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News for 08 August 2021

all the news for Sunday 8 August 2021


EuroHockey Championship III Men 2021 - Finals
Lousada, Portugal

7 Aug 2021     MLT v SVK (Pool C)     1 - 3
7 Aug 2021     POR v TUR (3rd/4th Place)     3 - 3 (3 - 4 SO)
7 Aug 2021     BLR v CZE (Final)     4 - 0

Pool C

Rank Team Played Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference Points
1 Slovakia 2 1 0 1 4 3 1 3
2 Lithuania 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
3 Malta 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3

FIH Match Centre



EuroHockey Championship III Women 2021 - Finals
Lipovci, Slovenia

7 Aug 2021     SLO v SVK (Pool C)     0 - 4
7 Aug 2021     TUR v CRO (3rd/4th Place)     3 - 0
7 Aug 2021    UKR v SUI (Final)     2 - 1

Pool C

Rank Team Played Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference Points
1 Portugal 2 2 0 0 12 1 11 6
2 Slovakia 2 1 0 1 5 6 -1 3
3 Slovenia 2 0 0 2 0 10 -10 0

FIH Match Centre



Final Day EuroHockey Championship III, m, Lousada

Malta v Slovakia 1-3

Malta-Slovakia was the last Pool C match. Adam ŠTROFEK was the first to hit the net this match in the 12th minute, scoring his 1st international senior goal in his 4th appearance.

The 3rd quarter saw a great long pass from the midfield into the circle. The defender missed the ball and behind him Daniel PETRÁŠ appeared, who tipped the ball high in the net: 0-2. He was on fire as he also scored the 0-3 nine minutes before the end, sealing the game.

The last action of the game was the nicest goal of the match, no offense of course to the Slovak goals. Tom DEGIOVANNI entered the circle on the left, went to his backhand, and his shot ended in the top far corner behind Slovak goalkeeper Jakub BOGÁR. Final result Malta-Slovakia 1-3.

This result means 3 teams ended with 3 points in Pool C. Slovakia ends 5th (goal difference of +1), Lithuania 6th (goal difference of 0), and Malta ends 7th (goal difference of -1).

Portugal v Turkey 3 – 3 (3 – 4 SO)

The Bronze Medal match went between hosts Portugal and Turkey.

The home team wanted to show their fans on the stand something and pressed the Turkish defense backwards. This resulted in their first PC which was well saved by Turkey, but the next attack Portugal scored via David FRANCO. The equalizer was scored in the 2nd quarter via a tip-in by Batuhan ERMAN.

Portugal took the lead in the 38th minute via a penalty stroke by Luis TAVARES, when an attacker was illegally brought down in the circle.

Again Batuhan ERMAN advanced a PC variant into the goal (2-2) just before the end of the 3rd quarter. The last quarter the game went from left to right and back, both teams looking for the winning goal. Batuhan ERMAN with his 3rd of the match though he had made the winning goal, 6 minutes before the end Afonso CARAMALHO (with his 4th goal of the tournament) showed Portugal also was able to score a well-executed penalty corner: 3-3.

This meant shoot-outs with goalkeepers Baltazar PORTUGAL and Necip ÇILKIZ to try to become their teams’ heroes. After 4 goals, Portugal was the first to miss. Turkey had the opportunity to come in front, but their 3rd shoot-out was missed when the awarded penalty stroke was saved by the goalkeeper: 2-2 after three shoot-outs each. Where Afonso CARAMALHO during the regulation time was able to score, during the shootouts his attempt went just wide. 2 converted shootouts later, Turkey had to score the 10th and last one to win the game. Celal AYDIN stayed cool and assured Turkey of the bronze medal.

Belarus v Czech Republic 4-0

The 15th and last match of the event was the Final between Belarus and the Czech Republic. The teams came into the event being relegated from the EuroHockey Championship II in 2019 (where they drew 1-1 in their mutual match) and both were 32nd equal on the FIH World Ranking at the start of this tournament.

As the World Ranking now changes after each match, it meant that before the start of the Final Czech Republic was 30th and Belarus 31st.

