he IHF named Maharaj Kishan Kaushik (43) as the chief hockey coach, replacing his 1980 Olympics compatriot and skipper V. Bhaskaran. Kaushik, who will be assisted by Ramesh Parmeswaran, will coach the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games (September) and the Asian Games (December).

M. K. Kaushik is a deputy director (sports) with the Haryana Government. He has not been officially connected with the national team for the past four years. He was the assistant coach to M. P. Ganesh in the 1990 World Cup at Lahore, and chief coach of the Indian team that won the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup at Lucknow in 1991. Between 1991 to 1994, Kaushik was the chief coach of the Indian women's team, which however failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in Dublin.

Right-winger Kaushik played for India in the victorious Moscow Games in 1980, the World Cup in Bombay in 1982 and the first Asia Cup at Karachi in 1983. Kaushik played for Tata Sports Club in Mumbai, and represented the city in the national championships.

A jumbo list of 51 probables has been long-listed for selecting teams for the 4-Nation Tournament in Hamburg (August) and the Commonwealth Games (September). Training begins at the SAI Centre in Bangalore from August 1.

omen's hockey team chief coach Col. Balbir Singh announced his decision to quit his post. "The players are not being well treated or well paid, and the women's hockey team federation is not prepared to listen to my pleas that players should be given their dues, " he said.

"The players do not get any pocket allowance while playing abroad. They only get meal allowance. For the tour of South Africa I was given instruction that the in case any meal money is saved it should be returned to the Indian Women's Hockey Federation (IWHF). I suspected that somebody wants to siphon this player's money," he said.

Balbir Singh, right half in 1968 Olympiad at Mexico, was associated with the national team in the Asian Games of 1982 and the Esanda Cup in the same year assisting Balbir Singh (Sr).

Balbir was clearly upset at the way the IWHF has treated him. " I lost the opportunity to pick up the rank of a Brigadier because of my involvement in the game and this is how they have treated me," he said.

akistan hockey team manager Islahuddin Siddiqui submitted his resignation before the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) council members in Lahore, but not before holding the national selection committee responsible for the World Cup letdown.

The manager made it clear to the council members that the team he took to the World Cup in Utrecht was not entirely of his own choice and was imposed upon him by the national selection committee. In his official report, Islahuddin expressed his resentment to the council members that even while the World Cup was on, some selectors had started criticising the team management in the press.

Khawaja Zakauddin has been appointed the new manager, and Shahnaz Sheikh the new coach of the Pakistan team. Senator Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has been retained as chairman of the selection committee. Zakauddin was coach of the Pakistan team which won the 1982 World Cup (Mumbai) and the 1984 Olympics (Los Angeles).

The PHF selection committee dropped a bombshell by axing six hockey stalwarts from the Commonwealth Games team - Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammad Shahbaz, Tahir Zaman, Rahim Khan, Naveed Alam and Ijaz Ahmad. The PHF decided to get rid of the ageing players who they felt were responsible for the debacle in the World Cup at Utrecht where Pakistan secured the fifth position out of the 12 top hockey playing nations.

Left-winger Asif Ahmed Khan was not selected for the Commonwealth Games hockey training camp on disciplinary grounds. Asif had left the World Cup camp in Lahore in June without informing either manager Islahuddin Siddiqui or coach Ayaz Mahmood. Kamran Ashraf is also ruled out for the Commonwealth Games due to injury.

Pakistan has 3 important engagements for the remainder of this year - the Commonwealth Games (September), the 20th Champions Trophy (October) and the 13th Asian Games (December). Pakistan, once proud holders of four major titles - Olympics, World Cup, Asian Games and Asia Cup, are currently without any title.

idding. Since when did the long arm of accountability apply to the politician officials of the Indian Hockey Federation, who have never played international hockey in their lives. Since when did officials start taking moral responsibility. After every debacle, the officials simply wash their hands off the defeat, fire the coach, and get on with their business as if nothing happened.

