News for 18 October 2018
All the news for Thursday 18 October 2018
Men's Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2018
Muscat (OMA)
Fixtures 18 October (GMT+4)
18:55 MAS v JPN (RR)
21:10 IND v OMA (RR)
FIH Match Centre
Big-time hockey comes calling on Muscat
Muscat: Big-time hockey arrives in Muscat on Thursday when the Hero Asian Champions Trophy begins with a clash between Asian Games gold medallists Japan and Malaysia.
The opening game will be a replay of the thrilling Asian Games title encounter in Jakarta which saw Japan stage a remarkable rally to clinch their first gold medal.
Leading Asian hockey nations – India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and hosts Oman – will be competing in the biennial Hero Asian Champions Trophy at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex from October 18 to 28.
Defending champions India will take on home side Oman in the other fixture of the opening day. The Hero Asian Champions Trophy is the biggest hockey event staged in the Sultanate of Oman, which has a century-old hockey tradition with earliest memories of playing against visiting British Naval ships that anchored here.
Oman’s capital, Muscat is the hub of Oman’s thriving hockey league with the high-stakes event being His Majesty’s Cup, the Gulf region’s most-prestigious tournament that started in 1971. Former Olympians and stars from India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Egypt regularly appear for clubs vying for top honours in His Majesty’s Cup. The Oman Hockey League is also a feature of the Gulf’s hockey calendar.
Oman, whose first continental participation was at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, has twice featured in past editions of the Asian Champions Trophy.
The Hero Asian Champions Trophy will place Muscat high among the continent’s hockey destinations. The Gulf city had earlier played host to the Asian Hockey Federation Under-21 Championship and the Jakarta Asian Games Qualifiers.
“We are elated at hosting world-class players in the Sultanate of Oman. Hockey lovers have been waiting to witness top-class hockey for several months after Muscat was chosen venue for the Hero Asian Champions Trophy,” says Capt. Talib Al Wahibi, President of the Oman Hockey Federation.
Asian Hockey Federation’s Chief Executive, Dato Tayyab Ikram said Muscat will showcase the best hockey talent in Asia over the next 10 days. “The Asian Hockey Federation wants to make Muscat a professional sports venue. With support of the country’s government and the hockey association, Muscat will showcase top-notch hockey often in the future,” he said.
Title holders India will go all out to retain the Hero Asian Champions Trophy, but challenge will come from past champions Pakistan and South Korea, both of whom will be looking to erase the memories of the Jakarta Asian Games, where they failed to feature among the medallists. Both India and Pakistan have won the Asian Champions Trophy twice.
Japan, the new Asian Games gold medallists, and Malaysia too will be aspiring for a place on the podium.
Excited hockey fans have made a beeline for the tickets. All season tickets of the 4,000-capacity stadium are already sold out. Just a handful of daily tickets are now available, but none for the showpiece India-Pakistan preliminary league fixture on October 20.
Asian Hockey Federation media release
India hope to forget Asian Games disappointment, kick-off World Cup preparations on a high
Sundeep Misra
India lost their Asian Games semi-final to Malaysia, and it resulted in a series of knee-jerk reactions from Hockey India. AP
It would be two days short of 50 since that heart-breaking defeat to Malaysia in the semi-finals of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Big teams get beaten, lose close matches; upsets are, at times, the life-blood of a competition. Slaying a big team rejuvenates a tournament, but in that defeat for India, there was torment, an agony that set in motion — as it always happens in Indian hockey — a series of knee-jerk reactions that create an atmosphere nothing short of calamitous.
Immediately after the semi-final loss, unnamed sources inside Hockey India raised doubts on every aspect of the team even to the point that a change in coaching staff was sought. With hardly a couple of months left for the World Cup, better sense prevailed and Harendra Singh still found himself as India coach. Sardar Singh announced his retirement, angry and frustrated that the blame was squarely put on his shoulder. Senior players were ticked off for not showing intensity or leadership during moments of pressure.