The first couple of minutes it was clear that Belarus had the better hand, getting the first goal on the score sheet via Uladzislau BELAVUSAU. A minute later Belarus got their first penalty corner, but they didn’t manage to execute it properly. Aliaksandr HANCHAROU doubled the score in the 18th minute for the Belarussian squad after converting a penalty stroke. The Czech team tried to come out of their own half and got a few shots, but were not able to score. Just before half-time, Uladzislau KOCHKIN was the endpoint of a nice Belarussian attack, which meant the 3-0. The Czech team had to regroup themselves to make something of the 2nd half.

Despite the Czech best efforts, it was again Belarus who came on the score sheet. Pavel KORSIK dribbled through the Czech defense making it 4-0. The last quarter showed some chances for Czech, but time after time the strong Belarus goalkeeper Aliaksei RAMANISHKIN assured a clean sheet for his team. The final result 4-0 and Belarus took home the gold medal.

The Best Goalkeeper Award went to Slovak goalkeeper Jakub BOGÁR

The Best Player Award went to Czech player Tomas PROCHÁZKA

The Topscorer Certificate was presented to Czech players Jan ŽELEZNÝ and Tomas PROCHÁZKA both scoring 5 goals

Rewatch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org

EuroHockey media release



Final Day EuroHockey Championship III, w, Lipovci

Final day roundup – EuroHockey Championship III, Women, Lipovci

Slovenia v Slovakia 0 – 4

Last Pool C match between the home team and Slovakia, to finalize 6th and 7th place in the tournament. Slovenia wanted to give good vibes to fans who came to see a victory of their team. As every single match, Slovenian ladies tried their best to score and to defend their own goal, but this time Slovakians were stronger.

In the 2nd minute – Vanessa Čapová, 22nd minute – Karolína Vyskočová, 30th minute – Dominika Zadovska, 56th minute – Natalia Fondrkova.
Turkey v Croatia 3 – 0

In the match for 3rd/4th place between Turkey and Croatia, both teams started in ‘high pressure’, but this tactic didn’t help any team to score the goal in the 1st quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, the teams followed the same tactic and it helped the Turkish ladies score two goals (20th minute – Fatma Songül Gültekin, 22nd minute – Ayla Esen). After halftime, Fatma Songül Gültekin scored one more goal and Croatian ladies lost this match 0 – 3, Turkish ladies bringing bronze medals to the home.

Ukraine v Switzerland 2 – 1 Final

In the final match at first 10 seconds, Ukraine surprised the Swiss ladies when Yevheniya Kernoz scored the first goal from a penalty corner.

From the 2nd quarter, Swiss ladies were pressing the Ukraine team, had few penalty corners, unfortunately, didn’t they score. In the 40th minute, Yuliia Shevchenko scored the second goal for the Ukraine team. In the 57th minute, Janice Thoma ran from the middle of the pitch with the ball, got through two Ukrainian defenders and scored a nice goal for her team. Three minutes until the end of the match and Swiss ladies were pressing opponents so hard. Unluckily, time was running fast and Ukraine team was celebrating the goal medal after the final whistle.

Sanja Kropec, President of Slovenian Hockey Federation, said: “Slovenian Hockey Federation is very honored to be given this opportunity to host EHC III. For our small country and even smaller, but hearty, hockey family this is a great chance to unite, gather fans, raise the motivation of our people, and of course, promote our sport. We are proud to host great hockey nations and our young team was honored to play against better teams. Through hard matches, they learned a lot and got the motivation to train harder in the future. We hope we presented ourselves as a good host for our hockey friends.”

Final standing:

1. Ukraine
2. Switzerland
3. Turkey
4. Croatia
5. Portugal
6. Slovakia
7. Slovenia

Top scorer: Fatma Singül Gültekin (TUR)

EuroHockey media release



2021 Test matches AUT v ITA (M)
Vienna (AUT)

6 Aug 2021     AUT v ITA     3 - 3
8 Aug 2021 11:00 (GMT +2)     AUT v ITA

FIH Match Centre



Scotland U23 men strike five again against Wales in Wrexham

Scotland U23 men won match two of a three-game series against Wales in Wrexham 5-3 to follow yesterday’s victory.

The Scots looked on form from the first whistle however the opening goal went to Wales against the run of play. A corner was well converted to give Wales a 1-0 lead.

Scotland came battling back and Fraser Heigh popped up in the right place at the right time to equalise. A crash ball into the D rebounded off the goalkeeper and Heigh found the net to make it 1-1.

It wouldn’t take Heigh too long to bag his, and Scotland’s, second of the match. This time he pounced on a rebound at a penalty corner to make it 2-1.

