November 1998

Photo of the Month - November 1998

England pull out of Champions Trophy


England announced the withdrawal of its squad from the 1998 Champions Trophy in Lahore, Pakistan.The decision was taken followng consideration of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's travel advice which deters 'non essential visits' to the region and suggests that any visitors 'adopt a low profile.' England may have felt cause for concern because it supported the US bombing in August of guerrilla bases in neighbouring Afghanistan.

England International performance director, Chris Spice, said: "The position we have found ourselves in is extremely frustrating both for the support staff and the players. But no matter how small the risk, we have to put our players, support staff and supporters first. In that respect, this decision has been simple."

The FIH in a statement said that it regretted England's decision but also respected it. Its Competitions Committee will decide on possible consequences for England's eligibility for the 1999 Champions' Trophy. World number seven and Asian Champions South Korea will take the place of England, being the next highest ranked team in the 1998 World Cup.

The PHF struck back by getting the FIH to remove 3 officials from England - Champions Trophy tournament director Roger Self, umpire Jamson Hamish and media officer Diljit Singh Bhara.

Champions Trophy Schedule


The Champions Trophy is scheduled for October 31 - November 8, 1998 at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore. The teams eligible to participate in the Champions Trophy are the hosts (Pakistan), Olympic Champions (Holland), World Champions (again Holland), Champions Trophy holders (Germany) and the highest ranked teams from the more recent of the Olympic Games or the World Cup (Australia, Spain and South Korea).

The poligras surface for the stadium, as well as the roller machine for pressing the surface, were imported from Australia. Even the balls used in the tournament are imported from Australia - the Kookaburra balls, each costing Rs 600. The total cost of laying the poligras turf at the 50,000 capacity stadium is Rs. 35 million.

The match schedule of the Champions Trophy is as follows:

Date Matches
Oct 31 Netherlands vs. Spain
Australia vs. Germany
South Korea vs. Pakistan
Nov 1 Germany vs. Netherlands
Spain vs. Pakistan
Nov 2 South Korea vs. Australia
Nov 3 Germany vs. Spain
Pakistan vs. Australia
Netherlands vs. South Korea
Nov 4 Pakistan vs. Netherlands
Nov 5 Spain vs. Australia
Germany vs. South Korea
Nov 6 Australia vs. Netherlands
Spain vs. South Korea
Pakistan vs. Germany
Nov 7 Rest Day
Nov 8 5th vs. 6th, 3rd vs. 4th, 1st vs. 2nd
Money Matters


Habib Bank Ltd. has entered into a 3-year Rs. 30 million sponsorship deal with the Pakistan Hockey Federation. The PHF will get Rs. 10 million every year. The sponsorship kicks off with the 20th Champions Trophy being hosted by Pakistan, for which Habib Bank is paying a separate Rs. 9 million. Incidentally, just the royalty money to be paid to the FIH for hosting the Champions Trophy is a whopping US$ 100,000.

Shaukat Tareen, President of the HBL, assured the PHF that his bank would continue to sponsor Pakistan hockey, which had an enviable record of achievements at international level. PHF president Akhtar Rasool thanked Shaukat Tareen for sponsoring the national game during a period of crisis, and stressed that the money would be put to the best possible use.

Akhtar Rasool mentioned that the annual cost for running the PHF is Rs. 34 million. The PHF is currently facing a deficit of Rs. 8.7 million. He said that he was making efforts to convince the Prime Minister (patron-in-chief of the PHF) for giving a grant of Rs. 100 million to run the national federation on sound footings in future. The amount would be deposited in any bank on fixed deposit basis and only its profit would be spent to run the PHF affairs, he said.

Hardayal Singh is Dead


Long-serving African Hockey Federation (AHF) President Hardayal Singh Khullar died in Nairobi on October 23. He was 69. He was Chairman of the Kenya Hockey Union, a Life Member of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya and Vice President of the FIH Council.

Singh went into a coma last month following a stroke after he returned from the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. He had picked up a viral infection during his stay in Kuala Lumpur.

As Senior Vice-President of the AHF, Steve Jaspan will be the AHF's Acting President until the next elections during the All Africa Games in Johannesburg in September 1999.

The FIH Press Release had the following to say:

Hardayal Singh had a long and successful association with hockey as a player, coach, umpire and administrator. As an athlete, his many achievements included representing Kenya in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Hardayal Singh had been a member of the FIH Council since 1966, and became an FIH Vice President in 1992. He served as President of the African Hockey Federation since 1987. He was also a member of the Hockey Rules Board and served on numerous FIH Committees.

In 1984, Hardayal Singh was awarded the FIH's Order of Merit, which is given for distinguished service over a period of at least 10 years. Most recently, he was awarded the Olympic Order in May of this year by International Olympic Committee President, H.E. Juan Antonio Samaranch.

