News for 28 February 2021
All the news for Sunday 29 February 2021
Germany slam five past Rani Rampal's India
s2h Team
Photo: Courtesy Hockey India
Germany outplayed India in the first of four women’s matches in Dusseldorf on Saturday. The World No. 3 team justified the superiority in ranking with a comprehensive 5-0 win over the touring No.9s. Pia Maertens (10’, 14’), Lena Micheel (20’), Pauline Heinz (28’) and Lisa Altenburg (41’) were on target for the hosts.
The start, however, belied the one-sided nature of the scoreboard with India forcing a penalty corner in the second minute.
Unexpected start for the visitors India in Germany
The German defence, however, proved equal to the challenge and grabbed the initiative, putting pressure on the Indian citadel. Germany were adept at moving into promising positions that yielded several opportunities to score and, inevitably, took the lead when Maertens scored with 10 minutes gone. The lively forward added another just four minutes later to build a commanding 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
German pressure continued on resumption. A penalty corner ensued in the 17th minute but India thwarted the attempt and switched action to the other end of the pitch to force a set-piece of their own.
It proved futile, however, and Germany had the tourists in a daze with a third goal with 20 minutes having elapsed. Micheel exploited an opening and finished brilliantly. It was 4-0 eight minutes later and the match seemingly over as a contest. This time it was midfielder Pauline Heinz who struck on the dot of halftime.
To their credit, India endeavoured to make a fight out of it and forays by Rani Rampal’s girls in the third quarter held hope of a consolation goal but it were the hosts who forced a penalty corner in the 40th minute. India courageously warded off danger but there was no denying Germany a fifth goal – forward Altenburg scoring four minutes from the third-quarter break.
India, however, showed character despite the devastating score and forced penalty corners in the 47th and 50th minutes but the German defence proved rock solid.
WHAT NEXT?
The teams meet again on Sunday, 28 February 2021 at 1630 hrs IST.
Stick2Hockey.com
Indian hockey women fall to heavy defeat against Germany in opening tour match
Two goals from Pia Maertens helped world No. 3 Germany to a 5-0 win in the first of four matches in India’s tour.
By Rahul Venkat
Photo: Hockey India
The Indian women’s hockey team were beaten 5-0 by Germany in Dusseldorf in their first of four matches on Saturday.
A brace from striker Pia Maertens and goals from Lena Micheel, Pauline Heinz, and Lisa Altenburg ensured that the Indian hockey team began their tour of Germany with a loss.
The Indian eves began strongly, earning a penalty corner in the opening minute but Germany did well to save the resulting drag-flick. It would prove to be a rare Indian hockey team attack in the first half.
The Germans dominated possession and created multiple chances soon. It paid off in the 10th minute as Pia Maertens gave Germany the lead. She then doubled her and the team’s tally four minutes later as Germany went into the break at the end of the first quarter with a comfortable lead.
The German women’s team, ranked world No. 3, continued in the same vein in the second quarter. Though India earned their second penalty corner soon, Germany thwarted the attack.
They soon broke upfield and striker Lena Micheel tripled their lead in the 20th minute. The Indian hockey team then went into another break by conceding once more, as midfielder Pauline Heinz struck the fourth goal.
The Indian eves could not manage to keep Germany at bay for long in the third quarter as Lisa Altenburg established a 5-0 lead for the hosts in the 41st minute.
The final quarter was a much more positive performance from the Indian hockey team. They counter-attacked well to earn two penalty corners but the German defenders – as they had twice before – dealt with the drag-flicks with ease to ensure they kept a clean sheet.
The Indian hockey women’s team will look to bounce back soon enough though as they take on the Germans in the second match of their tour on Sunday evening.
Indian eves are yet to win a match since they returned to competition last month in Argentina -- where they played seven games -- following the COVID-19 break.
Olympic Channel
Germany thrashes Indian women's hockey team 5-0
Forward Pia Maertens' double strike put Germany in firm control in its first match against India in the four-match series in Dusseldorf on Saturday.
The Indian team fought hard and tried to make inroads into the German half in the third quarter, but Germany rose to maintain a 5-0 lead. - TWITTER/HOCKEY INDIA
World No. 3 Germany blanked the Indian women's hockey team 5-0 in their first game of the four-match tour in Dusseldorf on Saturday.
Pia Maertens (10', 14'), Lena Micheel (20'), Pauline Heinz (28') and Lisa Altenburg (41') found the back of the net for Germany.
Germany's forward Pia Maertens put her side in the lead with a goal in the 10th minute and then found the back of the net again in the 14th minute. The teams went into the first quarter break with Germany leading 2-0.