Instead of rallying around the boys, putting trust and faith in their abilities, fissures were created. PR Sreejesh was removed as captain and Manpreet Singh reinstated. A team that seemed like putting together a winning mentality, especially after the Champions Trophy where they lost narrowly to Australia in the final, now was on the verge of a collective breakdown. An administration that should have understood the fragility of the team after having lost an Olympic berth at Jakarta chose to point fingers. Eventually, even the High-Performance Director, David John, was sacked from the World Cup selection committee for being overtly critical of the seniors. The newly-elected President of Hockey India, Mushtaque Ahmad, labelled John’s rant as ‘biased.’ All because India lost to Malaysia in a Games where gold was taken for granted.
Now the team has flown to Oman where they play the Asian Champions Trophy, a tournament quite realistically should have been pushed to 2019, a year quite dry for want of tournaments. Rattled by injures to Birendra Lakra, who probably won’t play the World Cup, and then SV Sunil, who thankfully has been cleared to play after adequate rest and rehabilitation, the percentage of intensity in Oman will have to be watched. Can India go all out in Muscat, win the trophy they have won twice before and resurrect some confidence?
Harendra gives a diplomatic answer. His demeanour is already a casualty of the Asian Games. “We are going for gold” at the Asian Games is now a watered down to “we will play each match as it comes” and “every team wants to win.” It’s surprising that he should feel the pressure after taking the team to the Champions Trophy final and almost winning it, but the environment in Indian hockey sometimes gets so toxic that being on guard is at times better than being foolishly confident.
Muscat is a preparation ground for Harendra and his staff. Even though Rupinderpal Singh, SV Sunil, and Vivek Prasad are absent, positional tinkering and variations in terms of penalty corners will be seen. Harendra’s biggest worry at this stage is consistency in all the three groups in the team playing with systematic rhythm — forwards, midfield and defence. Going back to that game against Malaysia, for sure not a watershed moment, yet a test case for what went wrong – fluidity went missing, chances were not capitalised on, are crucial moments were not siezed. At that level, in a semi-final and final, not much would separate two teams; Malaysia found that against Japan in the Asian Games final.
Irrespective of the fact that India had beaten the eventual Asian Games gold medallists Japan 8-0 in the Pool match, solace doesn’t come easy for this team. The answers lie in the World Cup. And the road swings by Muscat. The team management will have a hard look at the defence. Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar pick themselves for the World Cup while the fight is for the other slots – Jarmanpreet Singh is back in the team after the Champions Trophy, and he will do his best to impress the selectors and coach. At Breda in the Champions Trophy, he showed enough heart, and hopefully in the camp, he has settled his impulse to swing his stick that has often forced umpires to whip out a card or award a penalty corner to the opposition. He is a big lad and has the ability to overlap into attack from either flank, creating space upfront for the forwards. Hardik, Gurinder and Kothajit would also be in contention.
It’s in the midfield that one of the big challenges for this team lies. With Sardar’s retirement, the midfield is open to variations. Manpreet will surely be back in his central role, pushing the attack and also falling back in defence. With Vivek Prasad not there, Sumit Sharma gets an opportunity, but it is difficult to see an Indian team without Vivek at the moment even though when it comes to defensive duties, Vivek has his weaknesses. It’s in attack he is extremely potent. With the captain’s armband once again with Manpreet, it will hopefully inspire the Punjab boy to have India retain the title they won in Kuantan in 2016 under the then coach Roelant Oltmans. Manpreet was also the captain at the 2013 Kakamighara Asian Champions Trophy when India finished 5th — that would be a memory he would want to erase by winning the trophy.
It will be extremely interesting to see how the forwards shape up with Gurjant back in the team after the Champions Trophy. With his kind of muscular play combined with a sixth sense of where to expect the ball, Gurjant might be the ace that Harendra would look to getting some field goals. Akashdeep and Mandeep Singh have been at the receiving end of some sharp criticism but to look beyond them at the moment would be foolish. Akashdeep’s skills give the team options while Mandeep’s positioning needs to improve. His play at times is frustrating – getting some brilliant goals and at the same time missing chances provided on a platter.
