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News for 28 November 2019

All the news for Thursday 28 November 2019


Odisha to host 2023 men's hockey World Cup

After successfully hosting the 2018 men's hockey World Cup, India will once again stage the 2023 edition of the tournament

Uthra Ganesan



It was no surprise but the official announcement here on Wednesday confirmed the obvious – Odisha would continue to be the hotbed of hockey tournaments in the country with the FIH naming the city as the host for the 2023 Men’s World Cup.

It would the first time a country would be hosting successive editions of the premier tournament in the sport but the same city hosting it twice makes it even special. This time, however, Bhubaneswar (which hosted the 2018 WC) would share hosting rights with the Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

“World Cup is the pinnacle of tournaments in hockey for the FIH. It needs to have a certain standard and, at present, only Bhubaneswar and Delhi have facilities up to that. Now Rourkela also has it, it only needs to be upgraded. Delhi is not possible because the stadium is completely occupied by the Union Home Ministry and severely restricting government rules,” IOA president Narinder Batra, who is also the FIH president, said.

Although Rourkela already has two turfs, they would need to be upgraded to FIH standards and Odisha sports secretary Vishal Dev expressed confidence of completing all necessary work before time. “We have three years and we already have a stadium with 20,000 capacity that belongs to the Rourkela Steel Plant. We also have the Pamposh Sports Academy which will also be upgraded,” Dev said.

However, Rourkela is 330 kilometres away and although it has a domestic airport, the only way to reach there from Bhubaneswar is via road or train and the government would need a massive overhaul of the entire city infrastructure, not just the stadium.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also laid the foundation stone for 17 new turfs in each block of Sundergarh district, the hockey nursery of the state through a tie-up with Hockey India. The turfs, though, would use sand-dressed turfs, which do no need water and cost less.

The state government also announced the setting up of a permanent High Performance Centre at the Kalinga Stadium, catering to hockey and athletics and hosting the Abhinav Bindra Targeted Performing Centre. Currently, the ABTP and Naval Tata Hockey Academy operate out of the main hockey stadium building. “It would be spread over 1.20 lakh sqmt and have accommodation facilities also for all the players and staff. We have plans for 10 HPCs, the others including for swimming and shooting etc would come up outside,” Dev said.

Sportstar



Bhubaneswar and Rourkela to host the 2023 World Cup

s2h team



Two venues in Odisha State, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, will jointly host the 2023 FIH Hockey Men's World Cup. Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik made the announcement today at a special function organized at Kalinga Stadium. Incidentally, today marks the first anniversary of previous Men's World Cup staged at the same stadium. Among others, Men's national team members currently based in Bhubaneswar for National Coaching Camp, were also present.

"When we decided to bid for the 2023 FIH Hockey Men's World Cup, we had about five states that showed interest in hosting the coveted event in 2023. Having successfully hosted the 2018 Men's World Cup here in Bhubaneswar, it was important for Hockey India to raise the bar further and ensure the next event is bigger and better than what world hockey saw in 2018. In terms of economics involved in hosting an event of this magnitude, Government of Odisha's support was unmatched and I am confident the world will witness yet another incredible World Cup in 2023," Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, President, Hockey India, said during the function.

It is also announced that 17 blocks of Sundargarh district would be equipped with synthetic pitches each. The Chief Minister laid down the foundation stone for the staggering number of pitches in a single district.

Sundargarh's proud son Triple Olympian Dilip Tirkey was also present on the dais

Hockey India further stated that it will closely work with the Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha for the development of the sport at the grassroots' level. The details are awaited.

A permanent facility will be constructed near the practice pitch of the Kalinga Stadium for establishment of a High Performance Centre.

The 15,000 plus fans were present at the stadium for today’s announcement.

Stick2Hockey.com



USA Field Hockey Opens Recruitment Process for U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  USA Field Hockey has opened the recruitment process to fill the role of the U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach.

CLICK HERE FOR THE JOB DESCRIPTION

All interested applicants that met the required skills listed in the job description posted above are encouraged to apply.

USFHA media release



Egara and Atlèti set for battle royale at the top of the Spanish Honor Division



Club Egara and Atlètic Terrassa face off this Saturday in the battle for top spot in the Spanish league with both sides locked side by side on 11 points after five rounds to date.

Egara moved level with Atlèti last weekend thanks to a 4-1 win over CD Terrassa as they overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first quarter to win with something to spare.

