Champions Trophy - The History Book of Indian Hockey

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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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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India will Face Germany in Champions Trophy on June 10

Indian Hockey Admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 07:21:41 +0000

Former Olympic champions India will begin their campaign as they meet formidable Germany in their opening match in themen’s Hockey Champions Trophy will take place at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in England from June 10 to 17.
Hosts Great Britain, currently ranked fourth in the FIH World Rankings (based on England’s position), get their campaign started against the world’s top ranked team – reigning World Cup and World League champions Australia. In the third match on Day 1 will be between Belgium and Korea, according to the location, teams and scheduled announced by International Hockey Federation.
Some mouth-watering action then gets June 11 off to a flyer as reigning Olympic and defending champions Germany (ranked third) go head to head against Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 runners-up Belgium (ranked fifth).
Other schedule highlights include a rerun of the 2014 Hero Hockey Champions Trophy semi-final between Germany and Australia on June 13, before the all-Asian derby between 2014 Asian Games champions India (ranked seventh) and 2014 Champions Challenge winners Korea (ranked ninth) takes place the following day.

India will face Germany in Champions Trophy on June 10

The round-robin games will conclude on June 16 before the classification games begin the next day, with the final taking place at 20:15 on June 17.
As a result, sports fans will now be able to experience two weeks of action-packed, world-class hockey, with the women’s Hockey Champions Trophy taking place immediately afterwards, from 18-26 June.
This year’s men’s showcase event will see Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, India and Korea go head to head as they battle it out to be crowned the best of the best as Hockey Champions Trophy winners.
Speaking about this announcement FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather said: “Following the hugely successful 2012 Olympic Games and more recently the Unibet EuroHockey Championships held in this venue we know that England Hockey and all of their partners will truly embrace the FIH Hockey Revolution’s vision of creating innovative and exciting events for our fans. This is key to our aim of making hockey a global game that inspires the next generation.”

Indian Hockey Captain Sardar Singh giving a hug to Raghunath

He continued: “This is the first FIH event to be held here as part of a three event series in addition to the 2017 men’s Hockey World League Semi-Final and the women’s Hockey World Cup in 2018. We are reaching out to sports fans and asking them to join us, particularly this year as we get the Rio Olympic festivities underway right here in the legacy venue in London’s Olympic Park.”
With the line-ups and location now set for both the men’s and women’s Hockey Champions Trophies, the stage is set for two truly epic competitions.
These will be the last major international hockey events before many of these teams meet again at the Rio 2016 Olympics. With the matches taking place in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, host of the 2012 Games, the Hockey Champions Trophy will officially kick off the sport’s Olympic celebrations.
Schedule:
June 10: Germany vs India; Belgium vs Korea; Great Britain vs Australia.
June 11: Germany vs Belgium, India vs Great Britain, Australia vs Korea.
June 13: Korea vs Great Britain, Germany vs Australia, India vs Belgium.
June 14: India vs Korea, Australia vs Belgium, Great Britain vs Germany.
June 16: Australia vs India, Korea vs Germany, Great Britain vs Belgium.
June 17: 5th-6th place, 3rd-4th place, Ist and 2nd place matches.

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