Dhanraj Celebrates Victory Over Arch-Rival Pakistan

he 12th edition of the Asian Games men's hockey tournament was held at the Gangseo hockey stadium in Busan, South Korea, from September 30 to October 12.

Defending champion India beat Pakistan in the semi-final, and then had to be content with the silver, losing to South Korea in the final. India had the following match results:

Date	India - MEN	Goal Scorers - India
Sep 30	India 5 - Hong Kong 1	Gagan Ajeet Singh (6m, 44 m) Daljeet Singh Dhillon (10 m) Jugraj Singh (39m, 47m)
Oct 2	India 3 - Japan 0	Deepak Thakur (11 m) Dhanraj Pillai (46 m) Daljeet Singh Dhillon (55 m)
Oct 4	India 1 - South Korea 1	Daljeet Singh Dhillon (45 m)
Oct 10	India 4 - Pakistan 3 (Semi-Final)	Dhanraj Pillai (6m, 21 m) Daljeet Singh Dhillon (41 m) Gagan Ajeet Singh (67 m)
Oct 12	South Korea 4 - India 3 (Final)	Jugraj Singh (48 m, 60 m) Gagan Ajeet Singh (53 m)

The highlight of the tournament was undoubtedly the India - Pakistan semi-final, which was played before a large crowd that included FIH president Els van Breda Vriesmann, FIH secretary general Peter Cohen, IHF president K. P. S. Gill, former IHF president Ashwini Kumar and chef-de-mission Jagdish Tytler.

In a rough match that saw 1 red card (Mohammad Nadeem) and 5 yellow cards (Daljeet Singh Dhillon, Deepak Thakur and Dileep Tirkey of India, and Saqlain Mohammad and Khalid Salim of Pakistan), each goal of India was answered by Pakistan, before Gagan Ajeet Singh slotted in the match winner 3 minutes from time. The hero for India was star striker Dhanraj Pillai, who scored twice and set up Gagan's deciding goal.

As the Indians celebrated, disappointed Pakistani supporters threw bottles on the pitch, prompting the police move in quickly and take positions to avoid any trace of conflict.

In a pulsating final played before a packed house, South Korea led 3-0 by the 44th minute. Spurred by the vociferous Indian supporters who drowned the drum beats of the home crowd, India struck 3 unanswered goals in a span of 12 minutes to tie the game.

The Koreans were rattled and suddenly the Indians were on song, doing everything right. The flow in their attacks was back and the Koreans were wilting under pressure. The Indians were now looking for the winner and the Koreans were clearly down. As minutes ticked by, excitement reached a crescendo.

However, with only two minutes remaining, the Koreans got the penalty-corner they wanted courtesy a shoulder check by Jugraj Singh. Woon Kon Yeo pushed the ball past India's substitute goalkeeper Bharat Chetri for the game winner.

A totally distraught Dhanraj lamented, "In India, nobody understands a silver medal," when consoled by his idol Mohammed Shaheed, India great of yesteryears.

The final positions : 1 - Korea, 2 - India, 3 - Malaysia, 4 - Pakistan, 5 - China, 6 - Japan, 7 - Bangladesh, 8 - Hong Kong.

The Indian team comprised the following:

Goalkeepers: Devesh Chauhan (Indian Oil), Bharat Chetri (Karnataka)

Backs: Dileep Tirkey (Indian Airlines-Captain), Jugraj Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh (both Punjab), Dinesh Nayak (Tamil Nadu)

Midfielders: Viren Rasquinha (Indian Oil), Vikram Pillai (Mumbai), Ignace Tirkey (Services), Bimal Lakra (Indian Airlines)

Forwards: Dhanraj Pillai (Indian Airlines), Deepak Thakur, Prabhjyot Singh (both Indian Oil), Daljeet Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajeet Singh, Tejbeer Singh (all Punjab)

Officials: Rajinder Singh (chief coach), Narender Singh Sodhi (assistant coach), Ranjeet Singh (goalkeeper coach), Hardeep Singh Dhillon (manager), Sampath Kumar (physiotherapist), Dr. Rajkumar Jaipal (doctor)

he 6th edition of the Asian Games women's hockey tournament was held at the Gangseo stadium in Busan, South Korea, from October 5 to October 11. With only 4 countries taking part - China, South Korea, Japan and India - the tournament was held on a league-cum-knockout basis, with the top two teams playing for the gold, and the last two fighting it out for the bronze.