The second quarter was the crucial one when they netted three times with Pere Divorra, Josep Farres and Pol Gispert all netting to make it 3-1. Pau Quemada, with his fifth goal of the campaign, completed their third win of the season.

Atlèti, meanwhile, were being held 2-2 by RS Tenis. Things had started well as they led 1-0 via Marc Bolto in the fourth minute and were ahead again at 2-1 via Pepe Cunill in the 28th minute from a corner.

But the Santander club kept fighting back with efforts from Geronimo Clement and Felipe Campuzano to earn their draw and remain in fourth place.

Real Club de Polo picked up a good win at the Eduardo Dualde against third placed SPV Complutense, giving the former a boost after a slow start to the season.

In a dynamite first quarter, Borja Llorens scored two corners as Polo built a 3-1 lead and they were 4-2 up at half-time courtesy of Guillermo Fortuño’s strike on the half-hour.

Ricardo Sanchez reduced the gap to keep the game in the balance until the final minute but Javier Cabot completed the 5-3 win for Polo. That result lifted them to sixth in the table ahead of a big game in Madrid against Club de Campo.

Campo, for their part, lost to FC Barcelona 3-2 and so sit in seventh place in the division while Junior FC are fifth following a narrow 2-1 win against Jolaseta.

Euro Hockey League media release



Paragon sweeps Magnolias U-21 titles

By Nigel Simon

Paragon women and men un­der-21 teams made a clean sweep of their age-group ti­tles at the T&T Mag­no­lia Hock­ey Club In­door Hock­ey Tour­na­ment which end­ed at the Wood­brook Youth Fa­cil­i­ty, Wood­brook on Sat­ur­day.

In a lop­sided Girls Un­der-21 de­cider, Paragon whipped pre­vi­ous­ly per­fect Mag­no­lias 5-1 with Sha­nia Ga­jad­har scor­ing all five goals in the first eighth, 19th, 19th, and 20th min­utes to can­cel out Robyn Dash 15th minute item.

The win for Paragon al­so avenged two round-robin loss­es to Mag­no­lias, ear­li­er in the day, 2-3 and 1-2 while in the semi­fi­nals, Paragon blanked Har­vard Check­ers 2-0 with goals from Nao­mi Samp­son in the 15th, and Nicese An­toine, four min­utes lat­er.

In the Un­der-21 Boys cham­pi­onship match, Paragon got the bet­ter of Malvern 2-1 via a penal­ty-stroke shoot-out af­ter a 2-2 dead­lock.

Joel Daniel and Tariq Singh were the play­ers to score their penal­ties for Paragon, while Aidan Marac­no scored Malvern's suc­cess­ful at­tempt.

Ear­li­er in reg­u­la­tion-time, Mara­cano and Kristien Em­manuel twice put Malvern ahead at 1-0, and 2-1 on­ly for Kelon Sker­ritt, and Daniel to re­ply for Paragon.

The trio of Kelon Sker­ritt, Daniel and Daniel Mc Kie net­ted two goals each in a 7-0 semi­fi­nal win for Paragon over Fa­ti­ma with David Cok­er get­ting the oth­er while Malvern shut-out Queen's Park Crick­et Club, 2-0 be­hind a dou­ble from Aidan Mar­cano, in the fifth and 14th.

In the third-place bat­tle, Fa­ti­ma got a goal each from Alex­ei Mo­hammed, Kaleb Pin­der, Adam Per­reira, and Ghard­el El­cock to slip past QPCC, 4-3 with Mar­cus Pas­cal scor­ing a tre­ble for the losers.

RE­SULTS

No­vem­ber 23

Un­der-21 Women

Mag­no­lias 3 (Re­bekah Ngui 8th, 13th, Sade Mo­hammed 6th) vs Paragon 2 (Nicese An­toine 1st, Sha­ni­ah Ga­jad­har 15th)
Paragon 3 (Nicese An­toine 4th, 8th, Tyra Jack 6th) vs Har­vard Check­ers 0
Paragon 3 (Ky­ona Samp­son 7th, Sha­ni­ah Ga­jad­har 8th, Nao­mi Samp­son 14th) vs Har­vard Check­ers 0
Mag­no­lias 3 (Robyn Dash 5th, 12th, Mia Otero 5th) vs Har­vard Check­ers 0
Mag­no­lias 2 (Re­bekah Ngui 7th, Robyn Dash 13th) vs Paragon 1 (Sha­nia Ga­jad­har 11h)
Mag­no­lias 1 (Robyn Dash 2nd) vs Har­vard Check­ers 0