The report card on the K. P. S. Gill - Jyotikumaran regime, which any honest Indian sports lover would be ashamed of, reads as follows:

• Worst ever result in the 1996 Olympics (8th)
• Debacle in the World Cup (9th in the world, 3rd in Asia)
• Failed miserably in most tournaments in the interim

• Promising but not paying the national team
• Promising but not paying bills for many tournaments the IHF conducted
• Rigging votes to ensure a second term in office

More on the coaching fiasco. Olympian M. P. Ganesh, chairman of the coaches committee said : "Neither me as chairman nor the committee members have recommended for any change of the national coach. IHF secretary general K. Jyothikumaran while asserting Bhaskaran would continue as of now, said that the IHF would act as per the advice, if given, by the committee. The following day, Bhaskaran was fired.

Reacting to his exit, Bhaskaran said, "I have been made a scapegoat. I had no say in selecting the team." Strong words, coming from the national coach. His report indicts the IHF for its non-streamlined selection system, improper planning and failure to implement coaches' suggestion to curb player indiscipline. Bhaskaran has recommended the axing of at least three seniors - skipper Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar and Sabu Varkey. He has submitted the following player assessment in his report:

Dhanraj Pillai : Controversy surrounded his fitness, but was still included in the team. His performance was much below par. His involvement with the team and management as captain was found highly wanting. He was not at all fit and thus the overall performance of the team was affected. Continuing to play him in the team will be disastrous for Indian hockey.

Mukesh Kumar : Liability to any time at international level. Not a team man. His poor focus not only harms the forwards but also pulls back the midfielders. He can play only when the ball is played to him. A poor re-tackler. Tends to lose the ball.

Sabu Varkey : Total performance at the world cup was found wanting. Not fit physically and mentally, not focussed. He should not be selected to play for India again.

ndia is in Group A of the Commonwealth Games hockey, along with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales and Trinidad and Tobago. Hockey is being held for the first time in the Commonwealth Games.The Indian team will leave from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur on September 4. The Indian men's team schedule is as follows:

Date	Match
September 9	India vs. Australia
September 11	Opening Ceremony
September 12	India vs. South Africa
September 14	India vs. Wales
September 16	India vs. Trinidad & Tobago
September 17	India vs. New Zealand
September 19	Semi-Finals
September 20	Final

The selection committee, comprising Olympians Ashok Kumar, Haripal Kaushik, Balkar Singh and Cedric D'Souza, have selected the following 51 probables, from which the 20 member team will be chosen:

Position	List of Probables
Goalkeepers	A. B. Subbiah, Jagdish Ponnappa, Jude Menezes, Ambuj Kumar Srivatsava, B. A. Bopanna, Sandeep Shankeen and B. C. Poonacha
Backs	Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Dinesh Nayak, Cornelius D'Costa, Cheops D'Costa, Anurag Raghuvanshi, Rajinder Singh and Sundaram
Halves	Mohammad Riaz, Baljit Singh Saini, Ramandeep Singh, S. S. Gill, Bimal Lakra, Thirumalvalavan, Shanmugam, Jagmohan, Paramjit Singh, Nausheer Singh, Rajbir Singh Baoo, Radhakrishnan, Shahid Akhtar, Ravinder Singh and Rahul Singh
Forwards	Mukesh Kumar, Dhanraj Pillay, Sabu Varkey, Parminder Singh, Ronald Kiran, Baljit Singh Dhillon, L. Prabhakaran, Gagan Ajit Singh, Ajinderpal Singh, Kamal Horo, Suresh, Daljit Singh, Virender Singh, Sandeep Sangwan, M. Ekka, Samir Dad, Rajiv Mishra, Altaf-ur-Rehman, Sanjiv Kumar, Gurjant Singh, Cyprian Aind, Mahesh Bagade, Brojen Singh, Y. S. Rawat and Ravi Nayakar

he 76th All India MCC Murugappa Hockey Tournament for the Independence Cup was held in the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai from July 16 to July 26. This tournament also served as the selection trials for the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games. The different pools were as follows:

Group A	Group B
Railways	Punjab
Air India	Indian Airlines
CRPF	Karnataka
Customs and Central Excise
Group C	Group D
Services	Tamil Nadu
Punjab and Sindh Bank	Bihar
Mumbai	Food Corporation of India
Gujarat	IHF Colts

The following four teams topped their respective pools and made it to the semi-finals.

