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All the news for Monday 1 February 2021

Late equalizer denies India victory over Las Leonas


Pic: Hockey India

Buenos Aires: The touring India women put in their most impressive performance on Sunday when the held the vaunted Las Leonas to a 1-1 draw in the fourth match against the World No. 2 team.

The third match on Saturday was washed out by rain and two matches prior ended in 2-3 and 0-2 defeats for the Rani Rampal-led Indian side. India had also drawn 2-2 and 1-1 against the Argentina Junior team and lost 1-2, 2-3 to Argentina ‘B’.

Rani was on target on Sunday, giving her team the lead in the 35th minute in the tour’s concluding match. Visions of victory, however, were cut short when Emilia Forcherio scored from the penalty spot to restore parity.

The Indian women showed positive intent when they took the pitch on Sunday to achieve an elusive victory in the tour’s concluding match. However, the hosts looked dominating as usual and enjoyed early ascendancy to pile pressure on the Indian defence. Well-organized attacks fetched the Argentines two penalty corners in the first three minutes of the encounter , forcing goalkeeper Savita Punia to brilliant saves.

For all that, India were presented an opportunity to score in the 11th minute when a penalty corner came their way. It failed to bear fruit when poor execution of the drill denied Rani a powerful strike at goal. Not to be deterred, Rani was poised to score three minutes into the second quarter after experienced forward Vandana Katariya provided the assist but the resolute Argentine defence held fort.

Argentina kept up the pressure and won two penalty corners in the 23rd and 24th minutes but Savita stood tall in goal, thwarting the home side’s relentless efforts to score. India started the third quarter aggressively and Vandana again found Rani ideally placed in front of goal. The Indian captain gleefully accepted the pass from the right flank and struck the ball past the Argentine custodian to put her team in front.

Stung by the reverse, Las Leonas fired on all cylinders to equalize and the Indian defence was stretched to defend their hard-earned lead. India, however, came close to extending the lead when chances fell for them in the 39th and 50th minutes. Argentina, on their part, stepped up the pressure in search of the equalizer which arrived via a penalty stroke during a penalty corner in the 55th minute. Forcherio made no mistake.

India, wilting under pressure, conceded two more penalty corners in the 56th and 59th minutes but managed to keep their goal intact.

“After the 1-0 lead, we had to stay calm and continue to pursue our attack. We had to play more smartly but that’s something we can work on,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne, reflecting on the match.

Stick2Hockey.com

Rani Rampal's strike helps India secure 1-1 draw against World No 2 Argentina

Skipper Rani Rampal struck for India in the 35th minute while Emilia Forcherio scored for the home team through a penalty stroke on Sunday.


File image of India women's hockey captain Rani Rampal. Image courtesy: Hockey India

Buenos Aires: The Indian women's hockey team put up a spirited performance to hold World No 2 Argentina to a 1-1 draw and end their tour of the country on a high.

Skipper Rani Rampal struck for India in the 35th minute while Emilia Forcherio scored for the home team through a penalty stroke on Sunday.

This was India's fourth scheduled match against the side after the third match to be played on Saturday was abandoned due to incessant rains.

Earlier in the tour, India had drawn 2-2, 1-1 against the Argentina junior team and lost 1-2, 2-3 to Argentina 'B' team.

Against the Argentina senior side, India lost 2-3 and 0-2 in the first and second matches respectively.

The Indians played with an intent to secure the elusive win against Argentina in their last match of the tour.

But the experienced home team continued to showcase a dominant performance, getting off the blocks in the first quarter with a well-structured attack.

The early pressure on India's defence line worked for Argentina as they earned two penalty corners within three minutes of the first quarter.

But India goalkeeper Savita was upto the mark and made brilliant saves to deny the hosts.

India found a good opportunity to score in the 11th minute when they were awarded a penalty corner, but couldn't execute it.

Three minutes into the second quarter, Rani found yet another opportunity to score when experienced forward Vandana Katariya assisted her but a valiant Argentine defence held strong, covering every inch in the striking circle.

In the following minutes, Argentina won two penalty corners in the 23rd and 24th minutes but Savita stood like a rock in front of the goal.

Skipper Rani finally found the right opportunity to score when India made an aggressive start to the third quarter.

It was Vandana again who found Rani poised in front of the goal and fed her the ball from the right flank.

Rani made no mistake in receiving the pass and swiftly struck the ball past the Argentine goalkeeper to earn India a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.

India had two good opportunities to extend the lead in the 39th and 50th minutes of the game, but wasted both the opportunities.

Argentina, on the other hand, pushed for goals and a body foul while defending the penalty corner in the 55th minute, saw India concede a penalty stroke.

From the resultant set piece, Forcherio was on target to draw level.

Under pressure, India conceded two more penalty corners in the 56th and 59th minutes but Argentina could not utilise the opportunities.

"After the 1-0 lead, we had to stay calm and continue to pursue our attack. We had to play more smartly but that's something we can work on," said India's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne after the match.

