News for 07 October 2020
All the news for Wednesday 7 October 2020
Gradual increase in training intensity will yield best results, says Graham Reid
Indian men's hockey team coach Graham Reid is confident that the team will reach their pre-covid levels by the end of the next national camp.
Graham Reid said that the current training of players will be a slow and deliberate process to help them maintain fitness for the long term. - K. MURALI KUMAR (FILE)
The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams have resumed their training after practice had been halted due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the coronavirus. The players, currently attending the nationals camps at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru, are hopeful of returning to their best.
Six men's team players, including captain Manpreet Singh, have recently resumed individual training after recovering from COVID-19.
“I tested positive and when I returned back to training, we slowly started the procedures of getting back to play. The coaches have created a plan so that we gradually return to full momentum and I am really happy to be back practicing again,” said Manpreet.
Steps have been taken at the SAI centre to prevent further outbreak, where athletes are tested at arrival during their quarantine phase.
Indian men’s head coach Graham Reid said that the emphasis at the moment is on skill-based training focusing on individual basics which allows training to take place in small groups with social distancing. He added, “Using the SAI SOPs for various disciplines, we have been able to gradually increase the workload and intensity of the training to the point where we are able to have the majority of the squad up to pre-covid levels by the end of the next camp. This has been a slow and deliberate process designed to produce maximum output while minimising the risk of injury.”
The players are happy with the safety protocols that have been ensured for them at the SAI Bangalore centre, “It feels good that we have started training after such a long time and we are slowly bringing our body back to the same level which allows us to train the way we used to earlier. Alongside that, whatever safety protocols that are in place we are following that and we hope we return to our old form and rhythm in the next few months. But at the moment, it is important that we keep ourselves safe by following all protocols and train within them,” said women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal.
Sportstar
Captain Manpreet, coach Reid want to return to full momentum gradually
Six players of the men's hockey team had tested positive for COVID-19
Captain Manpreet Singh was one among the six players to have contracted coronavirus. File Photo
Their training severely affected by the COVID-19 restrictions, the Indian men's hockey team's chief coach Graham Reid and skipper Manpreet Singh say it will be a deliberately slow progress towards players attaining pre-lockdown fitness levels.
Six players of the men's team, including Manpreet, had tested positive for COVID-19 at the team's training base here in August after they arrived for the national camp following a month's break.
Since then, all the six players have recovered and started their individual training sessions.
"...we slowly started the procedures of getting back to play. The coaches have created a plan so that we gradually return to full momentum and I am really happy to be back practicing again," Manpreet said in a released issued by Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Reid said the emphasis was on skills training, especially individual basics, which allows the players to practice in small groups with adequate social distancing in place.
"...we have been able to gradually increase the workload and intensity of the training to the point where we are able to have the majority of the squad up to pre-COVID levels by the end of the next camp," said Reid.
"This has been a slow and deliberate process designed to produce maximum output while minimising the risk of injury."
The players are also happy with the safety protocols in place at the Sports Authority of India's Bengaluru centre.
"It feels good that we have started training after such a long time and we are slowly bringing our body back to the same level which allows us to train the way we used to earlier," said women's team skipper Rani Rampal.
"...we hope we return to our old form and rhythm in the next few months. But at the moment, it is important that we keep ourselves safe by following all protocols and train within them."
The Tribune
The Reids: Coaching Indian hockey team on and off the field
While Graham Reid takes care of the tactics on the field, his wife Julia helps out with communication by taking English language lessons for the players.
By Rahul Venkat ·
The Reids: Coaching Indian hockey team on and off the field
When Graham Reid was brought in as the chief coach of the men’s hockey team in 2019, little did his Indian employers know that the Reids would turn out to be such a rare ‘two-in-one’ package.
As it has turned out, Graham’s wife Julia Reid is also a coach, albeit in a different context.
Graham and Julia Reid share similar interests, their love for travelling stands testament to that, and they have again teamed up to help out the Indian hockey team together.
While Graham Reid takes care of the tactics on the field, Julia Reid helps with communication by taking English language lessons for the players.
“We mostly keep the sessions fun and hockey-based. For example, I give them a ‘player of the match’ scenario after they have just won a big game and get them to talk about it,” Julia told the Olympic Channel.
“What I have discovered is that they speak good English, they know a lot but most of them are just shy. It has been really nice to take those lessons and it's been fun to get to know them during that process too.”
There are also classroom elements to the sessions, with Julia Reid suggesting a lot of books to read, many of them about Olympic history. It was an activity that striker Mandeep Singh followed religiously during the lockdown.