Air India	Indian Airlines
drew with CRPF 2-2	beat Punjab 4-2
beat Customs and Excise 5-1	beat Karnataka 3-2
beat Railways 2-0
Mumbai	Tamil Nadu
beat Services 3-1	beat Food Corporation of India 6-0
drew with Punjab and Sindh Bank 1-1	beat Bihar 7-1
beat Gujarat 10-1	beat IHF Colts 4-1

In the semi-finals, Indian Airlines got the better of Tamil Nadu 3-0, while Mumbai, trailing by a goal in the second-half, rallied brilliantly to outplay Air-India 4-2.

In the final, Indian Airlines beat Mumbai 3-0 to lift the Murugappa Gold Cup. Veteran Mukesh Kumar scored a brace for the winners (41st and 69th minute), with Brojen Singh (54th) chipping in with one. For Mumbai, Gavin Ferreira muffed a penalty stroke in the first half, which would have given Mumbai the lead. Indian Airlines won a cash prize of Rs 60,000 apart from the Murugappa Gold Cup. Runners-up Mumbai received a cash award of Rs. 40,000. The match was shown live on Doordarshan.

Mukesh Kumar was declared the best forward, Sandeep Somesh, the best midfielder and A. B. Subbaiah, the best goal-keeper of the final. Subbaiah was also declared Man of the Match. The same Subbaiah was Man of the Match on 2 earlier ocassions during the Indo-Pak Hockey Series held in February, and was inexplicably dropped for the World Cup that followed. Hopefully, Subbaiah will not suffer the same fate for the Commonwealth Games in September.

ormer hockey Olympian Victor John Peter, 62, died in Chennai on June 30 night following a brief illness. Peter represented India in 3 Olympics, winning a gold (1964), a silver (1960) and a bronze (1968). An Arjuna award winner, Peter also represented the country in 3 Asian Games, winning a gold (1966), and two silvers (1958, 1962).

An employee of Southern Railway, Peter was the elder brother of well known former Indian captain V. J. Philips. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Condolences and tributes poured in from all parts of the country as the hockey community mourned V. J. Peter's passing away. In New Delhi, Olympians Harbinder Singh and Inam-ur-Rehman described Peter as one of the best inside-rights India has ever produced.

"I have had the chance to play with Peter from 1963 to 1972 and I think he was an excellent inside-right,'' said Harbinder, who replaced Peter in the 1972 Olympics team.

Another of Peter's contemporaries, 1968 Olympian Gurbux Singh, described him as the best schemer India had produced since K. D. Singh Babu. "Peter was the architect of India's triumph over Pakistan in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics final,'' he said. "For my brother Balbir, he was the feeder during India's golden campaign in the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games,'' Gurbux said.

Former contemporary and 1960 teammate John Mascarenhas said Peter was a "very good inside-right with tremendous stick-work and was also a fine distributor of the ball. He was a a great forward, was very fast and teamed very well with the outside-right."

ay back in 1936, two people from Pune were part of the historic Indian team which won the hockey gold at the Olympics. One was Baburao Nimal and the other was Joe Philips. Joe and Baburao became celebrities overnight. Joe worked at the Ordnance Depot, Dehu Road, while Baburao had a job with the Ammunition Factory, Khadki.

Soon, Mary Philips came into the life of Joe. They married five years after the Berlin Olympics. For some time, Mary enjoyed the status of a celebrity wife. Life seemed so complete. Till fate played a cruel role. Joe lost his job at the ordnance depot, took to alcohol and the player in him died. All of a sudden life became insecure. Joe even pawned his Olympic medal. But that too was of little help. In 1986, Joe died a heartbroken man.

74-year-old Mary lives in a tin-covered structure in Khadki which she calls her home. At the crack of dawn everyday, she heads to the houses nearby to clean utensils. Her bones ache as she sits and scrubs dirty plates. But that is the only way she can keep herself alive. And whenever she gets time to rest her aching frame, she stares vacantly at a picture of Joe returning home from the Olympics. That picture and a few cups are her only passport to the past she shared with Joe.

It has been 12 years since Joe died. As the widow of an Olympian, Mary expected a pension from the State and Centre. But nothing came her way. Joe's mate Baburao was slightly more fortunate. He was remembered 60 years after the Berlin Olympics, when the Sports Authority of India started giving him a monthly pension of Rs 2,000. Baburao Niaml died on February 21, 1998.

Article Courtesy - Joe Williams of the Indian Express, Pune

oved by the plight of 74-year old Mary Philips cleaning dishes and doing menial labour to make ends meet, help has poured in from different parts of the country.