In the second quarter, the host continued to put pressure on the Indian defence line and earned a penalty corner in the 17th minute. The Indian side saved it and counter-attacked immediately.
India earned a penalty corner in the very next minute, but the Germans stood tall and saved the visiting team's shot at the goal once again.
Germany rode on the momentum and took a 3-0 lead in the 20th minute when forward Lena Micheel found an opening and converted it brilliantly. Eight minutes later, the host extended its lead to 4-0 after midfielder Pauline Heinz found the back of the net just before half time.
The Indian team fought hard and tried to make inroads into the German half in the third quarter, but Germany fought back and earned a penalty corner in the 40th minute.
However, the host continued to put pressure on India relentlessly and Germany took a 5-0 lead after forward Lisa Altenburg struck a goal in the 41st minute.
ALSO READ | Germany tour will add value to Olympic preparations: women's hockey captain Rani
At the start of the final quarter, the Indian team showed character and put Germany on the back-foot straightaway.
They earned a penalty corner in the 47th and the 50th minutes, but the German defence line stood tall and thwarted India's attempts.
The Indian team will take on Germany in its second match on Sunday.
Sportstar
Our skills to fitness, everything will be tested in Germany, says Indian captain Rani Rampal
On the eve of Indian women’s hockey team taking on top notch Germany in the four-match series start tomorrow at Dusseldorf, captain Rani Rampal feels that the team’s skill to fitness will be put into severe test, as their rivals are notches above them in the world ranking.
Indian team for Germany Series 2021
The Khel Ratna awardee said: “It is going to be a totally different experience than the Argentina tour which we undertook recently. Here in Germany from our skills to fitness level, everything will be tested. That’s exactly what we as a team also in need of. It will be a challenging tour as we play back-to-back matches twice. Our priority, for now, is to get into that competitive frame of mind. The experience of playing against a top team like Germany will really add value to our preparations for the Olympic Games.
India’s sporting queen Rani also compared recent Argentina tour with the Germany one. “Argentina are world number two team, the tour thus helped us gain the confidence. We are now pumped up. Germany is world No. 3. We are just months away from the Tokyo Olympics, and this kind of contests against top teams will help us finding loopholes and gain momentum before the Games. We are looking forward to making the most out of the tour.”
The players and the support staff will be under the bio-secure bubble environ. Rani says now this has been an accepted and acclimatized one.
“Bio-bubble isn’t a fuss for us anymore. We are now prepared to live under such circumstances because that’s the only way in order to keep the action going. When we step on to the field, I don’t think it plays in our mind. The only thing which is in our minds right now is the Olympics,” concluded Rani.
Indian Women’s Hockey Team will kickstart the proceedings on 27th February (Saturday) at 1630hrs IST. The eves will play their second match of the tour on 28th February and after a day’s break, they will play two back-to-back games on 2nd and 3rd March 2021, respectively.
Stick2Hockey.com
With the Olympics looming, Sreejesh's outfit brace for German challenge
S2H Team
The World No.4-ranked Indian men’s team braces for a tough challenge against No. 6 Germany in the first of a four-match tour of Europe scheduled to begin on 28 February 2021 with an encounter in Krefeld.
India captain PR Sreejesh is upbeat on playing a competitive match after a year and is relishing the challenge.
“The entire team is very excited and eager to get on with the first match. It’s been more than a year since we played a competitive match, and we are prepared for the challenge,” expressed the star Indian goalkeeper.
“It’s been about five days since we arrived in Krefeld and the weather too has not been too cold. It was about 16-18 degrees when we practiced yesterday, and we are quite comfortable playing in this weather.”
India’s last match came was in the FIH Hockey Pro League in January and February last year where their adversaries were the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia on home turf in Bhubaneswar.
“Not playing competitive matches for over a year has been very difficult, mostly mentally than physically. But the coaching staff ensured the sessions during the national camp were planned in such a way that it would excite us players and they tried to create an environment of competition in the group. Though we played a lot of matches internally over the past few months in SAI, the next few weeks in Europe will show exactly where we are at in terms of performance,” Sreejesh said.
The Indian captain stressed that this tour would help the team set the parameters in their build-up to the Olympics.
“These matches against Germany and Great Britain are super important for our preparations. It is an opportunity to test ourselves tactically, physically and mentally. We are very lucky to be able to play against quality teams, despite the ongoing pandemic. This outing will help us set the parameter and enable us to plan our months leading up to the Olympics.”
