Cedric's Strategies Were Too Theoretical?

oach Cedric D'Souza has gone down in history as the first ever coach to be fired in the middle of a World Cup hockey tournament. Heckled and abused by sections of Indian fans, a tense looking D'Souza had to even ask for police security after India's loss to Malaysia.

Call him what you will - pompous, arrogant, theoretical, or simply naive, Cedric made some critical blunders which led to his eventual dismissal:

• Cedric withdrew India from a pre-World Cup warm up tournament featuring 3 Sydney Olympics semi-finalists - Netherlands, Australia and Pakistan, who, between them, have won 8 of the 9 World Cup tournaments held so far. Going into the World Cup, India lost a golden opportunity to see how they match up against teams belonging to the Elite Six.
  
  
• Cedric's alternative was a 3-week coaching camp in solitary splendour in Chennai, using simulation of match situations during training, extensive video sessions and detailed study of opponents. All that is very good, but is only meant to be complementary to actual match practice.
  
  
• Though acknowledged as a leading hockey tactician, Cedric failed to realise that match competition has become an inseparable part of modern coaching. Defending World Cup champions Netherlands came from half a world away for the same warm up tournament that India declined to go. Despite winning 34 of 36 matches prior to the World Cup, Germany still decided to play warm up matches against Belgium, South Africa and Spain. In preparation for the World Cup, South Africa played 9 test matches in 3 weeks - 5 against Germany and 4 against England, winning only 1 of those 9 matches.
  
  
• Dropping Gagan Ajeet Singh, captain of India's Junior World Cup team, was never satisfactorily explained by Cedric, except saying that 'it was in the team's best interest.' As former captain Ajitpal Singh said in his newspaper column, 'Gagan is an asset in the striking circle and at no stage did I expect him to be axed. Those who are responsible for it owe the hockey-loving public an explanation. Is this the reward for such a fine show at Hobart?'
  
  
• The Cedric D'Souza corollary to the Rolling Substitution Rule states that one can substitute ad infinitum, ad nauseam. So much so that there were 30 substitutions during the India - Malaysia match. On one occasion during the India - Korea match, 5 players stood on the centre-line, each holding a number ready to go in. Cedric probably got confused with ice hockey, where due to a smaller playing area, and less number of players, and faster speed of the puck, these kind of en masse substitutions take place. Adopting such an alien model to hockey greatly disturbs the player's flow. This was coaching at its worst. Cedric got a taste of his own medicine when he himself was 'substituted' by his deputy C. R. Kumar. After all, if a person is not performing, is it not right that he gets substituted? Or does that rule apply only to players?

You cannot trade top-quality match practice with Powerpoint presentations and classroom sessions. This is the single biggest lesson that Cedric D'Souza and Indian hockey can take from this disaster of a World Cup.

Cedric's legacy in Indian hockey will be coaching India to its worst ever finish in the Olympics (Atlanta-8th), its lowest ever world ranking (14th-Edinburgh World Cup Qualifier), and the only coach in World Cup history to be fired midway during the tournament.

uccess has many fathers, failure has none. 4 months ago, when India won the Junior World Cup, IHF president K. P. S. Gill and IHF secretary Kandaswamy Jyothikumaran were quick to take credit, stating that the world title was due to the focus and exposure given to juniors and sub-juniors by the IHF, under their visionary guidance.

Now, when India has a disaster of a World Cup campaign, why is the same Gill-Jyothikumaran duo not owning up responsibility for the debacle. 

There is only one scenario where Gill and Jyothikumaran can be absolved of any blame - that is if they had appointed Cedric on a paid contract (Cedric was coaching on a honorary capacity), with a performance guarantee clause, and most important - given him full freedom to select a team with absolutely no interference from the federation. This is how Paul Lissek coaches the Malaysian team.