India’s main task at Muscat would be to show confidence to take on elite Asian teams and play with the freedom that was evident against Japan at the Asian Games; a match in which nothing went wrong. The passing was super, extreme pressure quarter after quarter and finishing that broke the spine of a Japanese team that has been on the upswing in the past one year. China would be missing here as Oman come in as hosts and the sixth team but the rest – Pakistan, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan will be ready to take on the highest ranked team, the World No 5 India. Roelant Oltmans, the nomad among world coaches, now with Malaysia after flirting with Pakistan for a few months, believes India’s ranking will ensure other teams want to break them down. “Of course, I would want to see Malaysia repeat the Asian Games result but the expectations are on India as they are higher ranked,” said the Dutchman.
Japan’s coach, another Dutchman Sigfried Aikman, would want to repeat the success of Jakarta. The Japanese are not playing the World Cup in Bhubaneswar and for them not to be in the elite tournament despite being the Asian Games champions must be puzzling. Aikman, a man who thinks tactically and then deploys the talent, is looking to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “It’s our Olympics and hockey should perform at home,” he said at Jakarta. “But, yes, playing the World Cup would have been great for the team.” Despite bad results early on when he joined the coaching establishment in Japan, sticking with him has paid off.
Pakistan and South Korea, giants on the continent not so far back, seem to have slipped considerably. Korea is not in the World Cup either while Pakistan will be playing in Bhubaneswar. A good result here will give a much-needed boost to Pakistan, especially after losing Roelant Oltmans as coach.
Oltmans also thinks that the tournament should have been played in 2019. “But at the same time, we all need some good matches before the World Cup,” said the Malaysian coach.
For India, a team still hurting, moving on for this talented group will eventually happen. Harendra believes in keeping the flock together, a key part of his philosophy as coach. Maybe, a win at the Asian Champions Trophy could prove to be a catharsis.
Firstpost
Asian Champions Trophy: Holder India faces Oman in opener
Harendra Singh.
Determined to redeem pride after a below-par show at the Asian Games, the Indian men’s hockey team is expected to make a solid start when it clashes with host Oman in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) opener, here on Thursday.
India was the favourite to win gold in Jakarta but had to settle for a bronze after a disappointing loss to Malaysia in the semifinals.
World No. 5 India goes into the tournament as the highest-ranked Asian nation and tackling Oman should not be a problem for the side at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
India beat Oman 7-0 when the two teams met last time during the 2014 Asian Games 2014, and coach Harendra Singh believes that facing the host will be a good test for his team ahead of other crucial round-robin matches.
“We are very excited to start our campaign against the hosts. The opening match will be a good test for us ahead of some crucial pool matches against the likes of Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan and South Korea,” Harendra said.
“It is important for us to start the competition by doing the basics right and producing our best performance in order to build momentum for the upcoming fixtures.”
India won the 2016 edition by defeating Pakistan 3-2 in the final in Kuantan, Malaysia.
But Harendra believes his team needs to keep the errors to the minimum if it has to lift the trophy again.
India fixtures: Oct. 20: vs Pakistan; Oct. 21: vs Japan; Oct. 23: vs Malaysia; Oct. 24: South Korea.
The Hindu
Asiad gold medallists Japan take on Malaysia in opener today
Defending champions India start their campaign against hosts Oman
LAHORE: Big-time hockey rolls into action in Muscat, Oman on Thursday (today) when the Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament begins with a clash between Asian Games 2018 gold medallists Japan and Malaysia. The opening game will be a replay of the thrilling Asian Games title encounter in Jakarta which saw Japan stage a remarkable rally to clinch their first gold medal. Leading Asian hockey nations – India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and hosts Oman – will be competing in the biennial Asian Champions Trophy at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex from October 18 to 28. Defending champions India will take on home side Oman in the other fixture of the opening day. The Asian Champions Trophy is the biggest hockey event staged in the Sultanate of Oman, which has a century-old hockey tradition with earliest memories of playing against visiting British Naval ships that anchored in Muscat.