How India treats its Olympians


Dilip Tirkey is the only Olympian from the state of Orissa. But in the eyes of an apathetic Orissa government and its sleazy bureaucrats, an MLA is considered a VIP, while an Olympian is nothing more than an errand boy. The story follows of how Dilip Tirkey has become homeless in his home state.

On January 25, 1997, Tirkey wrote to the chief minister J. B. Patanaik requesting him to allot a government quarter for which he would pay rent. This is a standard practice, similar to how Dhanraj Pillai (Maharashtra) and Shakeel Ahmed and Sujit Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) have been allotted quarters by their home states.

Despite the recommendation from the Chief Minister, his file gathered dust in the State Secretariat. Despite numerous visits to the Secretariat, Additional Director R. B. Patnaik's standard reply would be, "No Type-V quarter is vacant now. And moreover, the CM is recommending so many cases. We cannot oblige them all." Finally, when a flat became vacant, and Dilip Tirkey rushed to the Secretariat for allotment, the Additional Director Patnaik made an out-of-turn allotment for a local MLA.

Dilip Tirkey realized that the Secretariat had been taking him for a ride all along. The whole exercise has left a bitter feeling in his mind. Only in India can illiterate and uncultured bureaucrats and politicians treat its sportsmen like dirt. Especially if they are not cricketers.

National Hockey Championships - Women


The Bank of Baroda 49th Senior National Women's Championships took place in Chennai from September 27 to October 6. 14 of the players from Railways were in the squad that represented India in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. Railways expectedly won the Lady Ratan Tata trophy for the 17th time, and 15th in a row.

The winners of the respective pools were:

Pool Winner
Pool A Bihar
Pool B Uttar Pradesh
Pool C Chandigarh
Pool D Haryana
Pool E Punjab
Pool F Mumbai
Pool G Orissa
Pool H Railways (seeded into the quarters)

In the quarter-finals, Railways beat Chandigarh, Punjab beat Orissa, Haryana beat Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai beat Bihar. These were the scores in the final four stage:

Semi-Finals
Haryana beat Mumbai 5-0
Railways beat Punjab 5-0
Finals
Mumbai beat Punjab 3-1 (3rd)
Railways beat Haryana 5-1 (1st)

A word about the sponsors. Bank of Baroda gave best players prizes to: Defence: Sunita (Chandigarh); Forward: Pritam Rani (Railways), Top Scorer: Surinder Kaur (Haryana).

The Tube Investments Group gave a cycle each to the following players: Best Goalkeeper: Suman Deswal (Haryana); Best Fullback: Amandeep Kaur (Punjab); Best Centre Half: Sunita (Chandigarh); Best Centre Forward: Pritam Rani (Railways); Young and Promising Player: Surinder Kaur (Haryana); Player of the Tournament: Sita Gussein (Railways).

Indian Women's Probables for the Bangkok Asiad


The Indian Women's Hockey Federation (IWHF) announced 24 probables for the Bangkok Asian Games in December. The probables, who would undergo a two-week camp at Patiala from October 21, were selected on the basis of their performance at the 49th senior national hockey championship held in Chennai. The probables are:

Team List of Probables
Railways Tingolina Chanu, Helen Mary, Sandeep Kaur, Mary Stella Tirkey Sita Gussain, Suraj Lata Devi, Renu Ba, Nidhi Kullar, Manjinder Kaur, Preetam Rani Thakaran, Kamala Dalal, Jyoti Kullu and Ferdina Ekka
Haryana Suman Bala, Surinder Kaur, Suman Deswal
Mumbai Silbiniya, Lakshmi Sree, Shaina
Bihar Rajkumari Banra
Chandigarh Sunita Dalal
Manipur Sanggai Chanu
Punjab Amandeep Kaur
Uttar Pradesh Neha Singh
Indian Men's Probables for the Bangkok Asiad


The Indian Hockey Federation named 29 probables for the December Bangkok Asian Games and the pre-Games four-nation hockey tournament. The Asian Games probables will undergo training in a coaching camp at SAI centre, Bangalore from October 22 before the final team is selected. The probables are:

Team List of Probables
Indian Airlines A. B. Subbaiah, Jagdish Ponnappa, Ashish Ballal, Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla , Rajnish Mishra, Mohammed Riaz, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Dad, Ravinder Singh
Mumbai Cheops D'Costa, Jude Menezes, Anil Aldrin, Sandeep Somesh, Dhanraj Pillai, Sabu Varkey
Air India Cornelius D'Costa, Gagan Ajit Singh, Rajesh Chauhan
Punjab Ramandeep Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Daljit Singh
Tamil Nadu Thirumal Valavan, L. Prabhakaran
PSB Baljit Singh Saini
Services Kamal Horo
Railways Navsher Singh, Rajiv Mishra
Customs Sukhbir Singh Gill
Coaches Chief Coach : Maharaj Kishan Kaushik, Assistant Coach : Mir Ranjan Negi
Hockey in November


India may play host to Malaysia in a three-match Test series during the 3rd week of November, provided the IHF and the MHF stop giving out conflicting statements to the press.