Semi­fi­nals

Paragon 2 (Nao­mi Samp­son 15th, Nicese An­toine 19th) vs Har­vard Check­ers 0

Fi­nals

Paragon 5 (Sha­nia Ga­jad­har 1st, 8th, 19th, 19th, 20th) vs Mag­no­lias 1 (Robyn Dash 15th)

Un­der-21 Men

Paragon 4 (Joel Daniel 8th, 9th, Daniel Mc Kie 12th, 15th) vs Fa­ti­ma 0
Malvern 4 (Kristien Em­manuel 4th, 15th, Aidan Mar­cano 13th, 14th) vs QPCC 0
Fa­ti­ma 1 (Adam Per­reira) vs Shape 0
Paragon 3 (Joel Daniel 3rd, 6th, 15th) vs QPCC 1 (Mar­cus Pas­cal 5th)
Paragon 3 (Tariq Singh 2nd, 9th, Joel Daniel 5th) vs Malvern 3 (Aidan Mar­cano 4th, 11th, Tyrese Ben­jamin 10th)
QPCC 1 (Michael Du­ri­ty 2nd) vs Shape 0
QPCC 2 (Chris­t­ian Mack 4th, 11th) vs Fa­ti­ma 2 (Ghard­el El­cock 14th, Alex­ei Mo­hammed 15th)
Malvern 1 (Levi An­der­son 7th) vs Shape 1 (Shel­don De Lise 3rd)
Malvern 3 (Kristien Em­manuel 2nd, 9th, Aidan Mar­cano 13th) vs Fa­ti­ma 1 (Ghard­el El­cock 15th)
Shape 1 (Daniel Mc Kie 12th) vs Paragon 1 (Shel­don De Lise 14th)

Semi­fi­nals

Paragon 7 (Joel Daniel 6th, 15th, Daniel Mc Kie 8th, 22nd, David Cok­er 1st, Kelon Sker­ritt 4th, 7th) vs Fa­ti­ma 0
Malvern 2 (Aidan Mar­cano 5th, 14th) vs QPCC 0

Third place

Fa­ti­ma 4 (Alex­ei Mo­hammed 6th, Kaleb Pin­der 8th, Adam Per­reira 9th, Ghard­el El­cock 12th) vs QPCC 3 (Mar­cus Pas­cal 5th, 14th, 20th)

Fi­nal

Paragon 2 (Kelon Sker­ritt 4th, Joel Daniel 9th) vs Malvern 2 (Aidan Mar­cano 1st, Kristien Em­manuel 5th) - Paragon won 2-1 on penal­ty-stroke shoot-out.

The Trinidad Guardian



Maria Goretti, Combined top Siu Butt hockey

By Nigel Simon

Maria Goret­ti and Com­bined emerged as win­ners of T&T's an­nu­al Stacey Siu Butt In­door Hock­ey Tour­na­ment at the Wood­brook Youth Fa­cil­i­ty, Hamil­ton-Hold­er Street, Wood­brook on Sun­day.

Maria Goret­ti cap­tured the boys' ti­tle when they de­feat­ed Com­bined II 3-1 in the 15-teams tour­na­ment de­cider.

Ear­li­er on Maria Goret­ti topped their five-team round-robin Pool A se­ries with wins over Sa­cred Heart (6-0), Rosary Boys (4-0), Es­he's Learn­ing Cen­tre (3-1) and Brig­gs (5-0) be­fore trounc­ing Daniell's 4-0 in their semi­fi­nals.

Com­bined II won their Pool C round-robin group with ten points af­ter a 1-1 draw with Daniell's, the best run­ners-up from the three points and win against Holy Name Prepara­to­ry (6-1), St Bernadette's (6-0), and New­town Girls (4-0), then a nar­row 4-3 de­feat of Pool B win­ner, St Bernadette's I, 4-3 in their semi­fi­nal.

St Bernadette's I, who had a per­fect round-robin af­ter vic­to­ries against Com­bined III (7-0), Com­bined I (5-0), St Mon­i­ca's (4-0), and New­town Girls (4-0) re­grouped to grab the bronze medals, 3-2 against Daniell's.

The girls' fi­nal was a close­ly fought bat­tle, but in the end Com­bined I, got the bet­ter of Com­bined IV, 3-2 to lift the ti­tle.