However, Gill and Jyothikumaran had a major say in hockey matters concerning team selection and exposure tours and preparations. In fact, six people selected this team - IHF president Gill, IHF secretary Jyothikumaran, government observer Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi, selection committee member Prithviraj, and team manager K. G. S. Alva. Six signatures were put on the team list. Then why is Cedric alone to blame?

We have had 8 coaching changes in the past 8 years under the Gill-Jyothikumaran regime.

Year	Coach	When Fired
1994	Cedric D'Souza	1996 Atlanta Olympics
1997	Harcharan Singh V. Bhaskaran Pargat Singh	Short-term assignments
1998	V. Bhaskaran	1998 Utrecht World Cup
1998	M. K. Kaushik	1998 Asian Games (Gold)
2000	V. Bhaskaran	2000 Sydney Olympics
2001-02	Cedric D'Souza	2002 World Cup
2002	C. R. Kumar	?

How come it is always the coach's fault, but never the fault of bureaucratic administrators like Gill and Jyothikumaran.

Was Cedric fired or was he advised 'rest' with his deputy taking over for him. Why is the IHF beating around the bush? Will any self-respecting human accept such a situation?

If Cedric has been advised rest, let us apply the same criteria to Gill and Jyothikumaran. Let these hockey administrators have some 'rest' and let their deputies take over for them. After things cool down, they can come back to their old posts. See how ridiculous this sounds.

If they can take credit for India's Junior World Cup victory, they should also own up responsibility for India's failure in the 2002 World Cup. Otherwise, Gill and Jyothikumaran.are no different from common breed politicians, short-sighted, narrow-minded, obsessed with keeping their posts, and having morals that belong to the gutter.

lympian Aslam Sher Khan hit out at IHF President K. P. S. Gill, accusing him of favouritism in the choice of both players and officials.

The Olympian alleged that out of 35 members of the IHF working committee, 50% - 60% of the members were retired IPS officers, and none is an Olympian. The IHF has become a hub for retired IPS officers because they would back Gill in the elections, since Gill is also a retired IPS officer, Aslam Sher said.

Giving an example to back his claim, Aslam said that retired IPS officer P. N. Chaturvedi was appointed president of the Bhopal Hockey Federation even though he never played the game.

Alleging favouritism in the choice of players by Gill, the Olympian pointed out that 75 players from Punjab had been given international exposure in the recent past, while there was hardly any representation from Madhya Pradesh.

Aslam Sher alleged that Punjab's players were benefiting at the expense of players from Bhopal, Mumbai and Chennai. He was particularly critical of the selection of the team for the 2002 World Cup.

"Among the 22 players, there is not even a single player from Bhopal. This could mean either there are no talented players left in the city of Bhopal, or they are being discriminated against by the federation."

Aslam Sher demanded a white paper on the activities of the IHF during Gill's tenure, accusing it of not being transparent in its financial dealings. "The federation has an annual income of Rs. 3 crore, but no accounts are being maintained."

Photograph Courtesy : The Star of Malaysia

he opening ceremony of the 10th World Cup depicted Malaysia's rich heritage of culture and tradition. The ceremony, which lasted 90 minutes, was telecast live by RTM. The highlight was a presentation by the Culture, Art and Tourism Ministry, and a drum fiesta soon after the march-past by the teams.

The march past saw just officials, with the players staying away, perhaps due to the fact that six matches were to be played following the opening ceremony.

However, because the opening ceremony was scheduled for mid-afternoon, when the heat and humidity would be at its peak, the 15,000-seat National Stadium remained empty for most of the ceremony.

The tournament was declared open by the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president, Sultan Azlan Shah. Other dignitaries present at the ceremony included Sports Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein and FIH president Els van Breda Vriesman.

ports Illustrated, America's premier sports weekly, comes out with an annual swimsuit issue, that is, well, not exactly about sports, but definitely well illustrated. One of the damsels featured in this year's issue was Vanina Oneto, the sharp-shooting forward of Argentina's women's team. This is what Sports Illustrated wrote:

Vanina Oneto has helped turn hockey into the women's equivalent of soccer in Argentina. During the Sydney Olympics, las Leonas (the Lionesses) roused Argentinians out of bed at 4 in the morning for live telecasts of their games.