Oman’s capital, Muscat is the hub of Oman’s thriving hockey league with the high-stakes event being His Majesty’s Cup, the Gulf region’s most-prestigious tournament that started in 1971. Former Olympians and stars from India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Egypt regularly appear for clubs vying for top honours in His Majesty’s Cup. The Oman Hockey League is also a feature of the Gulf’s hockey calendar. Oman, whose first continental participation was at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, has twice featured in past editions of the Asian Champions Trophy. The Asian Champions Trophy will place Muscat high among the continent’s hockey destinations. The Gulf city had earlier played host to the Asian Hockey Federation Under-21 Championship and the Jakarta Asian Games Qualifiers.
“We are elated at hosting world-class players in the Sultanate of Oman. Hockey lovers have been waiting to witness top-class hockey for several months after Muscat was chosen venue for the Asian Champions Trophy,” says Talib Al Wahibi, President of the Oman Hockey Federation. Asian Hockey Federation’s Chief Executive Tayyab Ikram said Muscat would showcase the best hockey talent in Asia over the next 10 days. “The Asian Hockey Federation wants to make Muscat a professional sports venue. With support of the country’s government and the hockey association, Muscat will showcase top-notch hockey often in the future,” he said.
Title holders India will go all out to retain the Asian Champions Trophy, but challenge will come from past champions Pakistan and South Korea, both of whom will be looking to erase the memories of the Jakarta Asian Games, where they failed to feature among the medallists. Both India and Pakistan have won the Asian Champions Trophy twice. Japan and Malaysia too will be aspiring for a place on the podium.
The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) is the governing body for the sport of hockey in Asia, recognized by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Founded in 1958, the AHF today has 31-member National Associations and organizes and sanctions more than twenty types of continental and regional events across all levels and age groups as well as overseeing the hockey competitions in several multi-sport events such as the Asian Games.
The Daily Times
New hockey coach Oltmans in the spotlight
Not in the fray: Penalty corner specialist Muhd Razie Abdul Rahim is out of Malaysia’s Champions Trophy team following a hamstring injury.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Champions Trophy, which begins today in Muscat, Oman today will be the first test for Roelant Oltmans as the Malaysian men’s hockey coach.
The 64-year-old Dutch coach was hired on Oct 1 to chart the fortune of the national team and help Malaysia qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Malaysia have not featured in the Olympics since 2000 Sydney edition.
For the Asian Champions Trophy, Malaysia finished third in the last four edition in Ordos, China (2011), Doha (2012), Kakamigahara, Japan (2013) and Kuantan (2016).
Six teams will feature in the tournament in Oman and Malaysia will open their campaign against Japan at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex today.
The other teams in the fray are defending champions India, Pakistan, South Korea and Oman.
Malaysia have a score to settle with Japan as they failed to qualify early for the 2020 Olympics after they lost to Japan in the final of the Asian Games in Jakarta last month. In the Games, Malaysia took a comfortable 5-2 lead but lost 3-1 in the penalty shootout after the score was tied at 6-6 in regulation time.
Malaysia will not have the services of penalty corner specialist Muhd Razie Abdul Rahim, who is nursing a hamstring injury, and midfielder Fitri Saari, who opted out due to his Universiti Malaya convocation on Oct 23.
Oltmans said that the absence of the duo will give him a chance to see how the young players perform in the tournament.
“The tournament in Oman is part of the team’s preparation for the World Cup (in Bhubaneswar, India from Nov 28 to Dec 17.),” said Oltmans.
The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals after the completion of the round robin matches.
