Welcome to the Fieldhockey.com Archives

Daily Hockey news updated @ 10:00 GMT

News for 17 August 2020

All the news for Monday 17 August 2020


National coach Arul keeping busy in isolation

By Jugjet Singh


Arul Selvaraj says he is using the isolation to research the Malaysian team. - NSTP/File pics

NATIONAL chief coach Arul Selvaraj is currently in isolation, but his mind is breaking all curfew barriers to plot Malaysia's hockey future.

The former international is serving a 14-day quarantine period after returning from Dublin a few days ago.

The newly hired coach will report for duty after completing the Covid-19 requirement,

"When I had returned to Malaysia recently, I was under house quarantine. It was comfortable. But now, I am confined to my hotel room.

"There is a table and a chair outside my room, and that's where they place my food and water. I am in total isolation, and the television set is my only company.

"However, I am using the isolation to research the Malaysian team by analysing data of players who played at the 2018 Asian Games and last year's FIH Series Finals," said Arul.

Both tournaments were near misses for Malaysia. Japan denied Malaysia an Olympic spot at the Asian Games while the team had to play Britain for a ticket to the Tokyo Games after losing to Canada in the final of the FIH Series Finals.

Britain thrashed Malaysia 9-3 on aggregate to take the Olympic spot.

Arul, however, is finding it difficult to formulate long-term training plans as the Covid-19 pandemic has affected this year's international tournament calendar.

The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) will fix new dates for their tournaments soon.

The men and women's Junior Asia Cups will not be held this year while the Asian Champions Trophy in Bangladesh on Nov 17-27 may also be postponed to next year.

The AHF will decide by the end of the month.

"The uncertainties have made my work difficult. I can't plan the training schedule properly," said Arul, who is on a two-year contract with the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).

Assistant coach Amin Rahim is currently handling the men's senior team.

The MHC have also appointed Paul Revington as technical director to oversee both the men and women's squads and grassroots development. The South African will also have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period when he arrives in Kuala Lumpur next month.

The Razak Cup on Sept 18-26 is the only avenue for Arul and Revington to select young players as options for the senior team.

New Straits Times



Premier Hockey League Opening Rounds Delayed



Hockey New Zealand has made the necessary decision to delay the start of the inaugural Premier Hockey League which was scheduled for Thursday (20 August).

Given the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19, the first three rounds of both the men’s and women’s league, due to run between 20 and 30 August, will be postponed.

We will monitor the Government updates and will provide further information later this week around the launch of this exciting new league, which will see our top players go head-to-head in an eight-team (four men and four women), round-robin competition at the new purpose-built National Hockey Centre in Albany, Auckland.

In addition to this postponement, all hockey facilities in Auckland, Counties Manukau and North Harbour will be closed until Alert Level 3 restrictions are lifted at midnight on Wednesday 26 August.

For the rest of New Zealand, please contact your local Association as community hockey can continue at Alert Level 2 with gathering sizes limited to groups of 100 people and contact tracing in place.

We hope everyone continues to stay safe in our battle against Covid-19.

Click here for more information on our Covid-19 guidelines

Click here for more information on the Premier Hockey League

Hockey New Zealand Media release



Shipment From Holland: FO refuses to get involved in hockey turf issue

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office in Islamabad has refused to involve its embassy in The Hague (Holland) to oversee artificial hockey turf’s quality before its shipment to Pakistan, saying their officials did not have the required expertise in this respect.

‘The News’ has learnt from well-placed sources in the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) that the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) wanted to involve the Pakistan Embassy in The Hague to ensure that the shipped artificial turfs were of required standard.

“The Foreign Office has turned down our request to oversee the quality of artificial turfs in Holland. Their point of view is that they were not having any technical knowhow to judge the quality, nor is there any expert in The Hague Embassy to ensure this. The Foreign Office has simply refused to get involved in the purchase in any way,” a PSB official said.

Besides Bunda Hockey Ground artificial turf, there are a few other grounds in the country which are waiting for the shipment for timely installation.