• Union Ministry for Sports and Youth Affairs - Rs. 25,000
• Bombay Hockey Association (BHA) - Rs. 5000
• Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, Maharashtra - Rs. 1000 monthly pension
• Vinod Dua - MD, Omnicure Medicaments - Rs. 1000 monthly contribution
• Inderman Singh - Chairman, Priyadarshini School - Rs. 700 monthly contribution

Touched by the gestures, Mary Philips said in a choking voice, "I felt that God has finally heard my cry of anguish and has sent Good Samaritans into my miserable life to rescue me. And I hope that I don't have to wash my neighbour's dishes for a living for the rest of my life. After such a long wait, I now feel that I will die peacefully and not as a beggar."

Mary Philips can be reached at: 487/2, Irani Chawl, Old Bazaar, Khadki, Pune - 411003

he 1998 World Cup final was watched by over 1 million people in Holland, with other Dutch matches consistently crossing the 500,000 viewers mark. The men's 3rd-4th match between Germany and Australia was watched by a total of 6.5 million viewers, with 5.5 million of them located in the ESPN-India region and 770,000 in Holland.

Media members from 25 countries were on hand to cover the Utrecht World Cups. All the world's major news services were there - Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France Presse, BBC World Service Radio - as well as national news services such as Australian Associated Press, New Zealand Press Association, Deutche Welle (German radio), All India Radio, Associated Press of Pakistan and ANP (Holland).

Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander officially declared open the World Cup. The Prince was among the spectators for both the men's and women's finals. The Prince, who was recently appointed an IOC member, handed over the World Cup to winning captain Stephan Veen of Holland.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch visited the World Cup site on 23rd May, where he witnessed what was perhaps the most exciting match in pool play - Pakistan beating England 7-5 in a humdinger of a match.

Besides the above two heavyweights, more than 150,000 spectators passed through the gates over the 13 days of the World Cup. Seven days were sold out - a capacity of 15,000.

Article Courtesy - International Hockey Federation

ndia Field Hockey received a visitor from Austria, Patrick Fisher, who is a member of the Austrian national team. He writes:

I was only 13 when India played Austria in the Alps Cup in 1993. In the pool match, Austria drew with India 0-0, and in the final, the score was a 1-1 tie. However, Austria lost on penalty strokes. Wales was the other team in the competition.

If you'd like to come again, or send a junior team to play against one of our teams, I'd love to give you help to find the people you need to talk to. Also, if you want someone to come to India, I will tell you who to talk to. I myself am 18 years old and have earned 21 caps for Austria so far. Paddy

Patrick was a member of the Austrian u-21 team that came second to Spain in the European Indoor Nations Cup in January 1997. His club has been Austrian champions 3 times in the Outdoor play and once in Indoor competition.

Patrick Fisher, who has been participating and winning tournaments since u-10 in Austria, is now planning to get hockey playing experience in other countries. If any team or sponsor is interested in a forward or an offensive midfielder, Patrick is a most enthusiastic candidate with a proven track record in his country.

anadian Peter Milkovitch and Naveed Alam from Pakistan have joined SCHC of de Bilt, Netherlands. Another club, Klien Zwitserland, have lost Callum Giles to the English team Southgate.

Tata Sports Club player Claes Ferreira of Mumbai, recently finished a stint with FC Lyon in the French Hockey League. He followed in the footsteps of internationals Dhanraj Pillay and Gavin Ferreira who served the same club as professionals. Claes went instead of Rahul Singh, who could not make it due to other commitments.

FC Lyon finished sixth in the 10-team National League. FC Lyon is coached by Tony Fernandes, an Indian who is now a French citizen.

he first International Festival of Youth Hockey is being held in association with the Welsh Hockey Union. Here are a few details:

Dates: 26th - 30th July 1999
Venue: Cardiff, Wales
Ages: U-14's / U-16's / U-18's

World of Sport, who specialise in inbound amd outbound sports tours to and from long-haul destinations, are organising the event.