The India-Malaysia Test series was revived in 1995 with Malaysia as hosts. India were to host the next series but were unable to do so for the last two years. Even this year's series became possible only because a six-nation tournament in Cairo, slated from November 13-20, got postponed to next year. However, due to major communication gaps between the IHF and the MHF, it is still not certain if the two teams will play in November. 

India and Malaysia have been drawn in different groups for the Asian Games. Malaysia was placed 5th in the 1994 Hiroshima Games, while India finished 2nd to South Korea.

Meanwhile, Thailand will host a five-nation hockey tournament in early November to test their facilities for the Asian Games. India, Pakistan and Malaysia have been invited to play in the tournament. The other two teams are expected to be Australia and South Korea.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Hockey Tournament


The 34th annual John F. Kennedy Memorial Field Hockey Tournament took place in Washington, D.C. over the Columbus Day weekend in USA. The setting couldn't be more grand for America's oldest field hockey tournament - six grass fields next to the reflecting pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument in the nation's capital.

14 men and 17 women teams competed, with an international flavour being provided by teams from India (Jyoti), Jamaica, Republic of Moldavia, and Nigeria, in addition to teams from USA and Canada. Both men's and women's divisions consisted of four pools. Defending champions Saheed Udham from India, could not make it to USA due to visa problems.

In the men's semifinals Goa Reds defeated Constant H from Nigeria 4-1 and the Toronto Lions had the same margin of victory against Rye FHC from New York. Thus this year's finals turned out to be an all-Canadian affair.

The two teams tied 1-1 in regulation as well as sudden death period. In the penalty strokes competition, Goa Reds outscored Toronto Lions to win the tournament. Goalkeeper Edwin Fernandes, playing in his 28th JFK tournament, stood his ground in allowing just two goals to the Toronto Lions, leading to his team's victory. Canadian International Ken Perreira was declared the tournament MVP.

In the women's division, Tirotex of Moldovia beat the defending champions Washington Shredders 2-0 in the first semi-finals. The other semifinal saw Philadelphia beat Red Rose 4-3 on penalty strokes after a scoreless draw in regulation. In the finals, Tirotex played flawless hockey in routing Philadelphia 6-0. The tournament's most valuable player (women) Alla Vlassova, was the leading player for the Moldvian team. 

Visitor of the Month


India Field Hockey was privileged to receive a visitor from the Dhyan Chand family. Gaurav Dhyan Chand, son of hockey star Ashok Kumar, and grandson of Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand, put the following entry in the India Field Hockey guestbook.

To reach the top is a difficult task but to maintain it is much more difficult. Go for it, India, we all support you. To bring hockey back to its original status, we should try popularizing it in the metros, especially in private schools -- Gaurav and Salil

Africa Cup for Nations - Women


Harare will host the 3rd Africa Cup for Nations tournament from November 7 - 12, 1998. Five countries have confirmed their participation: South Africa, Egypt, Zambia, Kenya and hosts Zimbabwe. Namibia have withdrawn from the event.

There will be two notable feats when the South African team participates in the Africa Cup for Nations. Skipper Karen Roberts will achieve the milestone of 100 senior international caps - a first in the history of women's hockey in SA. Newcomer Kim Meyer will be only the second player of colour selected for the women's senior national team since the formation of the SAHA in 1992 (the first was Gillian Montague).

As a prelude to the Africa Cup for Nations, the 3rd Africa Cup for Club Champions (Women) was held in Windhoek, Namibia, from October 22-25, 1998. The top four teams were : 1. Post & Telecommunications (Kenya) 2. DTS (Namibia) 3. Ramblers (Namibia) and 4. Nchanga (Zambia).

European Championship - Women


Cologne will host the European Women's Championship from August 18 - 29 next year. Favourites for the championship would be Holland and Germany, who finished 2nd and 3rd in the Utrecht World Cup. The pool groupings are as follows:

Pool A : Holland, Scotland, Belgium, France, Russia, Lithuania

Pool B : Germany, England, Ireland, Spain, Ukraine, Czech Republic

The European Club Championship for Women will be hosted by the Dutch champions Den Bosch, from April 2 - April 5, 1999.

Policemen Call the Shots


Punjab Police Team

The 47th All India Police hockey championship took place from October 9 to 17 at the Karnataka State Hockey Association grounds in SAI, Bangalore. The teams included marquee names like Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Railway Police Force (CRPF), last year's runners up Border Security Force (BSF) and defending champions Punjab Police.

Punjab Police and BSF were seeded directly into the quarter-finals. Punjab Police had three current internationals in its ranks.

