News for 15 November 2020
All the news for Sunday 15 November 2020
India women’s hockey team in good shape for Tokyo 2020, Tete claims
By Geoff Berkeley
Salima Tete is determined to become a "consistent performer" in India women's hockey team ahead of Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
Defender Salima Tete believes India women’s hockey team is "shaping up very well" and on the "right track" ahead of next year’s Olympic Games.
India booked their place at Tokyo 2020 after beating the United States 6-5 on aggregate in last year’s International Hockey Federation (FIH) Olympic qualifiers.
While India’s men have enjoyed rich success in the Olympics, winning eight golds – including six in succession between 1928 and 1956 – the women are set to make their third appearance.
They finished 12th at Rio 2016 and will hope to better that performance at next year’s Olympics which has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Teenager Tete reckons her side’s efforts on the training pitch will be key to their success in the Japanese capital.
"Preparation is very important for any tournament and we want to be well prepared for the Olympics especially," said Tete.
"We are very grateful for the efforts put in by Hockey India and SAI (Sport Authority of India).
"We couldn't have begun our preparations if Hockey India and SAI didn't put all the procedures in place brilliantly.
India women's hockey team are preparing to make their third appearance at an Olympic Games ©Getty Images
"The team is shaping up very well at the moment and we are on the right track as far as our preparation for the Olympics is concerned."
Tete was part of the side that won last year’s FIH Women’s Series Final in Hiroshima in Japan before helping India qualify for the Olympics.
But after a successful 2019, the 18-year-old is refusing to rest on her laurels.
"I became a regular member of the Indian side last year and I was very fortunate to be part of key victories," said Tete.
"I am very determined to keep improving my game and be a consistent performer for the national side in the next few years.
"I feel consistency is very important for any athlete and it's my biggest priority.
"It's the best time to be a youngster in the Indian team.
"There are so many experienced players who are always there to guide and help us with our games.
"I am very fortunate to be playing with Deep Grace Ekka and Gurjit Kaur.
"I have learned a lot from them and I am certain that there's so much more left to learn as well."
Inside the Games
Saturday`s Scottish North Conference sees two narrow victories
There were only two games in Saturday`s North Conference and both were narrow victories – in the men’s competition Granite City Wanderers retained their unbeaten record with the odd goal in seven while their women`s side caught the eye with an impressive 2-1 win over Gordonians for their first win of the season.
Granite City made a rock solid start with an open play strike by Meldrum MacKenzie. But within two minutes John Dargie had levelled for Aberdeen GS. That is how the score stood until just before the interval, Morgan Daniels put Aberdeen GS 2-1 ahead with a close range rebound following a snap shot from James Williams.
A big result looked on the cards when Dargie extended the lead to 3-1 with another open play strike. GS then lost a bit of their shape and Mark Cooper pulled one back at a penalty corner, followed by MacKenzie from the spot to tie the score at 3-3.
The winner came in the closing ten minutes with Stuart Begg doing the honours for Granite City.
In a post-match assessment, GS`s James Williams stated: “We are getting stronger every week, still have quite a few of our regulars missing so the kids are playing well.” Then, in jest, he remarked: “I think we were the top game in Europe today.”
In the women`s North Conference Gordonians surrendered the chance to pulling level with Ellon at the top after going down 2-1 to Granite City Wanderers for their first victory of the competition. The Premiership side are still three points adrift of Ellon but with a game in hand.
Gordonians went ahead through Lyndsey Davidson in the second quarter. However, the turning point came with a second half injury to their keeper and they elected to play the rest of the game with eleven outfield players. The tactic failed and Granite City scored twice through Amy Ferguson and Jen Smith for the three points.
Rebecca Murray for Gordonians remarked at the end of the game: “From our side we were fairly pleased as we had lots of new and young players. It was a decent game overall, with chances at both ends.”
This weekend’s other games – men`s Gordonians v Ellon was off while the women`s match Aberdeen Uni v Ellon is on Sunday.
Scottish Hockey Union media release
England Hockey embarrassment as diversity group member suspended
Vice president of Barford Tigers is banned until December 2021 following series of complaint
Rod Gilmour
A member of England Hockey’s newly-installed external diversity panel has been suspended from all activity for 14 months for derogatory and racist behaviour, Telegraph Sport can disclose.
Dr Sukhdev Gill, vice president of Birmingham-based Barford Tigers, has been banned until December 2021 following a string of complaints while umpiring. Dr Gill had been a part of England Hockey’s diversity and inclusion advisory group since July.
The sanctions follow one of the most damning findings levelled against a British hockey club after Barford Tigers also avoided being kicked out of the England Hockey leagues last month following a 12-month suspension, suspended for two years, after sexism and harassment offences.
A 17-page report, seen by Telegraph Sport, revealed a slew of disrepute complaints made separately by midlands’ sides Yardley and City of Birmingham during a two-day hearing in September. A month previously, Barford Tigers, which bills itself as one of the most diverse clubs in the UK, had released an open letter, co-signed by eight other clubs, accusing England Hockey of “endemic racism” within the sport.
A disrepute complaint panel, independent from England Hockey, heard from 17 witnesses, including coaches, players, spectators and club chairs. In one of several allegations against Dr Gill, EH found that he openly criticised his umpire colleague from Yardley during a game last season where he used “highly derogatory terms in Punjabi meaning ‘dog’ or ‘idiot’”.
Dr Gill demanded his colleague, Yardley’s Alex Makepeace, also rescind a red card, while he did not challenge a Barford player who pushed ‘his large stomach into Mr Makepeace’. A chairman’s email sent by Yardley to Barford relating to spectators at the November 2019 match, revealed “on many occasions it was said in Punjabi ‘break their legs’, ‘hit him in the head’, ‘smack him with your hockey’ which was quite intimidating.”
In another ladies’ match in March 2019, Dr Gill’s conduct was described as “confrontational, inconsiderate, offensive, threatening and sexist.”
In its unanimous findings, the panel directed that Gill’s lengthy suspension was due to “serious and repeated breaches”. Both Dr Gill and Barford, who had “robustly denied” the majority of allegations, have appealed the decisions.
Barford have been encouraged to work with England Hockey to deliver the club’s aim of making it “into a sporting and community model of excellence both on and off the pitch”.
In the summer, England Hockey received an open letter accusing it of “bias” against BAME players. Published one month before the dispute hearing, the timing of the letter has been described as a “clever marketing tool” by one source familiar with Barford.
In July, England Hockey set up an external advisory group made up of over 30 volunteers to tackle diversity and inclusion in the sport.
England Hockey told Telegraph Sport that Dr Gill put himself forward to offer his views and had participated at a meeting in August.
“At that point no determination had been made against him by the independent Disrepute Complaint Panel, so it would have been prejudicial to exclude him – or any individual – from the initial meeting,” a statement read.
The Telegraph