News for 25 December 2017
All the news for Monday 25 December 2017
Provincial Sides Continue to Suffer Big Defeats
The hastily assembled and inexperienced provincial sides continue to suffer big defeats at the hands of well drilled departmental outfits at the 64th National Hockey Championships in Sukkur
Navy scored half a dozen goals against the Punjab without a reply.
SCORERS:
Mohammad Sabir (2), Asif Ali, Akbar Ali, Ali Sher & Olympian Rashid Mahmood
Customs also had a big win 5-0 win over KPK
SCORERS:
Adnan Babar, Farhan, Rizwan Khan, Danish and Munawwar
An interesting encounter was witnessed between the holders PIA and the debutantes Fauji Fertilizers Company.
The young FFC boys gave the airline men a good run for their money before going down 2-3
SCORERS:
PIA: Usman Ghani, Abdul Wahab & Haseem Khan
FFC: Asfandyar & Fayyaz Yaqoob
In the match played late Saturday evening, Sui Southern Gas Company had defeated Customs 3-1
SCORERS:
SSGC: Rana Sohail, Taufeeq & Mubashar
Customs: Farhan
PHF Media release
Sohail Abbas to be part of World Hockey XI
Syed Intikhab Ali
KARACHI: Pakistan’s former captain Sohail Abbas is likely to be included in the 16-member World XI that will play two matches in January, ‘The News’ has learnt.
Sources said the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) wants Sohail, the most prolific penalty corner specialist and highest goal scorer in hockey, to be part of this initiative for the revival of international hockey in the country. Though he has retired from international hockey, he still plays in the domestic hockey.
PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed confirmed that Sohail would be included in the World XI. The remaining 15 players would be from other countries, he added.The World XI will play matches in Karachi and Lahore in the third week of January.
Sources in the PHF said that many things would become clear after the meeting of PHF congress in Sukkur onDecember 30.The national hockey championship is being played in Sukkur and the final of the championship will be held on December 30.
The PHF secretary also confirmed that PHF, after the World XI’s visit, would organise a four-nation tournament in which China, Japan and South Korea would be invited. The schedule of the tournament would be decided later, he said.
He said that the World XI’s tour of Pakistan would serve many purposes. “It will benefit our hockey in 2018 which is a very important year for us. Pakistan Hockey League (PHL) will be held in April, which will give our players experience of rigorous hockey. It will also address the issue of shortage of international hockey matches in their career,” he said.
He said that PHF wanted to host the four-nation hockey tournament before April, “but it depends on the confirmation of other countries.He said Holland’s greats like Paul Litgents and Florence Bolander would visit Pakistan to attend the Hall of Fame awards ceremony and be part of celebrations of revival of international hockey in the country.“We are in contact with some other legendary players of Australia and Germany, but they are yet to confirm,” he added.
The News International
How India's women's hockey team transformed under head coach Harendra Singh
Sundeep Misra
Aggression became the buzz-word in the India's women's hockey team. Image Courtesy: Hockey India
There is a struggle on in Indian hockey. Irrespective of how they performed, wins and losses, in comparison to the men’s team, India's women hockey players have always felt like they were running on the outer lane. They run fast, dribble with ease, show flashes of extraordinary skill, yet they are considered the outer boundary of the sport; never a part of the exclusive club.
But all that might change soon. As someone in the women’s team put it – the side dish is desperate to be the main course. In short, that has been the story of the women’s national hockey team. Anguished, hurt and unable to come to terms with the 12th place finish at the Rio Olympics, the women had nowhere to go. With just one point from the Olympic Games after a 2-2 draw with Japan, arrival back to India was quiet with that urgent rush to go back home and shut the door on Rio. The Olympics had taken 36 years to come and the excitement had turned into deep, dark disappointment.
Neil Hawgood, Indian coach at Rio said, “We have fast hands but not necessarily fast feet. You could have the world’s best, most talented, most skillful players but if they can’t run, the game is over.” Hawgood also said that the style of players has to change. Suddenly, the very core of the athletes was being questioned. “Everyone has 5'9, 5'10 and 5'11 in fast athletes. We don’t have those fast athletes,” he explained. India’s past had 4th place at the 74’ World Cup; 4th at the 80’ Moscow Olympics, gold at the 82’ Asian Games; gold and silver at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games; five medals at nine Asian Games; five medals at seven Asia Cups. Yet, all that now seemed so far in the past. Things couldn’t have changed that dramatically, some of the players asked. Defeats have a tendency of lingering on. And it stayed with the players, like moss.
