Indian Hockey 2016 - The History Book of Indian Hockey

Asian Champions Trophy: Indian Hockey Team has an eye on wins against China, Malaysia to top league stage

Indian Hockey Admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:34:56 +0000

On a high after their morale-boosting win over arch-rivals Pakistan, India now eye wins against China and hosts Malaysia on successive days to finish on top of the round-robin league stage of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament, here.
India will play lowly China on Tuesday before squaring up against the home team on Wednesday.
The runaway 10-2 victory against Japan and the 3-2 win in yesterday’s intense sub-continental contest against arch-rivals Pakistan has kept top-ranked India on course for the leading spot in the round-robin league, which could ensure them a favourable semifinal fixture.
But the draw against South Korea means India are two points behind Malaysia, who have gathered the maximum nine points from three outings.
Defending champions Pakistan are still on three points after suffering two losses, but will now go into two easy outings against Japan and China.
The victory over Pakistan has reinvigorated the Indian team that was stunned by the spirited show from South Korea the previous day, but team coach Roelant Oltmans says the boys need to improve on Sunday’s fine show.
“We were much stronger than Pakistan yesterday, but we need to raise our game further. We can improve on this performance,” says Oltmans.
Missing some key players who are recuperating from injuries, coach Oltmans says the return to competitive hockey after the post-Olympic break has provided opportunity to several youngsters to showcase their skills.
But he was not very happy with the errors committed in the defence that allowed space for Pakistani strikers to have cracks at the Indian goal.
“Our defence made a few mistakes in the second half yesterday. Pakistan were able to spot and capitalise on them to score two goals,” said Oltmans, emphasising the need for India to cut out errors in their own zone.
The two Pakistan goals came in the space of nine minutes when the game resumed after half-time, enabling them to neutralise India’s early lead and then and surging 2-1 ahead.
But India possessed enough firepower to score two more goals and regain the initiative, which seemed to have been the feature of this encounter.
The coach wants his strikers to make their presence in the rival territory count and earn penalty corners.
“We need to have more penalty corners,” he said. “Make no mistake, China can give a tough contest,” said Oltmans of India’s next rivals in the tournament on Tuesday, before taking upon hosts Malaysia on Wednesday.
Coaches have learnt not to take China’s hockey team lightly since they pulled off a shock win over India in the 2006 Asian Games and went on to clinch the silver medal.
That 2006 appearance in the Asian Games final remains the best performance for the Chinese men’s team.
Malaysia’s three victories on the trot have put them at the top of the league standings with nine points.
Bronze medalists in all previous three editions of the Asian Champions Trophy, Malaysia will be eager to add more points to their tally to take the top place in the preliminary league.

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India’s junior men’s hockey team lost 1-2 to England

Indian Hockey Admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 12:45:51 +0000

India’s junior men’s hockey team lost 1-2 to England in a tough encounter at the Bisham Abbey Sports Academy.
India were the dominant side in the early exchanges and even came close with some chances in the first half yesterday.
As England edged their way back into the game, India gotthe breakthrough when Ajay Yadav scored with an indirect
effort from penalty corner to give India the lead in the 24th minute.
England, though, hit back soon by converting a penalty corner from Will Calnan in the 26th minute and then took the lead off Ed Horler’s goal in the 30th.
The two sides went into halftime with the hosts leading 2-1.
India came out stronger in the second half and started creating chances, but were denied the equaliser by a stout English defence.
Despite several chances, India failed to capitalise as England held on to their lead.
After the game, Indian junior men coach,Harender Singh said, “We are creating several chances, but have been missing too many opportunities in front of goal. It is a fault we will rectify and hope to improve in the next match.”

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Rain washes out last hockey game against Canada, Indian women finish series 3-1 up

Indian Hockey Admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:03:44 +0000