The Star of Malaysia
2018 Test Matches: NZL v CAN (M) - 2nd Test
Auckland (NZL)
18 Oct NZL v CAN 0 - 0
FIH Match Centre
Vantage Black Sticks Men defeat Canada 3-0 in 1st Test
Vantage Black Sticks Captain, Arun Panchia
The Vantage Black Sticks Men defeated Canada 3-0 in the first game of the BDO Hockey Series tonight at Warkworth Showgrounds Reserve, Warkworth.
The first half of the game was an even split with a lot of back and forth play but no goals from either team. The Vantage Black Sticks had a couple of close shots in the remaining minutes of the first half but neither were successful.
The Kiwi men came into the second half with a lot more aggression than the first and within 5 minutes managed to find the back of the net off a Dominic Newman shot to give them their first goal of the game.
In the 56th minute, New Zealand earned themselves back-to-back penalty corners after the first deflected off the post. The second penalty corner saw a nice conversion from Cory Bennett to extend the Vantage Black Sticks lead to 2-0.
With under 30 seconds to play in the game, George Muir didn’t want to go home without a goal and fired one past the goalie to secure a 3-0 win to the men in black.
The win moves New Zealand to a 42-12-2 all-time record against Canada.
This game also marked 250 caps for Vantage Black Sticks captain Arun Panchia making him the seventh most capped Black Stick all-time.
The men will be back to Warkworth Hockey Turf again tomorrow night for game two of the BDO Hockey Series at 7:00 pm.
VANTAGE BLACK STICKS: 3 (Dominic Newman 1, Cory Bennett 1, George Muir 1)
CANADA: 0
HALFTIME: 0-0
Hockey New Zealand Media release
Coming in 2019, Don’t Miss FIH Pro League Competition in the States
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Beginning January 2019, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Pro League will kick off and USA Field Hockey is pleased to release the locations where fans can watch the U.S. Women’s National Team compete.
“Outside of the Olympic Games there has never been this level of competition held in the United States,” said Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey’s Executive Director. “This is an incredibly exciting time for field hockey and USA Field Hockey is proud to provide our members, fans and country with the opportunity to see Team USA on this stage.”
Designed as a sport and entertainment product that will provide a regular calendar of must-see events, the FIH Pro League will span over 6 months and bring eight home games to the United States. The power of home will be key to the USWNT’s success in this event, with packed stadiums throughout the season providing a huge boost to USA playing in front of their home fans.
The U.S. Women’s National Team will play their home matches at the Home of Hockey, Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa., with one match also being played at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
These venues have been proposed based on comprehensive requirements outlined by the FIH, which include criteria specific to location, pitch performance, seating capacity and lighting levels for television coverage.
These were established by the FIH to ensure the quality of the venues and provision of a unique fan experience, with a key focus on the safety and wellbeing of athletes and the performance aspects of the facilities. With such high standards required, some of the mentioned venues could be subject to change.
USFHA media release
Hockey’s midfield and forwards staying positive are key to goals success
By Todd Williams
Ashley Jackson ruling midfield during his stints in the Hockey India League
Keeping positive in the lean times is an aspect I have been lucky enough to witness great forwards do first-hand
Team culture, fitness and formations. They’re all important factors, but the simple reality is that if you can’t get the ball into the goal more times than your opponent – or more onions in your bag as the late Roger Self used to say – then you won’t win the game. Even in a shoot out.
The Great Britain anniversary Test matches earlier this month, which celebrated 30 years since the GB men stormed to Olympic gold in Seoul, provided yet another reminder of the need in hockey to score, no matter how good your goalkeeper or defenders are.
In 1988, GB men, coached by Self, were blessed with the peerless Ian Taylor in goal. As an Australian just coming through the junior international levels at that time, we would hear stories from the senior players and coaches on just how good he was and the enormity of the challenge our normally ruthless and clinical forwards had to score past him.
Yet, for all of Taylor’s quality, the small matter of winning gold in Seoul still needed three goals in a semi-final against Australia and then another three against Germany in the final.