The World Youth Hockey Festival aims to foster goodwill between players of different nations, with an emphasis on participation, cultural exchange and competition.. Here are a few details:

Dates: July 5 - July 16, 1999
Venue: Sydney, Australia
Ages: between 15-18
Contact: Brad Fussel

The approximate cost is $550.00AUD which includes all games on artificial pitches, full board and accommodation for 6 nights, transfers to the venues etc. The event will be professionally catered to by hockey people for hockey people.

wenty three year old Arun Gurung was part of the Mumbai team for the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament. Gurung, who comes from a Gorkha family, was born in Nashik where his father, a retired captain, served at the Artillery Centre. His father was a keen footballer, and soon Gurung took to football, before settling on hockey as his first love.

Gurung began playing hockey as a centre-forward before stepping into goal when the first choice goal keeper of his school team one day failed to turn up. The rest, as the saying goes, was history.

Gurung graduated from the Sports Authority of India, Gandhinagar. He studied at Khalsa College in Mumbai, where Jaswant Singh used to reign as the pre-eminent collegiate hockey coach in Mumbai. He earned the colours of Bombay University in the All-India Varsity Championships.

He then caught the eye of Air India who took him in their team. Gurung played in the National Championships where Air India finished 3rd. Gurung currently plays for Central Railway in Mumbai.

Gurung believes a clinic held by Dutchman Tom van't Hek at Mumbai in 1996 aided vital improvement in his defence against penalty corners. "The clinic taught me to go downon one knee to block hits and remain standing to a flick or a scoop. It forbade lying prostrate," he said.

Gurung is well on his way to keeping up a fine family tradition. With his father being a keen footballer, and his two elder sisters being exponents martial arts at the national level, it is but natural for Arun to dream of playing for the national team. Having played for Mumbai University, Air India, and Mumbai, 23-year old Arun Gurung seems to be on the right track.

WHF senior vice-president Kausalya Atmaram lambasted her own federation officials saying that the IWHF officials failed to provide facilities to the girls like proper accommodation, kit and food. "Besides, the team had no physical trainer, doctor or a psychologist. No effort was made to attract proper sponsorship for the country to participate in international tournaments," she said.

The senior vice-president alleged that the IWHF had been ignoring the holding of annual national championships, which is mandatory. "Out of a total of 16 tournaments during the four years, only seven were organised," she said. Incidentally, the 49th Senior Women's Nationals, which were to begin from August 1 this year, have been postponed. Kausalya pointed out that in the past, there were five women umpires from India on the FIH panel, now there were none. In contrast, even small nations like Singapore had four or five officials on different FIH commitees.

The IWHF's four-year term has expired, and the election for the new managing committee is scheduled to be held in Shimla on August 17.

akistan International Airlines for years had its Chairman or Managing Director also serve as President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation. In 1997, this tradition was broken, when ex-Olympian Akhtar Rasool was elected as the hockey chief. Since then, things have not been rosy between the PIA and the PHF.

The new chief hockey coach of Pakistan, Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh, still has not got official release orders and clearance from the airlines to work as coach of the Pakistan team. Which is why Shahnaz has been coaching the national team as well as fullfilling his duties in the baggage department at Karachi airport. He reports for duty at the airport everyday during office hours after supervising the early morning training session at the HCP (where he is based) and also reports back to the HCP for the evening training sessions.

Because of these constraints, PHF has been forced to appoint two other Olympians Ifthikar Syed and Shahid Ali Khan to assist in the training camp

The secretary of the PHF, Col. Mudassar Asghar has also not been spared. Asghar has been asked by the MD of PIA to choose between either serving the airlines or the federation. Mudassar was told in clear terms that since PIA was going through a revamping process to halt its economic decline, it was not possible for him to simultaneously hold the posts of GM Sports (PIA) and Secretary of PHF, and he must choose between one or the other.

ine Women's World Cup tournaments have been held so far. The following gives a list of all the women's world champions since the inception of the tournament in 1974.

Year	Country	City	Winner	Runners Up	Final Score
1974	France	Mandelieu	Holland	Argentina	1-0
1976	Germany	Berlin	Germany	Argentina	2-0
1978	Spain	Madrid	Holland	Germany	1-0
1981	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Germany	Holland	1-1 (3-1)
1983	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Holland	Canada	4-2
1986	Holland	Amsterdam	Holland	Germany	3-0
1990	Australia	Sydney	Holland	Australia	3-1
1994	Ireland	Dublin	Australia	Argentina	2-0
1998	Holland	Utrecht	Australia	Holland	3-2