Oneto is known for displaying her feelings on the field. She and the rest of las Leonas screamed, cried and rejoiced at each pivotal play, stirring their country to feel every emotion with them. Somewhere along the way, field hockey in Argentina was transformed from a sport that little girls play to one that grown up men watch.

When the Australian national team visited last April for a 4-match series, 18,000 fans showed up with drums in their hands and songs in their throats. Vanina has become accustomed to police escorts, adoring fans who approach her on the streets, and the shooting of television endorsements.

"I don't want to open my eyes. I want this all to continue. Being part of making hockey grow in Argentina is great, and I want to make it grow, grow and grow as much as I can." 

t is high time that the FIH have a rotating president from each continent. The FIH, with its present headquarters in Brussels, has become too Euro-centric in its policies. Five examples are given below where Asian countries have got short-changed by the FIH in the past year.

• The men's Champions Challenge tournament was moved from India to Malaysia mainly because of objections from European participants. So was the case with the women's Champions Challenge, which had to be moved from India to South Africa.
  
  
• The India-USA playoff for the last Women's World Cup berth has been moved from New Delhi to Brussels, despite the original agreement that India gets to choose the venue of the playoff series. Who decides that it is unsafe to play in India? The English and Zimbabwe cricket teams have been for weeks in India without problems. The US State Department has not issued any advisory against travel to India. Seven months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, why does the FIH feel that New Delhi not a safe venue to play?
  
  
• The 2002 World Cup has for the first time allowed 18-member teams, mainly due to the heat (over 30º Celsius), and humidity (70% - 100%) in Malaysia during the tournament. This is again to suit the European teams, for Asian, Australian and African teams will have lesser problems with the weather. When tournaments are held in European countries in colder conditions, there is no talk of having 18-member teams, as the Europeans are not unduly affected.
  
  
• Among the nominations for the 2001 FIH Male Player of the Year, not a single player from Asian powerhouses Pakistan, India and Korea was nominated. Among the nominations for the 2001 FIH Young Male Player of the Year, India finds itself shut out, despite winning the Junior World Cup in Hobart in October 2001.
  
  
• The Second Commonwealth Games hockey competition will be held in Manchester, England in July. Two Asian teams have got shut out of the tournament - Malaysia, runners up in the previous edition, and India. Barbados and Wales, where hockey is one of the minor sports, get to play in their stead. What kind of value will be there in a Commonwealth hockey tournament that excludes the most populous country of the Commonwealth, and which has hockey as its national sport?

The FIH seems to be living in an ivory tower of its own, away from the realities of global hockey. It is time to change this Euro-centric mindset. It is time for dynamic hockey officials from Asia, Africa, Oceania and America to break the European monopoly for the top positions of the FIH.

he Castrol International Hockey Year Book 2002, written by the Delhi-based freelance journalist, K. Arumugam, was recently released in Delhi. Sports Minister Uma Bharati was the chief guest at the book-release function, which was held at the Constitution Club.

Ravi Pisrody, Vice-President (marketing) of the sponsors Castrol India Ltd., reaffirmed his company's efforts to rekindle public interest in the glorious game of hockey.

This is the first international edition of the hockey yearbooks, previous versions of which were devoted to Indian hockey. The 2002 year book consists of two sections - 'Global Glory',  and 'Inside India', covering international and Indian hockey respectively, and spanning the years 2000 and 2001.

Complete profiles of India's men and women Junior World Cup teams, as well as around 200 photographs embellish this sleek 176-page hard bound book.

The international launch of the book was done by Els Van Breda Vriesman, President of the FIH, at an informal gathering of journalists during the 10th World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

Across the border, the Urdu book Pakistani Hockey - Beesween Sadi Mein, written by journalist Sardar Khan, has come out with its English-language equivalent entitled Glory & Agony - Pakistan Hockey.

