germany before we play the World League Semi-Final and we play Belgium and Holland in August. These are good opponents against whom we can test ourselves to access whether the players are achieving what we expect out of them," he said.
Experienced Sardar Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Harjeet Singh, Sumit and Manpreet will be manning the midfield.
The defence includes Rupinder Pal Singh, Pardeep Mor, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh and Gurinder Singh while the forwardline is formidable with SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Affan Yousuf, Akashdeep Singh and Mandeep Singh.
"We will bring a team to Malaysia which is a mixture of experienced and young players some of whom have played in the senior squad earlier. It is a challenge for us to see where we stand with the new team combination compared to other teams like Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand," said Oltmans.
The coach feels that some of the opposition teams will not ring in too many changes.
"They also will bring new players. I don't expect Malaysia and Japan to have too many changes in their teams and I think they play the same players as they did at the Asian Champions Trophy last October," said Oltmans.
The tournament will give an idea of how things are progressing.
"It will be interesting to see how these teams are developing and also access our own progress. We need to pay attention to the structure we are looking for and it takes time to make everyone aware of what the demands of the structure are specially when new players are coming in.
"Though most of them are responding very well, I believe there will be some ups and downs in the tournament but the aim is to have the best possible result," Oltmans concluded.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (C), Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Pardeep Mor, Surender Kumar, Rupinderpal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh
Midfielders: Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Sumit, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (VC), Harjeet Singh, Manpreet
Forwards: SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Akashdeep Singh.
The Times of India
Wimbledon head for EHL KO16
By Mike Haymonds
WIMBLEDON, led by coach Ben Hawes, fly to Eindhoven tomorrow (Wednesday) for their second taste of European club hockey at the Euro Hockey League KO16 tournament at the home of the newly formed Oranje-Rood club.
Hawes said: “Last year at the same stage we came up against one of Europe’s top performers Amsterdam and lost 1-3 but we have that valuable experience behind us.”
This year they face an equally tough challenge on Saturday against the German champions UHC Hamburg, who have won this competition three times since its inception in 2007/08. A win for Wimbledon would take an English team into the KO8 (quarter-final)stage, for the first time since Reading in 2013, where they will play either the Germans Mannheimer or the Spaniards Club Egara and ensure two English teams in next season’s competition.
Hawes confirmed they will travel with a fully fit squad with Phil Roper having recovered from a facial injury sustained on Great Britain’s recent tour to South Africa, Ian Sloan having been kept back as a precaution and Ben Arnold back after a long-term injury.
Roper and Sloan join Michael Hoare and Henry Weir as Wimbledon’s members of the GB centralised training squad.
Wimbledon have enjoyed a highly successful domestic league season, losing only one early game and lifting the title for the first time with a margin of seven points over Holcombe.
Next weekend they will aim for the double when the Final Four Championship play-offs in the Olympic Park see them opposing Hampstead & Westminster in one semi-final while Holcombe and Surbiton are in the other.
“But this weekend our focus is on Europe,” Hawes said.
Daily Express
Scottish National League Round Up
A hat-trick by Clydesdale`s set piece expert Danny Cain was the catalyst in his side`s 4-3 victory over third placed Grove Menzieshill in a catch-up game that was moved to Auchenhowie.
The result moved Clydesdale up to eighth place in the table, while Menzieshill are still well established in third spot and qualify for the top four play-offs.
Andrew Allan opened for Clydesdale but the Taysiders were soon 2-1 ahead through Ciaran Crawford from the spot and Ollie James. Cain restored parity from his first penalty corner conversion but Hamish Galt then put Menzieshill 3-2 ahead.
The three points were secured for the Glasgow side with two further set piece strikes by Cain and an odd goal in seven victory.
In the men`s second division it looks like Dundee Wanderers will take the automatic promotion spot with a 12-0 win over bottom side Dundee University, there were six different scorers but Gregor Pearson and Bobby Ralph picked up hat-tricks.
Wanderers are now level with Inverleith, although they have a superior goal difference, but the Taysiders have the luxury of a game in hand.
In the women`s competition Grove Menzieshill moved to within a single point of league leaders Edinburgh University after a 4-1 win over Milne Craig Western at Glasgow Green.
GHK have certainly secured their first division status next year in style with an 8-1 win over Stirling University. They are now six points ahead of second placed Grange with only a single game left. The Glasgow side have had a very successful season with 17 victories in their 19 outings so far.
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Kenya Police storm league summit
By BRIAN YONGA
Oliver Echenje (left) of Kenya Police vies with Isaack Kamau of Greensharks during their Kenya Hockey Union Premier League match at City Park Stadium on April 9, 2017. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Former champions Kenya Police maintained their 100 percent after the weekend round of Kenya Hockey Union matches. Police's 1-0 over Greensharks saw them move top of the men's Premier League standing with nine points from three matches.
Greensharks dropped to second spot with seven points after two wins, one draw and a loss.
Wazalendo are up to third place following their 2-1 win over Kenyatta University Vultures. They are tied on seven points with Greensharks but have an inferior goal difference.
Defending champions Strathmore University Gladiators are fourth with five points from a win and two draws while United States International University of Africa complete the top five with four points.
Oliver Echenje’s 13th minute goal was all Police needed to earn maximum points and stay on course to reclaiming the title they lost in 2014. This weekend saw matches adopt the four quarters system in line with International Hockey Federation (FIH) standards but it appears teams will need time to adopt to the new system.
Echenje acknowledged that teams will need time to adopt to the new format.
“It felt like we were playing an unfamiliar game and before we could settle in the match well we ran out of time because the quarters are short compared to the halves we are accustomed to,” Echenje said.
Police had only two short corners while Sharks failed to register a single one.
He added that despite losing numerous chances they created to score more goals he was delighted they secured maximum points.
“We could have scored more goals based on the clear chances created but we were blunt in execution. Even so, I’m glad we got the points and we are now on top of the table standings a position we desire to maintain,” he concluded.
Daily Nation
Indian school team beat China to enter final of hockey meet
BHOPAL: A Indian school team registered a stunning 11-0 win against China in the semifinal of the 5th Asian School Hockey Championship on Monday.
The home team will take on Malaysia in the final. Malaysia beat Singapore 12-1 in the second semifinal.
Mohammad Alishan starred in India's victory with six goals. He scored field goals in the 28th, 32nd, 51st, 66th, 67th and 70th minute of the match. Rahul Kumar Rajbhar (1st minute), Pratap Lakra (18th minute), Akash Ekka (34th minute), Saif Mohammad Khan (43rd minute) and Manip Karketta (68th minute) were the other players who scored in India's emphatic win.
In the 7th and 8th placing match, UAE beat Nepal 6-2 to finish their outing at the championship at the seventh place while Nepal placed eighth.
The Times of India
Mumbai Hockey Association administrator Raju passes away
MUMBAI: Long-time hockey administrator G R Reddy, fondly known as Raju among the sport's fraternity in the city, breathed his last while undergoing treatment for throat cancer at a hospital on Sunday.
Raju, who died aged 70, is survived by his wife, daughter and son, a release from the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited with which he was associated since 1971, said today.
Raju was also the honorary secretary of the Thane District Hockey Association and the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Hockey Association.
MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi, secretary, Ram Singh Rathor, along with the other Executive Committee and Managing Committee members condoled Raju's death.
"Raju served Mumbai hockey for over 46 years. His death is a great loss for the association and Mumbai hockey," said Bakshi.
"He was like the encyclopedia of the Mumbai Hockey Association," said Rathor.
The Times of India