Firstpost

Stats Speak: Indian eves win once only against Las Leonas(The Lionesses) in history

By B.G.Joshi (Sehore-Bhopal, India)



On Argentina tour Indian women team drew 2-2 and 1-1 versus Leoncitas, lost 1-2 and 2-3 to Argentine B team. In 4 test friendly series India lost 2-3, 0-2 and 1-1 against Las Leonas. Bad weather prevented 3rd test match.

Prior to this in 2009 test series India won the 3rd test and drew the series.

India- Argentina ladies first met in semifinal of Mandelieu(France) World Cup, in which pool topper India lost 0-1.

Statistical highlights of India (WR: 9) and Argentina (WR-2) in women's hockey are as under:

 Fieldhockey.com

Top players withdraw from Namibian hockey squad

by Helge Schütz


Danja Meyer in action during Sunday's trial match against a men's invitation team. Photo: Helge Schütz

THE national women's indoor hockey squad received a setback with the withdrawal of three top players ahead of their World Cup qualifier against South Africa and Zimbabwe in April.

Attacking midfielder Kiana Cormack, first choice goalkeeper Petro Stoffberg and u21 keeper Sonet Crous all withdrew from the squad over the past week after trial matches were held before the final squad will be announced.

National coach Erwin Handura confirmed the news after yesterday's final trial match.

Ï received an email from Kiana last week saying that she had withdrawn from the national indoor squad, as well as the senior and u21 outdoor squads due to personal reasons. Sonet also informed me that she was unavailable due to studies, while Petro said that she was not enjoying her hockey anymore.”

Handura, however, said the withdrawals would not affect them much.

Ï'm happy with my squad and I think they will do very well against South Africa. It's a young team, but there is still a lot of experience in the squad in players like Maggy Mengo, Gillian Hermanus, Sunelle Ludwig and Dure Boshoff, while our number two keeper Berencia Diamond also has a lot of experience,” he said.

“The juniors bring a lot of speed, skill and flair to the squad and I believe we have enough quality players to deal with South Africa. We have very good players in the squad and they have improved with each match, but we must just make sure that we are well prepared for them,” he said.

The Indoor Afcon Qualifier is scheduled to take place in Durban from 15 to 18 April, but Handura said it might be postponed again.

"There is a possibility the tournament might be postponed to June, we are just waiting for an announcement from the Africa Hockey Federation, but if that happens it will give us more time to prepare.

The current national indoor squad consists of the following players:

Berencia Diamond, Magreth Mengo, Gillian Hermanus, Sunelle Ludwig, Caitlin Gillies, Dure Boshoff, Tara Myburgh, Kaela Schimming, Cele Wessels, Danja Meyer, Jivanka Kruger, Azaylee Philander, Jaime Gillies and Jahntwa Kruger.

The Namibian

GB Olympic hockey omission fuels Alan Forsyth’s Tokyo bid


Phil Roper and Alan Forsyth celebrate in 2015

Surbiton and GB goal hotshot Alan Forsyth has revealed he relives the feeling of missing out on hockey’s ultimate event – the Olympics – “every single day” as he bids for a Tokyo berth.

Forsyth missed out on Rio selection in 2016 and was one of two players who trained with the squad before GB departed for Brazil.

Nearly five years on, Forsyth, 28, has cemented his position as one of world hockey’s most potent goal threats for club and country.

Since the Rio Games, the Scot has netted 101 goals for Surbiton and finished top scorer in three of the past four seasons.

“I think about how it felt to miss out on Rio every single day,” he told The Herald.

“I was doing all of the hard work but knew I wasn’t going to the Olympics, so it was really tough.”

Forsyth, who had made his senior GB debut a year earlier, added that he “never, ever wants to experience that again” and admitted he thinks about the disappointment most days he plays hockey.

“It was, without doubt, one of, if not the single worst experience of my entire hockey career,” he told the newspaper.

Asked what the feeling was in the camp regarding the current Tokyo situation, he added: “At the moment, things are changing every week and we all constantly have friends and family asking if the Olympics will even go ahead so that probably doesn’t help.

“We’re all training like the Games will definitely go ahead and so I just want to do everything I can to get selected.”

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The Hockey Paper

De Baat strikes to breach Den Bosch defences and put Amsterdam top



AH&BC Amsterdam won their huge topper, ending Den Bosch’s perfect run in the women’s Hoofdklasse with Noor de Baat becoming the first players to score against them in the process.

Despite the best efforts of the Oosterplas club – including the players – the main pitch was frozen which led to the game being switched to Pitch 2, denying the wider public of viewing the match stream live.

And they missed an entertaining duel. Den Bosch had by far the best of the game in the initial phases with chances for Lidewij Welten and Joosje Burg who hit the post.

Without Eva de Goede and Marijn Veen, Amsterdam fought back  in the first half with Robert Tigges’ team earning the first corner, but Josine Koning saved.

After that, it was again Den Bosch that had the better of proceedings, picking up several corners, but did not score.  