The on-form Heigh secured his hat-trick when Scotland won the ball high up the pitch and finished well on the press.

The third quarter saw the game tilt slightly with Wales fighting back to eventually make it 3-3 with a goal from open play and a penalty.

Scotland kept on the Welsh in the final quarter and made their pressure count when they won a penalty, which was converted by Andrew Webb to put the Scots back in front.

A penalty corner strike in the final minutes by Jack Jamieson rounded off the scoring and gave Scotland an excellent 5-3 victory, and two wins from two in Wrexham.

Head Coach Graham Moodie said, “We played better than we did yesterday, and so did Wales, so it was an excellent game. I’m really pleased with the win and delighted to build on yesterday’s performance.

“I’m delighted for Fraser Heigh as well, he was well-deserving of his hat-trick and it’s great to see us scoring so many goals in these games.”

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Victory for Scotland youth squads over Wales in Glasgow



Scotland Emerging Boys 1-0 Wales

Scotland Emerging boys’ won 1-0 in the second of three matches against Wales at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre. A second quarter strike by Owen Hunter was the difference in an excellent performance by the home side.

Scotland started strong and maintained their level of performance throughout the contest; a clear step up on the previous day’s outing.

The deserved lead for the Scots came in the second quarter through a lovely goal by Owen Hunter. Scotland won the ball and Hunter carried it into the circle before converting beautifully on the reverse to make it 1-0.

Tommy Austin and Drew Lobb were on top form and really drove Scotland on as they stepped up and controlled the game.

Jack Adams had a good chance to double Scotland’s lead but he unselfishly tried to pass rather that shoot and the danger was cleared.

The Scots enjoyed several other opportunities to score but in the end they had to settle for 1-0 and an excellent performance. The final encounter between the two is tomorrow at 10am.

Scotland Aspiring Girls 5-1 Wales

Scotland Aspiring Girls were on top form a put in a five-star performance to beat Wales 5-1 at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre.

The Scots got off to a rapid start and Lexie Macmillan opened the scoring in the first minute with a lovely finish to make it 1-0.

The game evened itself out as the first half progressed and allowed Wales to claw their way back in with a goal to make it 1-1 at half time.

There was a clear injection of energy in the home side in the second half and then goals began to fly in. Macmillan scored her second to make it 2-1 before Izzy Usher struck to make it 3-1 to Scotland.

Olivia Elliott was next to add her name to the scoresheet before Hannah Young completed the scoring with a lovely strike from the top of the circle after driving 20 yards to make the chance.

Jess Freehold was another stand out in the performance with really positive proactive defensive work. All in all it was a great outing for the Scots and the emerging squad will play Wales tomorrow at 10am to complete the series.

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Indian men's and women's hockey teams jump one spot each to gain highest-ever world rankings

The Indian men's team, which ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching a historic bronze in the Olympics, was placed behind gold-medallist Belgium and silver-medallist Australia.


India forward Vandana Katariya, left, runs to embrace forward Rani after their team scored against Ireland. AP

New Delhi: The Indian men's and women's hockey teams jumped one spot each to achieve their highest-ever world rankings at number 3 and 8 respectively, riding on their historic campaign at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Indian men's team, which ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching a historic bronze in the Olympics, was placed behind gold-medallist Belgium and silver-medallist Australia.

"It's the reward of all the hard work and dedication towards the game we love, towards the game which has given us everything," said Indian men's team captain Manpreet Singh in a release issued by Hockey India.

"This ranking and the Olympic medal after 41 years mark the rise of Indian Hockey...there is no looking back now, we have set the benchmark for ourselves and would like to grow from here."

While the men's side claimed the bronze, the women's team narrowly missed out a medal after going down to Great Britain in the hard-fought third-place play-off, to end at the fourth place.


India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, left, and Manpreet Singh celebrate after winning bronze at Olympics. AP

"We were very close to finishing on the podium, and it is hurting the team that we didn't. However, looking at the bright side, we have made remarkable progress in recent years, and I am really proud of it," women's team skipper Rani Rampal said.

"Finishing in the top four at Olympics, and climbing to the 8th position in world rankings, is a very big thing for us, and this has boosted our confidence, it will certainly help us grow going forward."