Another person who helped Julia Reid with the lessons was Heidi Cirello, the wife of former Indian hockey analytical coach Chris Ciriello.
Heidi, a science and mathematics teacher, had prior teaching experience and now Julia will now have to do the sessions alone after Chris Ciriello resigned from his post last month.
Apart from acting as a way for the Indian hockey team to gel together off-field, the lessons also have some intangible benefits on the field, reveals Graham Reid.
“I think it helps especially with understanding my Australian accent, which can be tough to decipher initially,” laughed Graham Reid.
“Even some of the words I speak, I realised it's only the Australians that use them. So the lessons help in those little things.”
Best student and class clown
Though the English language sessions are mostly fun, they do represent a classroom at times and there are bound to be a few diligent students among the players.
Like any good teacher though, Julia Reid does not have any favourites.
“Oh, I would not like to pick any names as being the best student, they are all very good. That’s a very diplomatic answer, isn’t it?” she laughed.
However, Julia Reid does not have any qualms in naming who the class clown is. Veteran custodian PR Sreejesh may be a reassuring presence on the field and a vocal leader, which may portray him as a serious person, but he can be quite mischievous.
“I don’t think I have taken many sessions for Sreejesh at all. He is always in hiding and when he does come in, he is quite the prankster in the class,” she chuckled.
The lessons may have been halted during the one-month break when the Indian hockey team went home but all of them are back training at the camp now in Bengaluru. And they could look forward to the off-field sessions beginning again.
Olympic Channel
Pieters takes on Kampong dragging duties to brilliant effect
Terrance Pieters stepped up to take on the drag-flicking duties to great effect for SV Kampong as they recorded a 5-2 success against Pinoké last Sunday in the Hoofdklasse.
With regular flickers Jip Janssen and Martijn Havenga not available, Pieters stepped up to net twice – in addition to also hitting the post twice – with vicious shots, the second of which was key in putting them 3-2 in front.
Speaking to hockey.nl, Pieters laughed about his surprise new role: “I train with Jip nowadays, apparently that paid off! Actually, I never completely stopped practicing corners. I know it has added value, so I train hard on it. Fortunately, they went well.”
He also completed his hat trick in the last minute with a close range finish from a Sander de Wijn pass to the back post.
It followed a turbulent week in which the Utrecht club had limited training time over Covid-related issues which will require a hearing with the KNHB committee on Friday.
Pieters added: “There was a lot of commotion. I found it confusing. As players, we have said to each other that we must remain calm and listen to the advice.”
“It was also the week that it was announced that there should no longer be an audience at the games. It wasn’t until Friday evening that it became clear that we could play on Sunday.”
The result keeps Kampong in second place on 16 points, two points behind leaders Bloemendaal who were 6-0 winners over Hurley.
HGC were very impressive in a 4-1 success against Oranje-Rood, scoring all four of their goals in the first 26 minutes courtesy of Luuk van Duren, Pelle Vos and two from Seve van Ass.
The Hague club are equal in fourth place on 12 points alongside Rotterdam with Jeroen Hertzberger scoring five times in a 7-3 win over Almere.
Den Bosch ran up a 5-1 win over AH&BC Amsterdam with three goals scored into an unguarded net after goalkeeper Philip van Leeuwen was sin-binned and no reserve was in pads.
Euro Hockey League media release
Best players & breath-taking comebacks: More reflections from Mo Fürste
In part two of our special interview with Germany legend Moritz Fürste, he talks about the best players he played both with and against during his illustrious career, as well as his memories of the epic Rio 2016 quarter-final match against New Zealand, where Die Honamas produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Olympic hockey.
To see part one of the interview, click here.
You played against the very best players in the world, some of the best that have ever played the game. Who would be in your top three toughest opponents list?
Moritz Fürste: “I started my career playing against Teun [de Nooijer of the Netherlands] and Jamie [Dwyer of Australia]. I mean literally, because they were both playing right midfield, I was playing left and we man-marked. For the first couple of years of my career, when we played them, I had to mark them, and that was the toughest school I could have gone through. Later, I really had big fights with Eddie Ockenden from Australia, in midfield. Also, with (fellow Australian) Simon Orchard from time to time, but I would probably go with Eddie in that meaning. He could just eliminate, and that was the most difficult thing if you man marked. When someone was really good at eliminating, you were the guy who had to chase because everyone else was also man marking! He had that skill, especially with his stupid forehand drag that drove me crazy. And I knew it was coming! You could see it was coming. You knew he was going to do it, but he still caught me so many times!