The book takes a comprehensive look at Pakistan's record in the Olympic Games, World Cup, Champions Trophy, Asian Games and Asia Cup competitions.

Pakistan's participation in various international tournaments has been separately dealt with. The National Hockey Championship winners roll of honour gets special treatment. There's even a chapter on Pakistan's fledgling women's hockey efforts.

The book' cover is a collage of various photographs, dominated by Pakistan's world class drag flick ace Sohail Abbas. This book has been brought out by Hassan Zai Publications, and costs Pakistani Rs. 600 (USD 20).

f the IHF can be called a Police Raj, filled with retired IPS officers, the PHF is more like an Army Unit, with the top four positions all being held by Army personnel.

The present manager of the team is Brigadier Khalid Khokhar. The secretary of the PHF is Brigadier Mussarat Ullah Khan. The president of the PHF is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohammad Aziz. The patron-in-chief of the PHF is General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler of Pakistan.

Pakistan's national hockey team called on General Musharraf after winning a 6-nation hockey tournament at Kuala Lumpur in January. Musharraf shook hands with each of the Pakistan blazer-attired 16 players, and gave them a cash award of Rs. 1 lakh each.

"Never give up, should be your battle cry on the playing field," Musharraf urged the players, and hoped that they would bring more laurels to the country by winning the World Cup. "Even if you are 0-3 behind, you should keep your nerve and fight to the last." 

General Musharraf also said that a new sports policy would be implemented in Pakistan, whereby  office-bearers of sports federations will be barred from holding office for more than two terms of four years each. This would mean that a fairly large number of officials would have to pack up and go.

"Policies are meant to be implemented and there should be no ambiguity in this regard," Musharraf made it clear.

That is one policy that K. P. S. Gill of the IHF would be happy not to get implemented in India. He is in the beginning of his third consecutive 4-year term as the president of the IHF.

he inaugural Nashua Mobile Women's Champions Challenge was held at the Randburg Hockey Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa, from February 9 to 17. The 6-nation tournament featured England, India, South Korea, South Africa, USA and Russia, all ranked in the top 15 in the world.

Nashua Mobile is making its mark in sponsoring South African sports. It is a broadcast sponsor of test cricket on Supersport, communications provider to Western Province rugby, co-sponsor of the Kournikova / Coetzer tennis series, and co-sponsor of the Nelson Mandela Golf Invitational.

India's match results in the Champions Challenge were as follows:

Date	Result	Goal Scorers (India)
Feb 9	India 3 - England 3	Jyoti Sunita Kullu (2) Pritam Rani Siwach
Feb 10	India 1 - South Africa 0	Jyoti Sunita Kullu
Feb 12	India 1 - USA 1	Sanggai Ibemhal Chanu
Feb 13	South Korea 3 - India 2	Mamta Kharab Jyoti Sunita Kullu
Feb 15	India 3 - Russia 2	Jyoti Sunita Kullu Suman Bala Sanggai Ibemhal Chanu
Feb 17	India 1 - South Africa 0	Suman Bala

England won the Champions Challenge, beating South Korea 2-1 in the final. England thus qualified for the Women's Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held at Macau, China, from August 23 to September 1 this year.

India, who were led by Tingonlima Chanu, did well to finish with the bronze. India beat hosts South Africa twice, and lost only one match in the entire tournament.

A coaching camp in preparation of the upcoming playoff against the US in Brussels, will commence at National Institute of Sports, Patiala, on March 1. The winner of this playoff will get the last available spot for this November's Women's World Cup in Perth.

he 2001 Player of the Year Awards will be announced during the 10th Men's World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. There are 4 award categories - Player of the Year (Men, Women) and the Young Player of the Year (Men, Women).

India does not have any nominations in 3 of the 4 categories. However, Sanggai Ibemhal Maimom Chanu and Mamata Kharab have been nominated in the category Young Player of the Year - Women.