In came Dutchmen Sjoerd Marijne and Eric Wonink as the chief coach and analytical coach for the women's team till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
But like a lot else, things change quickly in Indian hockey. Overnight, the men’s coach Roelant Oltmans was sacked and Marijne, who was then in Europe with the women’s team, was asked to take over the men’s side. And the man who coveted the job after taking the India's junior team to the World title, Harendra Singh, was asked to take over the women’s team. If there is something that Harendra, a former Asian Games silver medallist, cannot say no to, it’s a dare, a challenge.
“I am not disappointed at all,” said Harendra. “If one has to serve the nation, he should not look at what the job is. When the offer came to me, I did not hesitate even for a second. I instantly said yes. India is looking for women’s empowerment and I want to start with the hockey team.” The Indian women’s team, who were desperately looking for some stability, might have had apprehensions. Under Marijne, they had beaten the junior Belgian men’s team and suddenly they had to readjust their bearings under Harendra’s philosophy.
In Indian sports, athletes adjust quickly. They understand all too well what’s in control and what’s not. After a short training camp which was to understand what Harendra wanted from the team, Hockey India announced Rani Rampal as the captain of an 18-member Indian team for the ninth women's Asia Cup. India still had not qualified for the 2018 London World Cup and only a win at Kakamigahara could achieve that. Otherwise, they were left to the vagaries of complex, unpredictable qualification processes. Harendra created a blend of youth and experience with Sushila Chanu coming back into the team. Harendra was clear on one aspect – the team will play attacking hockey, relying on speed and counter-attacks. Before leaving to Japan for the Asia Cup, Harendra said, “We have made several minors adjustments and improvements in our game and will keep out unforced errors in our play. We want to win the women's Asia Cup 2017 in order to qualify for next year's World Cup.” Aggression became the buzz-word in the Indian team. Even though he had less time to understand every player and lesser time to push them on increasing their endurance, he just asked one thing from the team – have self-belief. The challenge had become a crusade for Harendra and that like a virus was passed onto the team.
Playing a tight game, controlling the pace with quick counters, the Indian women won their biggest title in recent years beating China after a shootout in the final. This was India’s second Asia Cup after they had beaten Japan in 2004 in New Delhi. Playing the final for the first time since 2009, India managed to hold off China 5-4 in the shootout. India had also beaten defending champions Japan 4-2 in the semi-final. In the group stages, India had beaten China 4-1. It was a triumph over adversity. India had won all their matches in the group stages beating Malaysia, Singapore and China. Importantly, India had qualified for the 2018 World Cup. From 12th, they had jumped two spots to 10th.
“The important thing about the win was that the team got the belief that they can do it,” says Harendra. “I asked for pace and aggression. There were moments in some matches we had to defend. But we kept looking for counters and that made the opposition uneasy.”
Harendra believes this is a first step towards climbing the FIH rankings. He does dream of a top six position, quite tough for a team that will have to jump over China, South Korea, Germany and the USA. “But isn’t that the challenge now for the team,” he asks. “Next year is important not only in wanting to be on the podium but also in finding out whether you have it in you or not.”
The Indian captain, Rani Rampal, who made her debut at 15 and now the captain, feels confident. "2018 is crucial for us as a team,” she says. “We have the Commonwealth Games, World Cup and the Asian Games.”
All the three tournaments are once in a four year cycle. The team knows this is a chance they cannot miss.
It seems that Harendra has already done the math. “The CWG is a podium tournament and doing well there would push us towards the requirements physically for the World Cup. We need a quarter-final at the World Cup and anything can happen from there on. It’s at the Asian Games that we need to win gold. Top team at the Asian Games goes to Tokyo 2020.”
Rampal has matured enough to understand that an Asia Cup win doesn’t necessarily make you a top contender. "We have only competed at the Asian level. To compete at the world level we have to put more hard work into our game. We are doing all these in the national camps.”
The area where Harendra wants the team to improve is regaining the ball and create space immediately. “Pressure and only pressure works in intense matches when you play at the world level,” he explains. Harendra agrees that strength is a core part of the team improving. And that area will improve gradually. “But I will like to combine flair with speed and strength and once the team gets a big win, their confidence in their own play will go up.”
Rampal's striking skills, Deep Grace Ekka and Sunita Lakra’s defensive play with the ever improving goalkeeper’s Savita and Rajani, Harendra also has the penalty corner abilities of Gurjit Kaur and the experience of Sushila Chanu to balance off a side that would be more youth than experience when they start off an eventful 2018.
It’s a team that will be chasing better ones, up in the pecking order. At this moment of time, as 2017 melts away, passion and perseverance will be their 2018 clarion call.
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