And they were duly stung in the third quarter when de Baat’s shot went in via a deflection off Margot van Geffen’s stick. It proved the only goal as Den Bosch could not force an equaliser.

The win lifts Amsterdam into first place, a point ahead of Den Bosch after eight rounds. Elsewhere, SCHC closed the gap to HDM in third place with a strong 2-0 win with Ginella Zerbo scoring both goals.

HGC and Pinoké lost ground to the top four as a result, their game ending in a 1-1 draw. Joelle Ketting’s first minute goal gave Hurley a 1-0 win over Oranje-Rood.

The games between Kampong and Laren and Bloemendaal against Victoria were both frozen out.

Euro Hockey League media release

Sargodha, Multan win matches in Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey

LAHORE: Sargodha and Multan thrashed their rivals while two matches ended in draw on the seventh day of Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship at Pakistan's National Hockey Stadium here on Sunday.

In the first match, Sargodha outplayed Rawalpindi by 5-0. Both the teams failed to score any goal in the first 26 minutes of the match despite their best efforts.

However, Sargodha’s skipper Rana Shoaib and Ibrar Arshad struck two back-to-back goals in the 26th and 28th minutes, respectively.

They added three more goals in 36th, 55th and 59th minutes through Sabih ul Hasnain, Rana Shoaib and Sabeeh Raza, respectively.

The second match was played between Sahiwal and Bahawalpur. Sahiwal grabbed a two-goal lead in the first 18 minutes through M Ahmed and Raja Arman but Bahawalpur bounced back and struck two goals in the 24th and 30th minutes through Arsal Naseer and Absar bin Rauf.

Sahiwal again attained the advantage in the 56th minute through a field goal netted by Raja Arman but Bahawalpur leveled the score in the final moments through Ali Raza’s field goal.

Lahore and Faisalabad played the third match of the day which finished as 1-1 draw. Lahore’s skipper Hannan Shahid struck a field goal in the 23rd minute and in response Faisalabad carved out a beautiful field move and leveled the score in the 28th minute through Abdullah Siddiqui.

Multan defeated Gujranwala by 2-1 in the fourth and last match of the day. Usman Iftikhar and M Mugheera scored for Multan, in the 3rd and 8th minutes. Saqib Ali netted the only goal for Gujranwala in the 54th minute through a penalty stroke.

The News International

UniKL's title defence campaign postponed

By Jugjet Singh


UniKL players and officials after winning the MHL last year. - NSTP/File pic

Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) treble champions Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) were all set to defend their titles, but Covid-19 derailed their plans as the tournament had to be postponed.

UniKL coach Megat Azrafiq feels his team need to be back on the pitch for at least two weeks before the delayed new season starts.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) plan to start the delayed MHL in March following the postponement of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT).

The new MHL season was supposed to commence on Jan 14.

UniKL won the Charity Shield, the MHL and the TNB Cup last season under Arul Selvaraj, who is now the national coach.

"UniKL had played friendly matches to prepare for the new season. However, teams are not allowed to train during the Movement Control Order (MCO).

"My players are receiving instructions online on how to keep fit ahead of the MHL. However, we will still need at least two weeks of freedom on the pitch to train when the new dates are confirmed," said Megat.

The six national trainees in Megat's squad are Adrian Andy Roberts (goalkeeper), Razie Rahim, Marhan Jalil (defenders), Ashran Hamsani, Pavandip Singh (midfielders), and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil (forward).

The other notable names are Harvinder Singh and Baljit Singh Charun.

"It will be harder to defend the titles this year as the league has been reduced to a one-round tournament.

"We cannot afford to drop any points in the hope of retaining the title," he added.

Terengganu Hockey Team (THT), Tenaga Nasional, TNB Thunderbolts, Maybank, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Nurinsafi and Sabah make up the men's MHL.

New Straits Times

UNC Announces Six-Game Spring Field Hockey Schedule

By Avery Trendel


Photo via Dakota Moyer

With the NCAA Field Hockey tournament moved from the fall to this upcoming May, University of North Carolina announced its six-game spring schedule on Friday.

The Tar Heels–who have won the last two NCAA championships–closed out the fall season with a victory in the ACC Championship Game against Louisville.

A rematch of that contest against the Cardinals will kick off UNC’s spring season on Mar. 5 in Chapel Hill.

The first road game of the new schedule comes on Mar. 13 at Wake Forest, followed by a return home to Boston College on Mar. 19.

After a short break, the Tar Heels return to action by hosting Duke on Apr. 2.

Back-to-back road games at Virginia (Apr. 9) and Syracuse (Apr. 18) will close out the spring season.

UNC will host the NCAA Championship on May 7 and May 9.

“We’re excited to be playing again in the spring, and hopefully picking up where we left off in November,” UNC head coach Karen Shelton said. “We always have a spring season in which we practice and play scrimmage games, but it certainly will feel a bit different to have those games leading up to the NCAA Tournament. We can’t wait to get started and face some great ACC competition.”

The Daily Tar Heel

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