Manpreet and Co. had finished second in Pool A, winning four out of five group phase matches and defeated Great Britain 3-1 in quarterfinal before losing 2-5 against Belgium in their historic semifinal.

However, they staged a remarkable comeback to grab a 5-4 win over Germany to clinch a historic bronze medal at Olympic Games and as a result climbed up to their best-ever world ranking.

"I must admit, I feel privileged to have played a part in the rise of Indian Hockey. It's a great feeling that we won the historic Bronze Medal as well as achieving the highest ranking on the back of our solid performance in the Olympics," Indian men's team chief coach Graham Reid said.

"We played like a unit, with the right kind of attitude, and I think that has helped the team achieve this feat."

After suffering three losses in the initial phase, the women's team pulled off arguably its biggest upset by beating world number 3 Australia in what was its first ever quarterfinal of the Olympics.

However, the women's team lost both semifinal and the bronze medal play-off match against Argentina and Great Britain, respectively.

Outgoing Indian women's team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said, "Achieving 8th rank in the world ranking and finishing among the top four at Olympics, is a big step for Indian Women's hockey, and I think every team will definitely take us seriously.

"The athletes have that desire to learn and improve each and every day, and I feel this is one of the biggest reasons why we could finish among the top four."

The men's team was ranked No.4 in March last year on the back of their scintillating performances in the first three rounds of the second edition of FIH Hockey Pro League.

On the other hand, the women's team's earlier highest world ranking was 9th, which they accomplished by producing their best finish (Quarter Finals) at the World Cup in London in 2018.

Having reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, the women's team had become the top-ranked Asian team and went on to clinch the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Firstpost



Jalandhar-made hockey sticks behind India’s Tokyo magic

The Alfa hockey stick which Manpreet and 16 other players of the Tokyo Olympics’ men’s and women’s squad are seen carrying comes from a Jalandhar-based firm

Ajay Joshi & Aparna Banerji


The Indian men’s team with Alfa sticks; and captain Rani Rampal with Rakshak stick.

As men and women hockey squads created history with their sterling performances at the Tokyo Olympics, two Jalandhar-based firms were key to their success as the players wielded hockey sticks manufactured by these.

Sanjay Kohli (56), owner of Rakshak Sports, is the man behind the powerful weapons of the leading players of the women’s contingent. It’s been over 10 years since the captain of women’s team, Rani Rampal, is relying on ‘Rakshak’ hockey sticks to deliver her best performances in the game.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Niki Pradhan and Sharmila Rani also preferred to defeat their opponents with the hockey sticks made in Jalandhar. “It’s been 41 years since my company at Wariana Industrial Complex has been manufacturing hockey sticks. With an aspiration to see women hockey players on the top of their game, we also sponsored players in the 1982 Asian games, followed by 1992 Barcelona Olympics. While my daughter Aakansha Kohli (30) now gives special attention to women players, son Sarthak Kohli (25) ensures the best hockey sticks are supplied to the men’s team,” Kohli said.


Rani Rampal

Aakansha says before leaving for the Olympics, Rani Rampal had specially asked her to engrave a map of India on her hockey stick. She wanted to come back with a medal. A composite hockey stick used by any player takes 14-15 days to get ready.

The suave poster in which Indian Hockey team captain Manpreet Singh is seen screaming into the void with a Hockey stick in hand has become an iconic image of our times. The Alfa hockey stick which Manpreet and 16 other players of the Tokyo Olympics’ men’s and women’s squad are seen carrying comes from a Jalandhar-based firm.

Nitin and Jatin Mahajan, owners of Pooja Enterprises and manufacturers of the Alfa hockey sticks, are beaming with happiness.

In the gloom brought by Covid, the bronze medal win of the Indian men’s team after 41 years has acted as a fillip for the local hockey industry. There is much to celebrate at the Basti Nau manufacturing unit of the firm.

The firm’s office proudly displays a hockey stick signed by all women team members. Priced between Rs 1,000 and 28,000, the firm’s sticks in neon, white and gold adorn countless Olympic posters and photos.

Launched in 1963 by Sukhdev Raj Mahajan under the name Sukhdev Impex Pvt Ltd, the firm changed its name to Pooja Enterprises in 1991. The company provides sticks to various Indian states as well as Europe and sponsors 80 Indian players across national teams and academies.