The Indian women’s hockey team has finished their final preparatory series for the 2016 Rio Olympics with an impressive tally of three wins and one defeat at Manheim in Pennsylvania. The tour of the USA, which was initially planned as a 5-match campaign, had to be cut short after heavy rain delayed and eventually washed out the last game against Canada on Monday.
Having played two games each against the hosts and their Olympic Group B rivals USA and visitors Canada, the Sushila Chanu-led Indian side were looking to end matters on a high against the latter by extending their praiseworthy three-match winning streak at the Lancaster venue. In the few minutes of gameplay, neither team had managed a goal and it stayed 0-0 till the downpour interrupted proceedings leading to the players being called off the turf.
Waiting patiently for the weather conditions to improve did not yield, mandating the game to be called off by the adjudicators.
With this, the Indian eves’ run-up to their second Olympic appearance after the 1980 Moscow Games reaches a conclusion. Next time they take the field will be against Japan in their Pool stage encounter on 7 August at the Olympic Hockey Center in Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro.
The team can take a lot of positives from their faring at the just concluded USA Tour. Debuting as captain of the senior team, halfback Sushila Chanu has done a commendable job filling in veteran Ritu Rani’s shoes at such short notice.
In their opening fixture, the Blueskirts went down 2-3 to the home team after a fighting display. Despite the loss, what was a welcome sight to see was the Indians’ attacking proficiency in the final third, a factor that is likely to pay rich dividends over time. Coming back strongly in the next game, they finally overpowered the FIH Champions Trophy bronze-winning US team 2-1, courtesy two late goals by Preeti Dubey and Lilima Minz.
Following the favourable result, there was an air of confidence among the Indian players which became all the more apparent from their showing against Canada in the 3rd and 4th fixtures. An emphatic 5-2 and another 3-1 triumph over Canada later, with forwards Vandana Katariya and Poonam Rani finding their scoring touch at the right moment, Neil Hawgood’s team finally looks ready to take on the Olympic challenge that’s headed their way in ten days’ time.

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Indian Junior Hockey Team look to learn and emulate senior team in EurAsia Cup

Indian Hockey Admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 09:23:27 +0000

When the Indian junior men hockey team take to the field for the EurAsia Cup in Russia, their primary objective will be to gain perspective about their abilities and learn from the experience of playing on the big stage. With an eye on the Junior World Cup in Lucknow later this year, the think tank is focussing on developing a squad with a collective experience of playing together frequently.
Defender and Captain Dipsan Tirkey, leads the team into their first outing against Dinamo Stroitel on 9th July, and is confident about what they have set out to achieve and how to achieve it.
“The idea behind these tours is not just to gain experience individually, but to gain experience as a side. It is important we know each other’s games completely, know the weaknesses and our strengths so that we can play up from them,” he said.
“A large part of this squad has experience of playing in the Coal India HIL, a huge positive for us and for Indian hockey itself, so we can match up to senior squads at a certain level. Now, these kinds of tournaments can reduce the gap even further.”
Coach Harender Singh added, “The idea behind a strong youth team is not just to win and play tournaments at this level, but also have a steady production line of prospects up for the senior team. For that to happen, the gap between the two must not be too varied.
“With Harmanpreet and Harjeet staking strong claims in the senior side right now, we have already proved that India has a huge depth in talent. Now the trick is to ensure consistency. This has to happen regularly.”
The Junior team trained at the camp in Bengaluru along with their senior team counterparts and the experience has rubbed off positively on all the players.
“Having watched their performances of late, especially in the Champions Trophy, we are highly motivated to ensure the standards do not dip. After all, they have set the bar high now, and following them, it’s our job to ensure this does not dip.
“We will do our best to learn from the way they played and ensure we produce good performances on the tour.” added Captain Dipsan Tirkey.
India’s EurAsia Cup campaign starts on July 9th and then, they will go to England for a six-match series later in the month.

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India lose to New Zealand in six-nation Invitational tournament, face Argentina next

Indian Hockey Admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:28:08 +0000

Indian men’s hockey team lost 0-1 to New Zealand to slump to its its second defeat in the six-nation Invitational tournament and will now face the formidable Argentina in its penultimate round-robin match, in Valencia on Saturday.
New Zealand’s Stephen Jenness scored the lone goal of the match in the 18th minute on Friday.
India had earlier lost 0-4 to Germany in their tournament opener before registering a fighting 2-1 win over Ireland in their next game.
India are now placed fourth in the points table with just three points from one win and two defeats. Olympic champions Germany and Argentina lead the chart with six points from two wins followed by Spain on three points from two games.
If India are to stay in the hunt for a place in the summit clash, Sardar Singh and his men have no option but to beat Argentina on Saturday.
Going by recent International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings, India enjoy an edge over Argentina. By virtue of their runners-up finish in the Champions Trophy in London earlier in June, India leapfrogged to the fifth spot in the world rankings ahead of Belgium (6th) and Argentina (7th).
But it will be easier said than done as the Argentines are a tough nut to crask on the turf, which is clearly visible from their run in the tournament so far. The Indians will have to dish out a consistent performance and avoid making mistakes at the backline if they desire to emerge winners on Saturday.
India will finish their round robin campaign against Spain on Sunday.
The tournament is being held as a preparation for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games.