Ear­li­er, Com­bined IV suf­fered their first loss in their open­ing match, 0-1 to Com­bined I to end as Pool E run­ner-up, with nine points, three shy of their op­po­nents af­ter hum­bling New­town Girls (6-0), St Mon­i­ca's (4-1), and Holy Name Prep (8-0) in their oth­er match­es ahead of their 4-1 whip­ping of Bel­mont in the fi­nal-four.

Com­bined I got group wins over St Mon­i­ca's (6-0), Holy Name Prep (3-0), and New­town Girls, by the largest mar­gin on the day, 12-0 fol­lowed by a 2-0 de­feat of Rose­wood in their semi­fi­nal.

Bel­mont too third spot cour­tesy a 1-0 win against Rose­wood.

RE­SULTS

Boy's Round-Robin

Semi­fi­nals

Maria Goret­ti 4 vs Daniell's 0
Com­bined II 4 vs St Bernan­dette's I 3

Third-placed

St Bernadette's I 3 vs Daniell's 2

Fi­nal

Maria Goret­ti 3 vs Com­bined II 1

Girls Round-Robin

Semi­fi­nals

Com­bined I 2 vs Rose­wood 0
Com­bined IV 4 vs Bel­mont 1

Third place

Bel­mont 1 vs Rose­wood 0

Fi­nal

Com­bined I 3 vs Com­bined IV 2

The Trinidad Guardian



Season in review: As the year progressed, Maryland field hockey’s attack tapered off

David Suggs


Maryland field hockey coach Missy Meharg. (Julia Nikhinson/The Diamondback)

It all started on Oct. 18, in biting Ann Arbor, Michigan conditions. It was the type of night where each breath was accompanied by a cloud of mist, where each participant’s arms and legs were polluted with goosebumps.

And as soon as Maryland field hockey wandered onto the Phyllis Ocker Field to take on then-No. 9 Michigan, it was clear that something was off. The Terps looked unimaginative in front of goal, and the Wolverines would soon capitalize on their torpidity, claiming a 1-0 victory courtesy of a splendid Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort run and finish.

At times, coach Missy Meharg’s squad was electric, pairing an imposing defensive unit that conceded less than a goal per game with a fluid attack that ranked among the nation’s most prolific.

But as the season reached its crescendo, Maryland’s offensive unit struggled to replicate its early-season impact. While the defense continued to impress, it was a lack of consistency in the attacking third of the pitch that consigned Maryland to a second-round exit in the NCAA tournament — the first time Maryland failed to reach the national championship game since 2016.

“We played a lot of different players in a lot of different positions, we opened up with a lot of different starters,” Meharg said after a season-ending loss to Virginia, “We seem[ed] to be a work in progress.”

The Terps were dominant for much of the regular season, posting a 16-2 record including victories against five top-10 programs. However, Maryland’s offense stagnated toward the end of the season, mustering a combined fourteen shots on goal in its last two road games of the season.

The Terps carried their offensive woes into postseason play, suffering two shutouts in their last three games to dash any hopes of hoisting the wood-stained national championship trophy.

From the season’s onset, though, Meharg knew that Maryland would rely on depth up front, especially after losing two of its leading scorers from last season’s team, Linnea Gonzales and Nike Lorenz, as well as starting goalkeeper Sarah Holliday.

“We definitely will miss them,” defender Bodil Keus said before the season’s start, “but I think we have some good replacements for them. Our freshmen are upcoming — getting their roles — and a couple of our sophomores and juniors are standing up right now.”

And after breezing through its opening weekend, Maryland had a perfect chance to showcase its quality throughout the squad, taking on ACC luminaries No. 13 Boston College and No. 3 Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Cup.

Newcomers Emma DeBerdine and Linda Cobano netted their first career goals in the Sept. 6 matchup against the Eagles, pushing Maryland to a 3-1 victory and foreshadowing a series of impressive displays by the attacking tandem.

“We got good players off the bench and into the game,” Meharg said after the win. “The new players are really coming into their own.”

And despite a tight game resulting in 1-0 defeat to the Blue Devils, the Terps were buoyed by a developing faith in their depth, reeling off a 10-game winning streak after losing to Duke.

One of those victories was a 3-2 shootout win over then-No. 6 Virginia — a shootout dominated by senior goalkeeper Noelle Frost, who made a number of diving saves to propel the Terps to a dramatic comeback victory.

“It was mental — mind over matter,” Frost said after the shootout, “I don’t care what’s happening, I’m saving this ball.”