Commonwealth Games champion India failed to win a single match, did not even score a goal in 3 of the 4 matches, and finished last in the tournament. India's match results were as follows:

Date	Match	Goal Scorers - India
Oct 5	China 2 - India 0
Oct 7	South Korea 5 - India 0
Oct 9	Japan 3 - India 2	Suman Bala (59 m) Jyoti Kullu (65 m)
Oct 11	Japan 2 - India 0

The final positions were 1- China, 2 - South Korea, 3 - Japan, 4 - India. China was coached by Kim Chang-Back, a South Korean from Busan. He is easily the leading candidate for the Coach of the Year, having led the Chinese women team from nowhere to the Champions Trophy and Asian Games titles within the last couple of months.

First in the Commonwealth Games, last in the Asian Games, not qualified for the World Cup - that sums up the below average performance of the Indian women's hockey team in 2002.

While India's victory in the Commonwealth Games was very creditable, the world powers in women's hockey are non-Commonwealth countries (China, Argentina, Netherlands and South Korea). Women's (and men's) hockey have far outgrown their Commonwealth origins, unlike say cricket that remains the sole preserve of Commonwealth countries.

One consolation was that 3 Indian players made it to the All-Star Asian Games women's team - Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Mamata Kharab and Sumarai Tete. The tournament also saw an Indian umpire, Radha Sukumaran, while Amrit Bose was the tournament director.

The Indian team comprised the following:

Goalkeepers: Tingongleima Chanu, Helen Mary

Backs: Amandeep Kaur, Suman Bala, Kanti Baa

Midfielders: Suraj Lata Devi (captain), Sumarai Tete, Seeta Gossain, Masira Surin

Forwards: Mamata Kharab, Manjinder Kaur, Pritam Rani Siwach, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Sanggai Ibemhal Chanu, Saba Karim Anjum, Adline Kerketta

Officials: Gurdayal Singh (chief coach)

Photographs Courtesy Jean Danet of the French Hockey Federation

he 4th edition of the 4-nation Akbar El Youm hockey tournament was held in Cairo from October 11 to October 18. The countries taking part were defending champion India, Pakistan, France and hosts Egypt. Due to the Asian Games hockey competition going on in parallel, India and Pakistan sent their junior teams, while France and Egypt sent their regular teams.

India had the following match results on its way to the title:

Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
Oct 14	India 3 - Pakistan 0	Rajpal Singh (18 m) Sandeep Michael (22 m) Tushar Khandekar
Oct 16	India 4 - Egypt 0
Oct 17	India 2 - France 1
Oct 18	India 3 - France 1 (FINAL)	Rajpal Singh (2) Prabodh Tirkey

The final positions were 1 - India, 2 - France, 3 - Egypt, 4 - Pakistan. India's Tushar Khandekar was voted the player of the tournament, while Rajpal Singh was the top scorer with 5 goals.

Last-placed Pakistan had a disastrous tournament, losing all their matches and failing to score a single goal in the competition - losing 0-2 to Egypt, 0-3 to India and 0-1 to France and then again to Egypt.

The Indian team, captained by Arjun Halappa, comprised the following players: Khushmeet Singh, Sunil Yadav, V. S. Vinaya, Arjun Halappa, Vivek Gupta, Pundalik Yellappa, Sandeep Michael, Prabodh Tirkey, Gabbar Singh, Rajpal Singh, Kamaldeep Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Anthony Anup, Girish Pimple, Arvind Yadav. Coach - Harinder Singh.

Photograph Courtesy : The Star of Malaysia

istory was made when 7-times gold medallist Pakistan had to return home empty-handed from the 2002 Asian Games hockey competition. In the bronze medal match, a young Malaysian side coached by master strategist Paul Lissek beat Pakistan 4-2 in the penalty shootout, after the game ended tied at 1-1 after regulation and extra-time. This was the first time since the Asiad hockey competition began more than half a century ago that Pakistan failed to win any medal.

The hero for Malaysia was their goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin, who stopped the shots of Sohail Abbas and Mudassar Ali, while all 4 Malaysian attempts went in. Pakistan had whipped the same Malaysian team 6-1 in an earlier league match.

Malaysia has beaten Pakistan only once before in the Asian Games competition, a 2-1 victory in the 1986 Asiad. The Malaysian Hockey Federation rewarded the bronze medal wining hockey team with RM 5,000 per player.

The Pakistani team was so disheartened that they did not attend the post-match press conference. They also chose not to watch the final between India and South Korea.

The 3 worst performances in the Asiad for Pakistan are 1994 (bronze), 1998 (bronze) and 2002 (4th). Pakistan reached the Asian Games hockey final on the other 9 occasions, winning 7 gold and 2 silver medals.

This was the second consecutive multi-games event that Pakistan lost in the semi-finals. In the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester in July/August, Pakistan was thrashed 1-7 by New Zealand in the semi-finals. Pakistan ended up third in that tournament. 

Pakistan's miserable performance in the 2002 Asiad drew harsh criticism from some hockey greats. Former captain Samiullah blamed the team management for the fiasco and cited lack of coordination between team officials and players.