Referring to the contests against Germany, Sreejesh said, “We have watched this team closely, analyzed their game and replicated how we must play against them during the past few weeks in camp. They play man-to-man and our style of play will be slightly tweaked in order to succeed against them. The whole idea is to implement what we have been doing in camp these past few months and the focus will be on ourselves.”
India will commence proceedings on 28th February (Sunday) at 1730hrs IST.
The second match on Tuesday, 2 March 2021 at 8.30 pm IST will be live streamed on the Watch.Hockey platform (Both phone and web version available).
Stick2Hockey.com
Sreejesh: Matches against Germany, Great Britain good tuneup for Olympics
Former captain of the Indian National team, Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh, believes facing international teams in the Europe tour will be great exposure for the team ahead of the upcoming Olympics.
Indian men's hockey goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh.
Indian men's hockey goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh feels playing against quality sides like Germany and Great Britain will help the team prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics from July 23.
After a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian men's team, ranked No. 4 in the world, will play against world No. 6 Germany in the first of their four-match tour of Europe starting on Sunday.
After facing the Germans once again on Tuesday, the Indian team will travel to Antwerp, Belgium, to play against Great Britain on March 6 and 8.
"These matches against Germany and Great Britain are super important for our preparations. It is an opportunity to test ourselves tactically, physically and mentally," Sreejesh said.
"We are very lucky to be able to play against quality teams despite the ongoing pandemic. This outing will help us set the parameter and enable us to plan our months leading up to the Olympics," he added.
India last played in the FIH Hockey Pro League held in January and February 2020, where the team took on the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia in Bhubaneswar.
"Not playing competitive matches in over a year has been very difficult, mostly mentally than physically. Though we played a lot of matches internally over the past few months in SAI, the next few weeks in Europe will show exactly where we are at in terms of performance," Sreejesh said.
On the match against Germany, Sreejesh said, "We have watched this team closely, analysed their game and replicated how we must play against them during the past few weeks in camp. They play man-to-man, and our style of play will be slightly tweaked to succeed against them. The whole idea is to implement what we have been doing in camp these past few months, and the focus will be on ourselves."
Sportstar
‘Magical’ that we are out and about to play hockey: Graham Reid
In an interview, the Australian reflects on the year gone by, what they did in situ, the objectives of the Germany trip and preparation for the Olympics.
By Swaroop Swaminathan
Graham Reid
CHENNAI: When the men's senior hockey team walks out to face Germany at Krefeld (a small city near Dusseldorf) on Sunday, it will end one of the longest inactive streaks the men's team will have faced: 372 days without playing a competitive fixture. Since playing that heart-stopping, nail-eating 2-2 (3-1 win via a shootout) against Australia on February 22 at Bhubaneswar, they, like most of the world, were condemned to live life in lockdown. Even as other professional sporting activities began, the men's hockey team was left to train on their own at the SAI campus in Bengaluru for the majority of the last year.
Now that they are finally out and ready to play again, their coach, Graham Reid, calls it 'magical'. In an interview, the Australian reflects on the year gone by, what they did in situ, the objectives of the Germany trip and preparation for the Olympics. Excerpts:
What's it like being able to get out of Bengaluru and play again? Relief more than anything? Does the team have a spring in their step?
It's exactly right. The fact of being outside of where we have been in camp for a very long time to come out to a different country and to a different sort of situation is magical. It does bring a spring in everyone's step like you said. I think that freshness is something that was well needed. The feedback that we will get from playing these matches will be invaluable.
The team hasn't played in over a year so you can't read too much into what shape they are in. So what are you looking for from this tour? Just getting some match practice or something more tangible?
It's very difficult as you can imagine. We have been in Bengaluru training and having internal matches. Of course, what you lack when that's all you have had is competition feedback which is a valuable improvement loop that perhaps you don't get when you are just playing internal matches. It's really important, these matches. Our guys are excited about trying to apply some of the things that we have been working tactically and so on.
How important is managing a players' workload in this case?
You can't possibly make them play high-intensity games all of a sudden. One of the things we have been trying to do (during our internal matches) is to get the players match that match intensity they hit during competitive games. We used technology to do that. Of course, it's very difficult, you can try all you like to provide that match intensity but it isn't until real competition where you can get that. But we have been quite happy with our match intensity that we have been showing in the last couple of months but yeah, it will be a real test for us. Yes, players' workload is something that we are very aware of and you only got to look around at the different sports that have come back from being in lockdown or quarantine.
Was there a specific reason behind going to Germany?