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FIH World Rankings: India climbs to 5th place

Indian Hockey Admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 11:33:40 +0000

The 2016 Hockey Champions Trophy in London just came to an end with Australia emerging as the champions in the Men’s category while the Argentina women’s team lifted the trophy for the 7th time. Soon after the end of this prestigious trophy the International Hockey Federation (FIH,) declared the current FIH Hero World Rankings.
India.
The Indian hockey team bettered their rank after winning the silver medal in the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy. India’s previous best performance in the Champions Trophy was the bronze medal in 1982. Prior to the coaching of Roelant Oltmans, India finished runners-up in the Azlan Shah Trophy in April. India is now looking forward to the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympics Game to better their rankings.
Rankings – Men.
The 2016 Champions Trophy winner and the World Cup Champions – Australia leads the men’s ranking and have 2179 points. There is no change in the top three spots in men’s ranking with the Dutch in 2nd place with 1838 points and Germany in 3rd spot. England safely sits in 4th place while India jumped off to the 5th place ahead of Belgium and Argentina.
Rankings – Women.
The Netherlands women’s team top-ranked in the Women’s ranking while the current Champions Trophy winner – Argentina is in 2nd place, followed by Australia and the Kiwis. The bronze medal helped the USA to achieve 5th place. Indian women are in the13th place though they have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics Games.
Next updates in ranking.
The following rankings have been updated by FIH after the end of the Women’s Hockey Champions Trophy in London on Sunday. The next updated rankings will be published by FIH in August after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The update to the FIH Hero World Rankings will have no impact on the pools for the Olympic Games, which were set based on the rankings as at 1st January 2016.
Rankings top 10.
MEN’S : 1.Australia 2.Netherlands 3.Germany 4.England 5.India 6.Belgium 7.Argentina 8.New Zealand 9.Korea 10.Pakistan
WOMEN’S : 1.Netherlands 2.Argentina 3.Australia 4.New Zealand 5.USA 6.China 7.England 8.Korea 9.Germany 10.Japan

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5 standout performers for India at the 2016 Hockey Champions Trophy

Indian Hockey Admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 07:22:16 +0000

#5 Mandeep Singh – Forward
When Hockey India first announced their team for the 36th edition of the Champions Trophy, quite a few eyebrows were raised at the exclusion of seasoned campers like Ramandeep Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh. With the veterans given some much-needed rest ahead of the Olympics, how the decisive goals would arrive for India left a big question mark – the answer to which was impeccably provided by young striker Mandeep Singh.

#4 Harmanpreet Singh – Fullback
Unlike his fellow 21-year-old Mandeep who had earned his first international cap as early as 2013, Harmanpreet Singh had to toil for months before the selectors could be convinced of his senior-team readiness. But when he did receive the call-up before the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and has been unstoppable since.

#3 Somwarpet V Sunil – Forward
Coach Roelant Oltmans had meant business when he emphasised on the vitality of striking a healthy balance between the spirited youngsters and the Indian team’s veterans ahead of the Rio Olympics 2016. India’s excellent showing at the 2016 Champions Trophy can hence be directly attributed to his endeavours.

#2 Vokkaliga R Raghunath – Fullback
Vokkaliga Ramachandra Raghunath has risen through the ranks to instate himself as one of the deadliest drag-flickers in World Hockey today. It is through his stick that a mammoth 129 goals have come India’s way, including the tournament opener against Germany on the first day.

#1 Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh – Goalkeeper
Words fall short in trying to describe P R Sreejesh’s contribution behind India’s historic Champions Trophy 2016 silver. After sitting out the Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy in April, ‘The Wall’ of Indian hockey arrived in London to lead the national team in the absence of skipper Sardara Singh. As it panned out, his relentless guarding of the woodwork was the priciest asset for India en route to their 2nd-place finish.

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Australia stand in India’s way to Finals

Indian Hockey Admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 09:20:17 +0000

A first-time entry into the final at stake, India’s hockey team will hope they can rise to the challenge of taking on Australia in their last league outing of the 36th Hero Champions Trophy here on Thursday.
India were beaten by four goals in their last two encounters against Australia in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia, two months ago, but are eager to produce a better show against the reigning world champions, who have already secured their place in the title match, at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre.
Australia have fielded a strong side here, but are in a dilemma over penalty corner shooter Chris Ciriello’s fitness.
“The match against Australia will be tough. We have to produce our best performance to put up a good contest,” said India coach Roelant Oltmans.
“A medal at the Champions Trophy was the target we set ourselves when we set off for London. I am happy that our game has improved with every match,” said Oltmans.
Australia lead the round-robin league standings with 10 points from four outings, followed by India on seven from four.
A victory over Australia on the morrow will put India in the final of the six-nation event, something they have not achieved so far, but even a draw could boost their prospects of making the title encounter.
To be able to match Australia, India’s defenders will need to polish up their act and the strikers improve their finishing. “We’ll have to put up a much better exhibition of hockey,” said Oltmans.
Irrespective of making the final, Australia coach Graham Reid is not going to take the foot off the pedal. “The Indians seem to be playing their best hockey for a while,” he said.
Great Britain and Belgium are the other teams who can win their last league matches to edge out India from the final race. Britain are currently on five points and Belgium on four. If Australia win, hosts Britain will need a win over Belgium to overtake India on points.

