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News for 10 September 2020

All the news for Thursday 10 September 2020


Red Panthers look to the future



Barbara Nelen is the multi capped (258) captain of the Belgium Red Panthers and, with just over a week to go before her team take on the might of Germany in Dusseldorf, the 28-year-old says the players are “super-excited” to be back in action.

It has been a tough few months for the Belgium team (World ranking:12). Despite a very good performance in the inaugural season of the FIH Hockey Pro League – in which the lowest ranked team [at the time] punched high above their weight – they failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Over the past few months, starting well before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the squad did a lot of restructuring and will now be in a re-building phase as the Pro League returns to action. There is a buzz about the coaching staff and players that suggests a bright future for the new-look Red Panthers.

The team will need to be on top of their game. Germany (WR: 4) has won the past two FIH Hockey Pro League encounters, and will have the advantage of a home fixture. Belgium will be looking to make the most of their neat, paced passing game, which has become their trademark under the leadership of Head Coach Niels Thijssen.

Do you feel as if you are physically and mentally prepared for the FIH Hockey Pro League season to begin again?

Barbara Nelen: Physically we are fine. We had some individual programmes so everyone stayed fit and worked on their own. But mentally it was a bit more difficult. Everything we did was alone and normally we are used to training together. That said, we are also super-happy to be back [training] together and back on the pitch together and to play our first international game in five months. We are really looking forward [as a team].”

Has the past few months and the Covid-19 situation changed your perspective on being a national team player in any way?

Barbara Nelen: “During lock-down, I had a lot of time to think and I realised that playing as a national team player is really a privilege and also playing with your friends and [seeking to] achieve the same goal is something special.”

How do you feel at the prospect of playing international sport again?

Barbara Nelen: I am really excited to play with my team mates again, even though I know the conditions will be different with the new guidelines. I think the most important thing is the health of the people. But, we are very, very excited to play an international team again.

How do you and your teammates feel about playing hockey under strict health/hygiene guidelines and the challenges that will pose?

Barbara Nelen: “Following the guidelines will be no effort at all, it is too important now. We must just do it otherwise the hockey will stop again. Also the health of people in general is just too important, so we will just adapt and it will not be difficult for us.”

What are you hoping of the next few months of FIH Hockey Pro League action?

Barbara Nelen: “I am hoping we can play in the same conditions as before [pre Covid-19]. To play in front of home crowds and surrounded by your friends and family and to just enjoy hockey together again.”

#FIHProLeague

Official FIH Pro League Site



On this day: Pakistan ends India's golden run at Olympics

India’s gold winning streak in hockey came to an end in the 1960 Rome Olympics when it lost to Pakistan 1-0 in the final.


The captains of the medal winning hockey team take the podium on September 9 at the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the centre is Pakistan's Abdul Hamid, Leslie Claudius (left) of India and on the right is Santos Dualde of Spain. - The Hindu Archives

After wearing the Olympic hockey crown from 1928 when the game was re-introduced in the Olympic programme, India surrendered the title today to her neighbour Pakistan losing by the narrowest of margins. The result once again proved that no country or no person could hold the championship in any sport for a long time, and India perhaps had a record in hockey, having won this title six times in succession. Now every effort should be made to regain the title in Tokyo in 1964.

Pakistan truly deserved their win, though at one stage, if only Jaswant had utilised the chance that came his way in the first four minutes of play instead of shooting wide, we might have been one up, which would have made all the difference.

On the run of play, one felt that whichever team scored first would be the victors, and that proved true. In the twelfth minute, the Pakistan outside-right Noor Alam ran through and centred beautifully to Naseer, who five yards away from the goal neatly shot in to give Pakistan the lead. Pakistan continued to attack, and our defence failed to cope with their pace. Moreover, our forwards were haphazard in their movements and did not do one thing right

Early in the second half, the umpire at the grandstand end, made a serious blunder in not applying the advantage rule properly twice in rapid succession. In the third minute, Jaswant ran through and he was fouled outside the penalty circle Jaswant might have scored, but the umpire pulled up the Pakistan defender for foul. Two minutes later, Claudius ran through and here again the umpire gave a free hit for foul against Claudius, ignoring the advantage rule.

WASTED CHANCES

The first short corner of the match came twenty minutes from close in favour of Pakistan. India had a short corner ten minutes later but no luck there. Prithipal Singh took a beautiful shot which the Pakistan goal-keeper half cleared; Peter, facing India's own goal, got possession of the ball and quickly turned around, but shot wide. India had the best chance of the match in the next minute when Peter centred to Jaswant. The latter in turn sent it to Bhola, whose backflick saw the ball going just wide of the goal.

In the last ten minutes of play Pakistan adopted hit and run tactics with the object of killing time. They also resorted to robust tactics. However, they combined better and played more purposeful hockey, hitting hard and without believing in defensive play, which they adopted only towards the end.