The turf work at the Bunda Hockey Ground has already taken unnecessary delay. The ideal venue for the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to organise national camps was supposed to be ready for inauguration in June this year. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the import from Holland.

When asked what would be the next option available for the timely shipment of the turf so that the national team could start their training?

The PSB official revealed that four officials’ names have been finalised with one expected to visit Holland in near future to check the quality and to give go ahead to the shipment. These include one of the PSB ambitious officials, two from the IPC Ministry and one from the hockey federation.

“Nothing has been finalised as yet as to who would be directed to visit Holland for the purpose. The ministry is also considering other options and these include getting experts’ services without investing any money.”

The work to prepare the base at the Rs98 million Bunda Hockey Ground project is almost in final stages.

The new turf is of utmost importance for the national players. With boarding and lodging facilities around, the site had been catering the requirements of players for almost 30 years now. The training here played an instrumental role in preparing the world champions national side in 1994.

The PHF has also written a letter to the PSB recently stressing the need for early completion of the project as the federation plans to organise a national training camp at the venue.

“Because of the most suitable environment for training, we are planning to establish a national training camp at the venue. An early completion of the project would definitely help us in this regard. We hope that the project will get its final shape within a couple of months’ time helping us start the national team’s activities here,” a letter written by the federation says.

The government has already given go ahead to restart hockey activities, a timely completion of work at the Bunda Ground would help organise camps and events at the venue.

The News International



A golden centenary

By Mike Haymonds

September 5th is the centenary of Great Britain’s gold medal win at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and this anniversary is being marked by a very special event at The Hockey Museum in Woking on Centenary Day.

Extensive research by a group of volunteers at The Hockey Museum over the last five years on Great Britain’s (GB) player history has produced a record of 366 men and 210 women who have represented GB since the first official international matches. The research concluded that the 1920 team was the first to represent Britain and Harry Haslam, as the goalkeeper, is designated as men’s player No. 1 and his family will receive his GB cap at a presentation ceremony at the Museum on the Centenary Day.

Each of the other players, including those no longer alive and former living internationals, will receive their cap during the coming year, the deceased via their families. It is planned that current GB central training squad members will receive theirs during Great Britain’s home FIH Pro League games next May.

At the Antwerp Games, where only four nations competed, GB’s route to the gold medal took a late controversial final turn. After victories over Denmark (5-1) and Belgium (12-1) the gold medal was secured by a walkover against France. The circumstances for this was explained in an amusing article in the Chelmsford Chronicle (attached).

Born in Aston, Birmingham in 1883, Harry Haslam first played hockey in the Midlands before moving to Essex in the early part of the 20th century. After two seasons with the Guildhall club he moved to Essex where he joined Ilford HC, staying with them for 18 years until returning to Guildhall in 1929.

He won his county cap for Essex in 1911 and was appointed honorary secretary in the same year. He went on to captain the county and never missed a game for them for over 12 years from his debut. He also represented the East and in 1920 made his England debut aged 37.

He won nine international caps, seven for England and two for GB (Antwerp Olympics), the last against Scotland in March 1921

His style of play was apparently on a par with his ability to hold his drink and he was noted for his eccentricity on the pitch. The Ilford Recorder in an article on a game in December 1912 reported that Haslam “made several brilliant saves but, for some unaccountable reason, accompanied each effort with a ‘whoop’ like a proverbial scalp hunter.”

During his playing career he was a hockey correspondent for the Chelmsford Chronicle and then the national News Chronicle as well as the regular hockey expert on BBC Radio. In 1922 his book “How to Play Hockey” was published.

He retired from playing hockey at the age of 48 in 1932 but continued to be active within the game in various administrative roles and as a prominent umpire.

During World War One Haslam served as a Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Special Constabulary and in 1920 he received an OBE for his services to the Constabulary.

He died at home on his 72nd birthday.

The Hockey Museum

Fieldhockey.com uses cookies to assist with navigating between pages. Please leave the site if you disagree with this policy.
Copyright remains with the credited source or author