Former coach Hanif Khan said he was shocked after what he called the demise of Pakistan hockey. "I must say hockey is dead after the shameful performance. But it's time to take damage control steps by axing Ahmad Alam, Mohammad Sarwar, Mohammad Nadeem, Mohammad Saqlain and Tariq Imran."

hrough the efforts of former India captain Jude Felix, Dhanraj Pillai has agreed to represent a Singapore hockey club in a 3-week tournament in the Singapore Hockey League.

Dhanraj, who is the face of Indian hockey worldwide, has played for the following international clubs in his career thus far:

Club Name	City	Year
Indian Gymkhana	London	1992 - 1993
FC Lyon	Lyon, France	1993
Selangor	Kuala Lumpur	19?? - 19??
Abhahani Ltd.	Dhaka	Jul 1997, Mar 1999
Stuttgart Kickers	Stuttgart	May - Jun, Oct 2000
Bank Simpanan Nasional	Kuala Lumpur	Nov 2000 - Feb 2001
Arthur Andersen	Kuala Lumpur	Mar 2002 - Jun 2002
Singapore	Singapore	November 2002

After his stint in Singapore, Dhanraj will return to the Bombay Hockey League, representing his new team Indian Airlines. Dhanraj recently quit Mahindra and Mahindra after it disbanded its hockey team.

Photograph by TASS, Courtesy World Hockey Magazine (December 1980) 

he Photograph of the Month for November features Maharaj Krishan Kaushik of India and Juan Amat of Spain in action in the 1980 Moscow Olympics hockey final. India won a thriller 4-3, despite a hat-trick by Juan Amat.

The 1980 Olympics remains the last occasion when India won the Olympic hockey gold. For the generation of Indians born after the mid-1960s, the Moscow Olympics hockey title remains their only link to India's golden Olympic past.

uring the Busan Asian Games, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) signed Memorandum of Understandings with 10 Asian National Hockey Federations whereby the FIH will provide financial grants to these countries for hockey development.

Initial grants were provided to the following countries - China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Myanmar, Philippines, North Korea, Oman, Iran and Kazakhistan.

Note that though 44 countries are a part of the Olympic Council of Asia, only 4 countries participated in the Asian Games women's hockey competition.

Similarly, even the men's game suffers from a lack of growth, as hockey has yet to take off in the Middle-East, South-East Asia and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia.

Interestingly, Pakistan got a $8000 development grant each for 2002 and 2003 to support their development programme that includes the national junior training programme, coaches and umpires' clinics, laying of new artificial turf fields and various other projects. In a highly unusual move, the FIH may approve its development grant for Pakistan on a permanent basis.

Where does the FIH get money to distribute such largesse? One way is to charge countries hosting fees and television rights fees. For example, for the 2002 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Hockey Federation had to pay RM 404,074 as hosting fees and RM 223,000 as television rights fees to the FIH.

ABC Television Logo

he Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has secured the host broadcasting rights for the Meadow Lea Women's Hockey World Cup, to be held in Perth from November 24 to December 8.

ABC television will broadcast Hockeyroos’ matches against USA (live, Nov 24), England (tape-delayed, Nov 30) and Netherlands (live, Dec 1), as well as live coverage of both semi-finals and the final.

ABC will have a top line up of commentators and specialists covering the event, led by well known commentator Steve Robilliard. A total of 8 cameras will provide comprehensive coverage, capturing all the on-field action from ground level and overhead views.

Tina Thomas from Green Channel Media is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Tina had the following to say to BharatiyaHockey.org:

Green Channel Media is a content management company. We primarily work for the radio medium. We also represent the BBC World Service in India for their radio and online content. I was surfing the web to find information regarding Indian Sports, and chanced upon your site.

Its a pity there are very few sites that provides information on Indian hockey, despite it being our National Sport. I must add that your site provides a comprehensive package.

t the end of the 2002 Asian Games, India and Pakistan have played each other 11 times in the Asiad, with Pakistan winning 7 times, India 2 times (1966 final, 2002 semi-final), and 2 matches ending in a draw (1958 league, 1974 first leg final).

At the end of the 2002 Asian Games, India and South Korea have played each other 11 times in the Asiad, with India winning 7 times, South Korea 2 times (1994 final, 2002 final), and 2 matches ending in a draw (1986 league, 2002 league). Overall, India and South Korea have played 46 times, with South Korea winning 18 times, India 18 times and 10 matches ending in a draw.

This was the third consecutive India - South Korea Asian Games men's hockey final. South Korea won in 1994, India won in 1998 and South Korea won again in 2002. No team apart from India, Pakistan and South Korea has ever entered the Asian Games men's hockey final.