And the Sep. 24 matchup against then-No. 10 Princeton played out at a similarly fervent intensity, with the Terps claiming a decisive 4-3 overtime victory through defender Hannah Bond and her fall-away buzzer-beating goal.

“Even though she’s not a senior, … I think a lot of the younger girls see the effort and 110 percent that she gives — especially the young defenders, the screens, and the midfielders,” forward Madison Maguire said. “They just want to do that for her as well.”

As the season progressed, it became clear that Maryland’s backline — featuring Frost, Keus, Bond, Riley Donnelly, and converted midfielder Nathalie Fiechter — was the foundation for Maryland’s success, conceding just 18 goals in 21 games.

Keus and Frost were particularly impressive, bringing stability and organization into an oft-rotated squad.

“The one constant for the whole year was Bodil and Noelle,” Meharg said, “If I were to put a stamp on how we did as well as we did and how we put ourselves in position to go to the final four, it would be Noelle and Bo.”

Frost — a redshirt senior who entered the season with 11 appearances under her belt — dazzled in the No. 1 jersey, holding the second-best save percentage (.806) and goals-against average (.870) and tied for the fourth-best win total (17) in the country on the season.

Meanwhile, Keus led Maryland’s outfield players in minutes, shots, and shots on goal en route a second-consecutive Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.

With the defense proving impenetrable for large portions of the season, Maryland’s attack had space to flourish. The triumvirate of DeBerdine, Cobano, and Maguire — the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year — combined for nearly half of Maryland’s 62 goals.

But the wheels started to fall off on that frigid night at Phyllis Ocker Field, a night the Terps — despite plenty of endeavor — failed to mount a true challenge on Anna Spieker’s cage.

An inspired second-half road rally against a talented, albeit inexperienced, then-No. 21 Ohio State papered over the cracks — Meharg’s squad recorded just one shot in the entire second quarter.

“For us, though, we want to stop fooling around,” Meharg said on Oct. 20, “we have to get on the field and dominate.”

But Maryland’s display in the Big Ten tournament proved that these offensive concerns were far from a fluke.

The Terps took on Penn State on Nov. 8, an underachieving side that started the season with seven straight losses, including a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Terps on Sep. 20. Yet it was the Nittany Lions who looked more commanding in the attack, taking an early lead and defending in numbers to limit Maryland’s attacking threat.

The result: A 1-0 defeat and an early trip back to College Park.

“It was definitely a disappointing outcome,” forward Jen Bleakney said. “We really had a lot of chances in the game that just didn’t end up going our way.”

Still, the NCAA tournament remained, and after thrashing Saint Joseph’s and its high-powered attack 4-0, Meharg’s squad seemed to have finally resolved its offensive impotence as it turned its attention to the Cavaliers.

Yet Maryland’s deficiencies reared themselves one final time in Charlottesville, as the attack failed to test a well-drilled Cavaliers back four, falling to a familiar 1-0 scoreline in overtime and bringing Maryland’s season to a premature end.

“As soon as we got into the tent [after the game], a couple teammates stood up and said what they thought about the season, including me,” Keus said on Nov. 17. “I really think we put our hearts out there — we left it on the field … we did that every [game] and I felt very proud.”

Despite their end-of-season offensive wobbles, the Terps are entering their offseason with optimism, bringing back nine starters from this season’s squad.

There will be difficulties, of course, with Maguire and Lepage — NFHCA All-Mid Atlantic Region First and Second Team honorees — graduating.

However, DeBerdine — voted to first team all-Big Ten — and Cobano are poised to add to their attacking capabilities after breaking through in their first seasons in College Park. Fellow forwards Mayv Clune and Kyler Greenwalt — dynamic attackers who struggled with knee injuries over the past couple seasons — will also look to supplant Maguire’s production after coming on strong toward the end of the campaign.

Meharg’s reputation as a Hall of Fame-coach precedes her, and the Terps certainly find themselves in a more enviable position than last offseason when they had to replace the production of five players who amassed at least 700 minutes of gametime.

For all of the talent that will be present on Meharg’s squad next season, though, there will be question marks. Maryland hasn’t won a national championship since 2011, and its underwhelming performance in front of the cage during the postseason is sure to ring in the minds of opponents who prepare to face the Terps.

Still, Maryland — fueled by a strong defensive nucleus and frustration after its postseason toils — is set to compete for the ultimate prize again in 2020.

“Our motivation … is this moment,” Keus said after the Virginia defeat. “We need to feed off of how we played [this season.] … We need to be on the same level.”

The Diamondback

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