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India beat South Korea 2-1 in hockey Champions Trophy, keep final’s hopes alive

Indian Hockey Admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:04:38 +0000

India muffed chances galore before a deft deflection from Nikkin Thimmaiah enabled them to pip South Korea 2-1 in the 36th Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Tuesday.
At the Lee Valley Hockey Centre, India’s domination earned them the lead through day’s captain SV Sunil’s 39th minute goal.
South Korea equalised through brisk counter in the 57th minute, only for Thimmaiah to reclaim the lead within 30 seconds with a fine deflection on Talwinder Singh’s diagonal cross from left.
The narrow victory ensured India stayed in the hunt for a medal in the Champions Trophy. India now have seven points from four matches going into the last league fixture against World champions Australia on Thursday.
India enjoyed territorial dominance from the beginning and broke into the rival circle on several occasions, but were not smart on the final pass and allowed the Korean custodian to breathe easy.

India beat South Korea 2-1 in hockey Champions Trophy, keep final’s hopes alive

India’s first foray into the Korean circle was in the 11th minute after Mandeep Singh snatched the ball from a defender on the right flank and sprinted into the circle.
He wasted the opportunity by not squaring the ball to Talwinder Singh and instead tried to himself move up further, thereby narrowing the angle and feebly pushing straight into the goalkeeper’s pads.
Two minutes later, the Korean striker Lee Nam-yong received a long aerial ball on deep in the Indian right wing, but was crowded out of possession by the defenders.
Sustaining pressure from the right flank, Indian striker SK Uthappa sent a diagonal pass into the circle, but Talwinder was not able to get control of the ball.
Defender VR Raghunath came to India’s rescue with a good save in the 14th minute and also generated the Indian counter-attack, but the strikers were again at a loss of ideas after getting on top of the rival circle.
Chinglensana Singh opened up the Korean defence with a fine cross from the left flank in the 22nd minute, but Nikkin Thimmaiah faltered as the ball struck his foot.
Two minutes later, striker Sunil was not able to reach a long through pass from Akashdeep Singh into the vacant area before the Koreans mounting their first dangerous raid. The Indian goal had a close shave with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh blocking the flick from close range.
Defender Raghunath managed to control the rebound despite another striker lurking just behind him.
India’s raids finally produced a goal in the 39th through Sunil, who exchanged passes with Akashdeep Singh and then side-stepped the onrushing goalkeeper to push the ball into an open goal.
Watching the Indians move into the circle, goalkeeper Hong Doop-yo committed himself to moving up to tackle Sunil and that gave Sunil the chance he capitalised upon.
The first penalty corner of the match was earned for India by Thimmaiah as he deftly put the ball on to the defender’s foot in the 42nd minute.
The penalty corner was wasted a the push was not stopped, but the Indian strikers tried to continue the attack and Manpreet’s crack into a crowded circle was deflected out.

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Hockey: Indian Women Team lose 0-2 to Great Britain in opening match

Indian Hockey Admin — Wed, 04 May 2016 10:11:31 +0000

The match started at a very rapid pace for India as they won a penalty corner in the 7th minute, but the opportunity went begging as Anuradha mishit a rebound. The Indian girls kept pressing through the 1st quarter as Vandana’s deflected goal was ruled out by the referee, citing dangerous play.
The 2nd quarter too saw the Indian girls press hard as Ritu almost got India the lead, but her shot was saved by the goalkeeper from Great Britain. Great Britain too had a very good opportunity in the 2nd quarter, when they won a penalty corner, but failed to convert the chance. At half-time, the match was nicely poised at 0-0.
In the 3rd quarter, Great Britain began on a speedy note as they scored the opening goal of the match. Britain’s No.11 Ellie Rayar opened the scoring in the 8th minute of the quarter. The 3rd quarter was completely dominated by the Great Britain side and luckily for India, they were only one goal behind by the end of the quarter.
The 4th quarter saw the Indian girls trying to make an impact on the match, but that wasn’t to be as Great Britain scored their second goal with 3 minutes remaining on the clock for the match to finish. The second goal too came from the stick of no. 11 Ellie Rayar via a penalty corner.
Overall, It was a tough day on the park for the Indian girls, who lost the match 2-0, but there was no dearth of determination and resolute gameplay from them. They looked a much organized side as they kept pressing through the match and kept the home team on their toes. A strong comeback will be expected from the Indian team in their second match.
India will play their second match of the Test series against Great Britain on May 5, 2016.

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