Except Prithipal, who was outstanding for India, none deserved any mention, although in the attack Bhola did all that he could, but received little assistance from his colleagues. The attacking line between Jaswant and Peter failed. Udham, who had been brilliant throughout the tournament, was caught in two minds.

Though Pakistan played well in the earlier matches of the tournament, but they reserved their best performance for this final encounter. Their speed and strategy of their hall-back line saw Pakistan forwards run all over the Indian circle in first ten minutes and it was a miracle that they did not score even a single goal in this period when the whole Indian team was on the defensive. Pakistan's three brilliant forwards Nasser Ahmed, Abdul Hamid and Noor Alam and their half-back line consisting of Ghulam Easul, Anwar and Habih Ali made the biggest contribution to Pakistan's victory.

Sportstar



Munich 1972 Olympics: Indian hockey team returns with second straight bronze

The Indian hockey team won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Games, its tenth consecutive medal at an Olympics.

By Rahul Venkat



Dominating the Olympics, with six consecutive gold medals from 1928 to 1956, was a highlight of the Indian hockey team.

The golden streak ended in Rome 1960 when Pakistan relegated India to the silver but four years later in Tokyo, the Indian hockey team was on top of the world again.

It was increasingly getting clear that India would no longer steamroll any opposition that came its way. At the 1968 Games in Mexico, India, for the first time in an Olympics, finished third (bronze).

In Munich 1972, the script folded like it did in Mexico. India finished with a second consecutive bronze medal.

Indian hockey players, who played in Munich, later claimed the gold medal was very much on the cards but the horrific attack on the Israeli Olympic team upset the team’s rhythm.

After 11 Israeli athletes as well as a German police officer had lost their lives, a combination of fear, nerves and profligacy saw India losing to arch-rivals Pakistan at the semi final stage.

Legendary fathers and sons

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) had decided to send a young team to the 1972 Olympics. Only four members of the 1968 Olympic squad were selected this time.

Perumal Krishnamurthy, Ajit Singh and the veteran Harbinder Singh were three of them. The fourth one, Harmek Singh, was named captain of the side.

KD Singh Babu, captain of the 1952 Olympic-winning Indian hockey team, was the coach and two-time Olympic gold-medallist Keshav Dutt was the manager.

The young team, which boasted of exciting players like Ashok Kumar, son of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, and Vece Paes, father of Leander Paes, had legendary figures to draw inspiration from.

To enable the team to develop a better understanding with each other, KD Singh Babu organised a few national camps at Lucknow and Jalandhar. The members spent more than two months preparing for the 1972 Olympics.

“We had a great mix of youngsters and experienced players in that side,” former Indian hockey team captain MP Ganesh, who was one of the forwards in 1972, said on the TV show on SONY, Medal of Glory.

“It was a talented team and we were all in great spirits at the national camps. We had a lot of belief in our abilities,” Ganesh said.

The Indian hockey team travelled to Munich brimming with confidence and it showed in their results at the Hockeyanlage, the competition venue at the Olympiapark.

Unbeaten in the group stages

India was drawn in Group B alongside Netherlands, Australia, Great Britain, Poland, Kenya and New Zealand. India finished unbeaten in the group.

Though their campaign began with a 1-1 draw against the Dutch, India won the next two games comprehensively - 5-0 against Great Britain and 3-1 versus Australia.

The game against Australia was particularly memorable because of striker Mukhbain Singh’s hat-trick, India’s first against the Aussies in a major international competition.

A 2-2 draw against Poland followed but India made amends with identical 3-2 victories against Kenya and New Zealand to enter the semi-finals as group toppers with 12 points.

Tragedy strikes in Munich

The Indian hockey team was due to face arch-rivals Pakistan, who had finished second in Group A, in the semi-finals when tragedy struck.

The attack on the Israeli team caused the Olympics to be halted for two days and while the episode overshadowed the Games, it also impacted India’s run on the field.

“It happened just before the semi-finals and that was when we lost our rhythm as a team,” said MP Ganesh.

India had remained unbeaten in seven matches in nine days in the group stages, a great sign of its incredible fitness.

The Indian hockey team had played its last group game against New Zealand on September 4. The team was already on a two-day break and the unexpected delay due to the attack gave them a further two days off.

As a result, the team was rusty and it showed in the semi-final against Pakistan.

“I feel we were still confident, but we just could not put away our chances. We missed too many of them,” explained striker BP Govinda. ‘Too many’ was an understatement.

Against Pakistan, the Indian hockey team earned as many as 18 penalty corners, but spurned all. Even striker Mukhbain Singh, who was the top-scorer until then with nine goals, was goal shy.

One shot ricocheted off the post while Ashok Kumar narrowly missed another as his attempt flew just over the bar. Pakistan won 2-0.

“It was a big shock for us and we were all down on morale,” MP Ganesh admitted.