Previous award winners are as follows:

Year	Male Player of the Year	Female Player of the Year
1998	Stephan Veen (NED)	Alyson Annan (AUS)
1999	Jay Stacy (AUS)	Natascha Keller (GER)
2000	Stephan Veen (NED)	Alyson Annan (AUS)

Chanu and Kharab are both members of India's u-21 team. They had turned in impressive performances in the women's World Cup qualifier, held in France in September 2001. Chanu was the unanimous choice of the coaches and media as the 'Young Player of the Tournament'.

Pakistan's Kashif Jawwad is in the running for the Junior Player of the Year. It is a surprise that India, the 2001 Junior World Cup champions, does not have a single nomination in the Junior Player of the Year - Men category. The IHF could have put forward the name of Deepak Thakur (top-scorer of the 2001 Junior World Cup), or skipper Gagan Ajeet Singh or forward Prabhjyot Singh or penalty corner find Jugraj Singh for the Junior Player of the Year nomination.

The judging will be based on overall skill level of the players, their ability to lead a team, and the role they play as ambassadors of the game of hockey.

he Chhatrapati Shivaji All-India hockey tournament for the Dhyan Chand Cup was held at Shivaji Stadium, Delhi, from January 29 to February 5. Punjab and Sindh Bank won the tournament, beating Indian Oil Corporation  2-1 in an exciting final at Shivaji Stadium.

Parminder Singh scored the first goal in the 6th minute, while Baljeet Singh Chandi scored the second in the 66th minute. The runners up reduced the margin in the last minute through Lakhwinder Singh.

Parminder was adjudged the best player of the tournament, and received a cash prize of Rs. 5,000.

Photograph Courtesy : World Hockey (Oct 1974 - July 1975)

he Photograph of the Month features India's victory in the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. This remains India's only world title, and also the only World Cup final between India and Pakistan in any sport.

Balbir Singh Sr., manager of the victorious 1975 team, looks back on those heady days. This has been excerpted from an article by V. Sudarshan in Sportstar's World Cup Special issue.

A quarter of a century has passed but memories linger, some pleasant and others bitter. In those days, the IHF had been disbanded, and the game was being administered by the IOA.

The IOA appointed me as the director of the camp, and the late K. D. Singh 'Babu' as the chief coach. I was in USA when I was told to cut short my leave and return home. After Babu regretted his inability to take up the assignment due to domestic reasons, the IOA made me director-cum-chief coach.

The coaching camp was held on the campus of the Punjab University, Chandigarh. A newly constructed girl's hostel was given as the residence for the trainees. This being in front of another girl's hostel across the road, some girls started making courtesy calls at our visitors' lounge. This was discouraged by having the front gate locked, and advising the girls to watch the players in action on the field. That prompted the players to give their best during practice sessions to impress the girls.

During the first week of the camp, two events occurred which made my job more taxing - the sad demise of my father and the consequent stroke suffered by my wife who remained in coma for over a month. I had to shuttle between the camp and the hospital.

We invited some of the best local teams to give practice to our team. That paid rich dividends. After training, meetings were held every evening to find out various shortcomings, and the ways and the means to correct them.

I am not that religious. However, at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, everyone was surprised when the doctor, the coach and I landed there along with Aslam Sher Khan for the Friday prayers. At the Chandigarh camp, and later at Kuala Lumpur, I followed my Punjab Police team's old practice of making a common prayer room for all players. In our Indian team, there was no Hindu, no Muslim, no Sikh and no Christian.

Our stay, the conduct of the tournament and other allied arrangements at Kuala Lumpur were excellent. The organisers were extremely hospitable. The big crowds turning out to watch the matches appeared very knowledgeable. They appreciated good moves of all teams.

Kuala Lumpur has always been lucky for us. Hope it proves lucky once again. My best wishes are with our Indian team.

he Dutch brewing company Heineken has become an official partner of the 2002 World Cup, with a 'cash and kind' contribution. This is the second consecutive World Cup that Heineken is associated as a tournament sponsor.