Step up Sean Kerly with four of those, including his hat-trick to eliminate the world champion Australians and the other two against Germany from the wonderful Imran Sherwani, which gave the legendary Barry Davies so much joy and commentating ammunition.
Memories of 1988 also provided an opportunity to reflect on the GB women’s success in Rio two years ago and it’s no coincidence that you find a similar story there.
While nine million BBC viewers were glued to the screen as Maddie Hinch outplayed and out-psyched the Dutch penalty shoot-out takers, it’s easy to forget that GB still needed to match the three Dutch goals with three of their own to take the game into the tie-breaking shootout.
Conversely, though, the same argument can be applied to the disappointing fate of Danny Kerry’s England team at the recent World Cup in London.
There, despite heavy shot, circle penetration and PC stats in their favour, England only scored five goals in their five games with one of those coming against Korea who had taken their goalkeeper off for the last minutes of the match as they sought an equaliser.
This is an observation, not a criticism. Scoring goals is by far the hardest thing to do on a hockey pitch.
As much as I love and respect defenders, the fact is that we only have to stop people scoring for us to play well. All sorts of factors can interfere with goalscoring, such as luck, the bounce of the ball and confidence even before factoring in the brilliance and bravery of the opposition goalkeepers.
But there’s an old saying that defenders get judged on the bad things they do and forwards on the good. And nothing turns a forward’s day or tournament around quite like a goal.
Keeping positive in the lean times is something I’ve been lucky enough to see some great forwards do first-hand and my wonder is whether this is where England might have missed my old Tasmanian goalscoring mate and Rio assistant coach Craig Keegan the most in their World Cup preparation and performances.
Sam Ward
Ironically, the second of the anniversary matches itself was further proof of the need to score and also a snapshot of the challenge that Danny Kerry faces as he heads towards Tokyo with the GB men.
At a point late in the first half with Belgium 1-0 up, I commented to a colleague how dominant the Belgians were. “If this was a boxing match, you’d probably stop it” I said, pointing to the stats in front of me. “Yes”, my colleague said, “but Danny Kerry’s teams are always hard to beat” and so it proved.
Under siege, GB managed to stay in the match as Belgium racked up three times the number of circle penetrations, shots and PC’s. And then, just as in the epic and ultimately successful battles with the Dutch women, came the counter-punch as the Forsyth-Ward combination found two goals to give GB a tough and typically ‘Kerry-like’ victory.
Along with the positive scoreline, the prodigiously talented Zach Wallace and the equally impressive Rhys Smith gave GB fresh drive and optimism which will have been exactly what the new coach would have hoped for. They will certainly be in the mix as the clock ticks down to Tokyo.
But the question of goals is one that Kerry will have high on his list of priorities. As he knows better than anyone else, while you still need to be tough and resilient to stay in matches, you can’t rely on keeping an opponent, let alone a dominant one, scoreless or even down to just one goal.
As he has proved in his team’s finest moments, you still have to be able to score at least twice and maybe even three times to stay in the game.
England’s Mark Gleghorne, back from injury, is a penalty corner exponent
Back in 2015, to win the European Championships in London, it was Sophie Bray and Lily Owsley who brought England back from 2-0 down to take the game to a penalty shoot-out. And then in Rio it was Crista Cullen and Nic White who dragged GB back to 2-2 and then 3-3 just as the Dutch looked likely to see the game off.
GB will certainly improve in the run-up to Tokyo, but from 7th in the world, they are coming from a long way back. As we saw against Belgium, a front line led by Ward and Forsyth will always give you some goals but that needs to be complemented with contributions from the midfield and, of course, PC’s.
According to the old wedding rhyme, good luck comes when the bride wears something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.
So, if the likes of Wallace and Smith are Kerry’s new, then the “old” is surely the triple Olympian, Ashley Jackson. With seven PC’s and five field goals in the blue of HGC, he is currently the leading goal scorer in Holland.
Kerry might have no choice but to borrow him for a year or two.
The Hockey Paper