Comeback win helps clinch bronze

India still had a bronze medal to play for. They were up against the Netherlands, a formidable opponent who had won silver at the 1970 EuroHockey championship.

Moreover, the Dutch had held India to a 1-1 in the group league. However, the loss against Pakistan had fired up the Indian hockey team.

“We sat down and told each other that India cannot go back without a medal. We had lost in the 1968 semis as well but still returned with bronze,” said MP Ganesh.

The match against the Netherlands did not begin well for the Indian hockey team. Within six minutes of the start, Ties Kruize gave the Dutch an early lead.

India regrouped quickly and equalized through BP Govinda in the 15th minute, who was brought in as centre-forward in place of Kulwant Singh.

In the fitness of things, Mukhbain Singh scored the dramatic match-winner in the final minute of the bronze-medal game.

India surely did not go home empty-handed. A tenth successive Olympic hockey medal had been secured.

Olympic Channel



Upper North Island Festival Confirmed for Secondary Schools



Following the cancellation of the Upper North Island Secondary Schools Tournaments (Counties-Manukau, North Harbour, Whangarei & Rotorua)  due to the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the Auckland region, Hockey New Zealand has consulted with affected Schools and Associations to offer the opportunity for participants that missed out to still be able to represent their school this year.  

We are pleased to announce that we have had an overwhelmingly positive response from Schools, this has put us in a position to be able to host the Upper North Island Festival from the 7th – 9th of October. To accommodate the number of schools that will be taking part in the Tournament, the National Hockey Centre will play host to the event.   

The festival will be seeded to ensure a balanced competition for all team involved.  

The final tournament structures, as well as cost, will be confirmed once entries close. We envisage this will be around about $450 – $500 (EXC GST) per team.  

* Please note that the festival going ahead is subject to Alert Level 2 restrictions in the Greater Auckland area with public gatherings of 100 people.  

Hockey New Zealand Media release



Why every hockey club has responsibility to educate on concussion

By Natalie Turner



Concussion is the hot topic in hockey. No doubt about it. “It wasn’t like that in the olden days” I hear you say, “we just got on with it”. So are we being over protective? Wrapping our players in cotton wool? The short answer: No, we’re not. Thank you. The End.

So what is concussion?

It has been defined as representing the immediate and transient symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Well that’s cleared that up then. In reality we don’t fully understand what is happening in the brain during a concussive episode – it’s not something we can see on an x-ray or a scan. Instead, a concussion is identified by recognising the symptoms.

A group of very clever people came together and in 2017 produced the most recent consensus statement on concussion. They define concussion by mechanism and symptoms and this is what the majority of concussion assessment tools used by healthcare professionals are based upon.

As a healthcare professional working in a sporting environment I have access to these assessment tools. If a concussion is suspected, England Hockey have a clear concussion policy that I can follow to ensure that a player is managed safely.

Here’s the thing, though, and I want you to brace yourselves: it’s not only elite hockey players who suffer with concussions. I believe every club in the country has a responsibility to educate its members on the importance of recognising concussion and here’s a good example of why:

In 2011, Peter Robinson received a phone call informing him that his 14 year old son Ben had been knocked out playing rugby and was in hospital. It wasn’t until Peter spoke with the consultant that he realised Ben wasn’t going to survive.

His head injury was likened to that of a car crash. Initially it was thought that the major traumatic brain injury was caused by a single knock however further investigation found that this was not the case.

He had been involved in two other collisions during the game and in the fatal hit suffered what is known as second impact syndrome. This is where a player has not fully recovered from an initial head injury before suffering a second incident which leads to an inability to control swelling to the brain. England hockey, similar to the Rugby Football Union, suggest a simple method to protect players by following the 6 R’s rule:

1. Recognise the symptoms
2. Remove the player from play
3. Refer to a qualified healthcare practitioner
4. Rest from exercise until symptom free
5. Recover fully before returning to sport
6. Return only after following a return to play protocol and when cleared by a healthcare practitioner

Sadly the coaches and referees were not aware of this at the time. Had they taken the opportunity to remove him from play, potentially Ben may be alive today. This tragedy isn’t a common occurrence – but it can happen.

So who should take responsibility for this? You. It should definitely be you. Players, coaches, parents, teachers, and not just healthcare professionals all have a role to play in recognising concussion.

Start now. Take a look at the England Hockey Concussion Policy.

Know the signs and symptoms of hockey and above all, as England Hockey recommend, if in doubt, sit them out. You don’t want to be the person making the wrong call that day.

Natalie Turner (MSc) is a lecturer in Sport Rehabilitation at St Mary’s University specialising in pitch side trauma and immediate care in sport. In 2012 she started working for Surbiton men’s 1st squad and is now the lead healthcare professional for both 1st team squads.

England Hockey Concussion Policy: tinyurl.com/EHconcussion

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