The Tribune



Casteist attacks on Vandana Katariya’s family heartbreaking and shameful, says captain Rani Rampal

“We give our blood, sweat, and tears for the honour of the country, and when he hear of such incidents, it just breaks our heart. Forget a player, this should not happen to anyone in the country,” Rani Rampal said.

Shantanu Srivastava



New Delhi: India women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal has extended her support to teammate Vandana Katariya whose family was subjected to casteist slurs recently.

Speaking to an online media conference organized by Hockey India, Rani called the attacks on Vandana’s family “sad, shameful, and heartbreaking.”

The incident occurred after the team went down to Argentina in the semi-finals. Two upper-caste men reportedly danced outside Vandana’s house in Roshnabad near Haridwar and mocked the family. One of the miscreants is learned to have said that the team lost because it had too many Dalit players in it.

Vandana is the only Indian woman to score a hat-trick at the Olympics. She achieved the feat in team's 4-3 win over South Africa in the final pool match.

“It is a very sad incident. This kind of discrimination and comments should not have a place in our society. When we play for India, we don’t care which caste, creed, region, or religion we come from. All we care for is India.

    1/3 Hello all! ?
    My family and I are going through a very tough time. Thanks to everyone for support.

    It’s a humble request to some people to not increase my troubles.
    I am seeing people making my fake accounts and sharing tweets from them ON MY BEHALF. pic.twitter.com/cSjRUySgpx

    — Vandana Katariya (@VandanaHockey16) August 6, 2021

“We give our blood, sweat, and tears for the honour of the country, and when he hear of such incidents, it just breaks our heart. Forget a player, this should not happen to anyone in the country,” the captain said.

Rani added that the team is slowly coming to terms with the narrow 4-3 loss to Great Britain in the bronze medal playoff.

“It hurts because we were so close to our first Olympic medal. All of us came to Tokyo with the aim of going back with a medal. We are really sad that we couldn’t do that, but the love, respect, and support we are getting is unprecedented,” she said.

The Indian women, who finished last among 12 teams at the Rio Olympics in 2016, staged a memorable comeback after losing their first three matches to Netherlands (5-1), Germany (2-0), and Great Britain (4-1). They went on to beat Ireland (1-0), South Africa (4-3) to book their place in the quarter-finals, where they knocked out one of the pre-tournament favourites Australia (1-0).

“The team had a lot of belief. We went to the drawing board to analyse where we went wrong. We realised that even in the loss against Holland, we played very good two quarters. Our coach and support staff were instrumental in engineering the comeback,” the captain said.

The team lost a tense semi-final (1-2) to Argentina before going down fighting to Great Britain (4-3) in the bronze medal match.

    What an amazing game, what an amazing opponent ?@TheHockeyIndia you've done something special at #Tokyo2020 - the next few years look very bright ? pic.twitter.com/9ce6j3lw25

    — Great Britain Hockey (@GBHockey) August 6, 2021

Penalty corner specialist Gurjit Kaur, who scored in each knock-out game after struggling to convert penalty corners in the earlier half of the campaign, said her return to form was a result of thorough analysis and examination.

“Actually, I wasn’t doing much wrong in the earlier matches. Some of the first rushers were really good; clearly, they had come well prepared. I went through videos of my drag flicks and identified a few areas to improve.

“Once I started implementing those small changes, the results started to come in. I made sure to stay positive and not think of past failures. In sport, there will always be off days, but the trick lies in bouncing back,” she said.

The team will land in the national capital on Monday.

Firstpost



Stop discriminating on casteism, we work hard to represent India": Captain Rani Rampal

Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal condemned the alleged casteist abuse that her teammate Vandana Katariya's family has faced.


Indian Women Hockey Team (Source: Hockey India)

Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal on Saturday condemned the allegedly casteist abuse that her teammate Vandana Katariya's family has faced, saying that it was nothing short of shameful.





Pakistan's Independence Cup Hockey starts today

ISLAMABAD: Three matches are scheduled on the opening day of the First Mari Gas Petroleum Independence Cup Hockey at MPCL Ground on Sunday (today).

WAPDA will face Army, National Bank will take on PAF and Navy will come across Mari Petroleum (MPCL).

The semi-finals are scheduled for August 13 and the final on August 15.

Eight teams have been divided into two groups. Pool A consists of WAPDA, Navy, MPCL and Army. National Bank, SSGC, PAF, and Punjab are in Pool B.

The News International

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