“It’s interesting, because at one point it shifted, I think. I felt it became easier for me to defend because people started to not really attack me anymore. They were playing a little bit more around [me], probably because word got around that I might be a decent player. I really felt that I was probably not getting even 50% of the defensive one-on-one situations [that I had previously] after let’s say 2011. Because people were going around me more, I was not defending so much in one-on-one situations. That Is why the picture changed a little bit, but Jamie, Teun, Eddie – I think these are the toughest opponents I played against in midfield.”
Who would be in your top three players that you played with, for club and country?
Moritz Fürste: “I mean, the best player I played with – obviously I could name a few – but I would start with Christopher Zeller, no doubt about it. He was a machine. He could decide matches by himself on any given day. For his talent, he could have won World Player (of the Year) probably ten years in a row. He should have won in in 2006 when he basically won the World Cup (in Mönchengladbach) by himself. He won the junior award that year, but he should have won the [senior] World Player award. Playing with him was [a joy]. You could always get the ball to him, he was physical, his corners were exceptional – he was just so delightful [from my perspective] as a midfielder to look at him, because whenever he was open you would get the ball to him, like a go-to guy in basketball.
“Tobi Hauke is right up there. I could always count on Tobi to play the best hockey that he possibly can when it counted. That is very unique. There are so many amazing players in the world, but being on their very best game whenever it counts, not many players can say that about themselves and Tobi can. So, he is just ‘up there’.
“The third I want to mention is Billy [Bakker of the Netherlands]. I played with him in India for two seasons. That was the first time I experienced the Dutch style of playing, in a way. I played as a forward the season we won the tournament there, the Hockey India League in 2017. You could just give him the ball and he would be able to do this ‘give and go’ kind of thing, hitting top speed whilst also still trying to get the ball to you, only a two-metre pass, and get it back. That kind of offensive knowledge and being smart on the ball, that really impressed me. It was a lot of fun playing with Billy, on and off the pitch, and it was a big part of the success story in that year.”
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Germany produced an epic fightback to defeat New Zealand in the quarter-finals. You were 2-1 down with less than a minute to go, and you ended up winning 3-2 thanks to a last second winner from Florian Fuchs. What are your memories of that contest, and where it stands in the greatest comebacks of your career?
Moritz Fürste: “I think it was one of the biggest comebacks in Olympic sport. Five minutes before the end [with Germany 2-0 down], I was benched for a few minutes, talking to the coach. We got the playing ‘goalkeeper’, Martin Háner [onto the field]. I was going back on the pitch, looking at the clock and there was four minutes and 51 seconds left. I was just saying to myself ‘this can’t be the end of my career. It cannot be over now, that’s impossible. That’s not how the story is supposed to end.
“I stepped back on the pitch, and we got this [penalty] corner. I think Christopher Rühr even got three corners by himself around that time. Then we scored the first one, 2-1 [scored by Fürste]. We went back at it and missed a couple more corners. Then we got it to 2-2 [also scored by Fürste], and we were all preparing for the shoot-out. Even our coach [Valentin Altenburg], I don’t know if you remember the scene on the highlights, but he is already writing down names on his clipboard. He wasn’t even watching [the game], he didn’t see the goal!
“We had this last counter-attack, and I’ve got to be honest with you, it was not well done. In that moment, no offence New Zealand, but it just was not a good defence. That’s how the ball went in. They should have tackled Florian [Fuchs] and smacked the ‘whatever’ out of him before the 25 [metre line], not to give away a [penalty] corner, but a free hit and a yellow card, or whatever. I mean, we were lucky in the end, but it wasn’t well played, it was rather not such good defending at that moment, and I really don’t want to offend my New Zealand friends, but I think that in a few years, they will also see it that way!”
It was certainly dramatic!
Moritz Fürste: “That’s for sure. And I love watching the highlight clip. I’ve watched like a million times!”
A full-match replay of Germany’s remarkable Olympic quarter-final fightback against New Zealand can be found on the Olympic Channel by clicking here. A highlight clip of the final few minutes can be found by clicking here.
Fact File: Moritz Fürste
International caps: 262 (293 including indoor)
International goals (outdoor and indoor): 170
International achievements: 2x Olympic gold (2008, 2012). Olympic bronze (Rio 2016), world champion (2006), 2x European champion (2011, 2013), 2x indoor world champion (2007, 2011), European indoor champion (2014), FIH Player of the Year 2012. European Hockey Federation Hall of Famer.
Club: 3x Euro Hockey League champions (2008, 2010, 2012 – UHC Hamburg), 2x Euro Hockey League Most Valuable Player (2008, 2010), 2x Hockey India League champions (2013 – Ranchi Rhinos, 2017 – Kalinga Lancers)
FIH site