Jac van Herper, managing director of Guinness Anchor Berhad (which handles the Heineken brand in Malaysia), said "We will also be setting up a Heineken House at the International Area outside the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil to provide food and beverage for the fans."

German power company GEW Köln AG is the title sponsor of the 24th Champions Trophy, to be held at Cologne from August 31 to to September 8, 2002. The sponsorship agreement was signed by the Chairman of the GEW Board, Mr. Helmut Haumann, and the chairman of the Deutsch Hockey Bund, Mrs. Uschi Schmitz.

he Nashua Mobile Women's Champions Challenge got good airtime in South Africa. Recorded highlights were shown on 5 different channels at various times - SS1, SS2, SS3, CSN and MNET. A total of.9 hours of hockey was shown, spread in 18 half hour segments. SuperSport also showed live and delayed coverage of South Africa's games in the World Cup.

Doordarshan Sports beat other leading channels to win exclusive telecast rights of all World Cup matches featuring India, apart from the semifinals and the final, for a fee of over $1 million. The rights were arranged by Modi Entertainment Limited, the distribution agents of Doordarshan Sports.

"It is a significant milestone for Doordarshan Sports, because hockey has seen a growing fan following in India. By being the only one to telecast the World Cup, we hope that the excitement that will be built around this tournament will result in an increase in viewership for the channel", said the CEO of Modi Entertainment Limited, Mr. Rajan Kaaicker.

The telecast of India's matches on Doordarshan was sponsored by the Desh ki Dhadkan advertisement of Hero Honda, makers of the India's best selling motorcycles.

Arun Arnaw is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Arun has contributed sports articles to leading newspapers and magazines of the country for the last 25 years. His articles have appeared in The Hindu, Indian Express, Dainik Hindustan, Jansatta, Navbharat Times, Hitavada, Sportstar and Sportsworld.

Arun has written two sports books in Hindi (Asiai Khel and Bharat - Ek Divasiya Cricket Records), two sports books in English (International One Day Cricket Records and International Sports Quiz), and one book in both Hindi and English (Indian Sports Quiz). He has conducted interviews for Akashvani Bhopal and Doordarshan Raipur.

For BharatiyaHockey.org, Arun has written various articles on the 2002 World Cup - match reports, fact file, player profiles, and India's chances in the tournament.

The photograph above is from an era when hockey was the king of sports in India. The picture depicts Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand surrounded by young fans clamouring for his autograph. Arun is next to the wizard.

Arun Arnaw hails from Madhya Pradesh, and is employed as an Assistant Engineer with the state government.

ho will be the top scorer of the 2002 World Cup? Going by past record, the leading contenders for that title could be Argentina's Jorge Lombi and South Africa's Greg Nicol. Interestingly, both Argentina and South Africa, along with hockey heavyweights Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan and Spain, are in the same Pool of Death.

30-year old Jorge Lombi and 26-year old Greg Nicol have top-scored in the following tournaments:

Player	Date	Event	Venue	Goals
Jorge Lombi	Sep 2000	Olympics	Sydney	13
	Jul 2001	World Cup Qualifier	Edinburgh	19
	Dec 2001	Champions Challenge	Kuala Lumpur	7
Greg Nicol	Jul 1996	Olympics	Atlanta
	1997	World Cup Qualifier	Barcelona
	Sep 1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur	14

Coming into the World Cup, Jorge Lombi has scored a total of 210 goals in the 184 international matches, while Greg Nicol has a strike rate of 191 goals from 142 international matches.

Nicol lives and breathes hockey, and has even started a hockey academy in South Africa, with a focus on the u-14 to u-21 age group junior prospects.

Argentina, under Jorge Lombi, has a 2-game winning streak against Pakistan, having beaten them 4-3 in the 2000 Olympic Qualifier in Osaka, followed by a 2-1 victory in the 2002 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.