The reason for Germany is really chance. I have been contacting lots of coaches for the last three or four months for competition. I spoke to Kais (Germany coach Kais al Saadi). He was also looking for competition, everyone really is starved of competition and then it a case of could we make it work. Can
everything happen to make it work? In this case, it worked out.
As a coach, how do you plan between now and the Olympics considering there is still so much uncertainty?
So much uncertainty around in the world, it changes on a daily basis. We spent so much time on actually speaking to the guys about it. (Author Stephen) Covey speaks about the three spheres of control, influence and concern. The focus is on trying to control the controllables. A lot of things that are going on in the world we can't control at the moment. If we come to terms with that, then you just try and focus on what we can control. They are the things that we have within our grasp. We have been doing a lot of work with that and I think it keeps people focused and that's really what we want. So between now and the Olympics, we still don't know how much competition we will get. Whatever we can, we will try and make up for the lost time. Competition gives you that accelerated learning process and that's what we are chasing.
Matches: Feb 28 vs Germany, March 2 vs Germany, March 6 vs Great Britain, March 8 vs Great Britain
New Indian Express
Relief as Covid-19 testing ensures MHL can run smoothly
By Jugjet Singh
Nor Saiful Zaini
THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) are glad that the pre-season Covid-19 testing conducted by clubs has weeded out the positives ahead of the new Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) season.
The men's MHL starts on March 11, followed by the women's tournament four days later. Both competitions end on April 3.
To date, three Covid-19 positive Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) players — Shello Silverius, Faizal Saari and Khalid Hamirin — are in quarantine for 10 days at the MAEPS Centre in Serdang.
Tenaga Nasional heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as two of Shello's house-mates returned with negative results.
"Our players (Shazril Irwan, Syawal Razak and Amirul Aideed) who were living in a rented house with Shello or had close contact with the other two THT players have all tested negative.
"However, they will still undergo self-quarantine for 10 days as a precautionary measure before checking into camp," said Tenaga Nasional coach Nor Saiful Zaini yesterday.
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said: "That was why we insisted on testing players and officials before allowing them to start training.
"It is a precautionary measure to ensure nobody is carrying the virus when they check into the sports-bubble venue (on March 10).
"Another round of testing will be conducted on them three days before the tournament. We will also conduct tests every other week during the tournament," he said.
The sports bubble venue will be finalised tomorrow. It will have security features to keep players in and Covid-19 out.
"We have the venue in mind, and we will finalise it on Monday (tomorrow).
"The venue will house about 600 players and officials. There will be no contact with 'outsiders' on the booked floors.
"It will be a hotel or a residency, likely near the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil. We will be providing transportation to-and-from training sessions and matches," Subahan added,
Food will also be covered by the MHC, who are spending around RM2 million to host the MHL this year.
New Straits Times
Sandeep Singh birthday special: From a drag flicker to the sports minister of Haryana, here's all you should know about the legend
Born on February 27, 1986, Sandeep Singh turned 35 yesterday. Singh was one of the best drag flickers of his time. The hockey superstar had an unfortunate accident that left him wheelchair-bound for more than a year. Here's more
By Shubham Bhargav
Sandeep Singh
Sandeep Singh was born on February 27, 1986, in Shahabad, Haryana, to Gurucharan Singh Saini and Daljeet Kaur Saini. He attended Shivalik Public School in Mohali. Sandeep made a name for himself in hockey at a very young age.
Sandeep’s elder brother Bikramjeet, who is also a hockey player, inspired him to take up the sport. Sandeep made headlines even as a teenager for drag flicking the ball quicker than anyone else in the game. He soon became renowned for holding the title of “the fastest drag flicker” in the world.
The penalty corner specialist was an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders. Sandeep made his international debut in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2004. The star player was just 17 when he represented India in the 2012 London Olympics.
Soon after, Sandeep was handed the captaincy of the Indian Hockey team; he managed to take the team to the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title win after defeating Malaysia in 2009.
However, on August 22, 2006, while boarding the Shatabdi Express, a Railway Protection Force jawan accidentally shot the hockey player. This incident left Sandeep with a punctured pancreas and significant damage to the liver, kidneys, and backbone.
He was wheelchair-bound for more than a year. However, “Flicker Singh” made a miraculous comeback to hockey after recovering fully. He was honored with the Arjuna Award for his achievements in hockey, in 2010.
Sandeep retired from professional hockey in 2016. He is a DSP rank holder in Haryana Police. The inspiring superstar became the sports minister of Haryana in 2019. His journey continues to inspire everyone.
The Free Press Journal