In the quarter-finals, Punjab Police toyed with ITBP, winning by an 8-1 margin, while BSF and Karnataka scored identical 3-0 victories over Bihar and Maharashtra, respectively. CRPF struck once in either half to get the better of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at 2-0.

From the semi-final stage, last years finalists Punjab Police and Border Security Force once again won their respective matches. In the finals, Punjab Police beat intra-state rivals Border Security Force 4-2 to win the All India Police Championships. In the Hardlines match, CRPF beat hosts Karnataka 5-1.

CRPF claimed a special prize for highest percentage of penalty corner conversions (seven out of 27) while Bihar walked away with the `Fair play' trophy. Topher Kojur of CRPF was adjudged the best player of the tournament while Balwant Singh (Punjab Police - best defender), Basant Singh (SSB-best goalkeeper) and Jolen Topno (top scorer with seven goals) were presented special awards. Former cricketer B. S. Chandrasekhar, the chief guest, gave away the prizes.

National Hockey League - England


The National Hockey League of England has 3 Divisions - Premier Division (10 clubs), First Division (10 clubs) and Second Division (12 clubs), with promotion and relegation operating in all divisions. The following are the foreign players in the English league, most of them playing in the Premier Division.

Southgate has recruited two Australians, full-back Todd Williams and Ryan McGraw. Southgate has in addition, Eiko Rott, the German forward, and South African Chris Carolan. Their team is coached by Neil Hawgood of Australia.

Ken Pereira and Hari Kant (both from Canada), Zahid Sharif (Pakistan) and Shaun Fleet (South Africa), have joined Hounslow. Umesh Parag, a wing forward, who represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games, has reinforced Surbiton, the first division club. Fellow New Zealander Ken Robinson plays for Reading. Chelmsford, who are in the same division, have brought in two new South African players, Rob Hawkes and Gary Boucher.

England also has a Women's Hockey League, with 8 clubs each in the Premier Division, First Division and Second Division. Besides, the women also have the Regional Leagues, divided into the North, East, West and South groupings. Some of the well-known women's clubs are Ipswich, Sutton Coldfield and Clifton. The 1998 Women's Hockey League started on October 5.

National Hockey League - New Zealand


The New Zealand Hockey Federation announced that a National Hockey League for both men and women will be launched in 1999. The league will comprise a round robin tournament of 36 matches over five weekends, culminating in a finals weekend in April-May of 1999.

The national league consists of an expanded format from the current national tournament, which will be held in November 1998 in Albany, and will run over seven days. The men's teams for the 1999 National Hockey League will include the top 6 teams from the following list: Auckland, Canterbury, Northland, Wellington, Waikato, Marlborough, North Island champions and South Island champion.

In the women's competition, Canterbury, Auckland, Hawkes Bay, North Harbour, Waikato, and Wellington make up the 1999 competition. Since there is no league in New Zealand this year, top New Zealand player Lisa Walton has signed for the Laren club, Amsterdam, and will spend six months playing in what she feels is "one of the best national hockey leagues in the world".

With New Zealand having jumped to No. 6 in the world women's rankings (their highest ranking in the last 11 years), and the men ranking No. 10, the federation believed the time was right to boost the profile of the game in New Zealand and provide top level domestic competition. The matches will be hosted at a number of New Zealand's major hockey venues.

Fun With Numbers


We talked about the National Hockey Leagues in England and New Zealand. A few words now on the National Hockey League in USA - albeit a league in the game of ice hockey (the other hockey).

Number of teams in the NHL - 27 (21 US teams and 6 Canadian teams).

Value of the television rights for the league (sold to ABC/ESPN) - $600 million over 5 years.

Average salary of an NHL player - $1.2 million/year (the highest being $8.5 million/year - Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers).

Number of television studios owning NHL teams - 4 (Disney owns Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Ted Turner's Time-Warner owns Atlanta Thrashers, Cablevision owns 60% of the New York Rangers and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has options to buy stakes in Los Angeles Kings).

Surjit Memorial Hockey


The 15th All-India Surjit memorial hockey tournament will be held in Jalandhar from November 5 to 14. Foreign teams participating include a Russian team, Bangladesh XI, Singapore XI and Allied Bank of Pakistan. However, participation of the Pakistani team is subject to government clearance.

Domestic teams who have confirmed their participation include Punjab Police, Punjab and Sind Bank, Indian Airlines, Air India, Mahindra and Mahindra, BPCL, Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and Army XI.

According to Surjit Memorial Hockey Society president Som Prakash, the society will also be hosting a women's tournament, from December 29 to January 7, 1999. A team from the United States is expected to participate, while the domestic teams will include Northern Railways, RCF (Kapurthala), North-Eastern Railways, Punjab XI, SAI hostel and PSEB.

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