hanraj Pillai is the face of Indian hockey worldwide. No one doubts his passion to Indian hockey. But there is one disturbing statistic that we have to acknowledge - Dhanraj Pillai has won absolutely nothing of note for India. If we were to compile a list of all-time greats who have had the maximum international success for India, Dhanraj will figure nowhere in the list.

Dhanraj has represented India in 3 Olympic Games - 1992, 1996 and 2000. India had its 3 worst Olympic finishes during those Games.

Dhanraj has represented India in 4 World Cups - 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. In 3 of those 4 World Cups, India had its second and third worst finishes of the World Cup.

In the 14 years that Dhanraj has played for the nation, India could qualify for only 4 Champions Trophy tournaments. In 3 of those 4 tournaments, India qualified for the bronze medal match. All three times, India ended up 4th in the Champions Trophy. In the only other occasion (1995-Berlin), India finished fifth in the Champions Trophy.

This sums up Dhanraj's sorry record - 11 FIH top level tournaments in 13 years, 0 medals to show for India.

Dhanraj participated in the inuagural Commonwealth Games hockey competition in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. Under Dhanraj's captaincy, India returned empty-handed, coming in 4th.

Even in the continental competitions, Dhanraj has played in 3 Asia Cups, and not won the tournament even once. Dhanraj has played in 4 Asian Games, and has just one memorable title victory in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.

As captain, Dhanraj lost a 1998 home test series against Germany 0-3-1. Again as captain, Dhanraj lost the Indo-Pak hockey series of February/March 1998 3-4.

Even in the domestic circuit, Dhanraj's impact has been minimal - he has not won either the Junior Nationals, the Senior Nationals or the National Games hockey titles.

Dhanraj's legion of fans are unable to answer the question - "What prestigious tournaments and national championships has Dhanraj won, either in India or abroad?" Admittedly, hockey is a team game, and we cannot attribute all losses just to one person. But a great hockey player somehow finds the way for his team to win tournaments. That is why Shahabaz Ahmed is considered a legend - he was instrumental in Pakistan winning the 1994 World Cup and the 1994 Champions Trophy.

There is one way out for Dhanraj - if he can win for India the Asia Cup in September, which India has never won before, if he can win for India the inaugural Afro-Asian Games hockey title, and if he can win any Olympic medal in Athens, we will be the first to call Dhanraj great. With pleasure, because we all love Dhanraj.

onsider the following seven instances which illustrate a recurring problem of Indian hockey - Indian hockey players get totally paralysed in the last few minutes of any game, leave gaping holes in the defence, are a bundle of nerves with confusion reigning supreme, go into the self-destruct mode, and India end up conceding goals, the match and the tournament.

In India's inaugural 2003 Champions Trophy match against defending champion Netherlands, India was up 3-0 with only 6 minutes left for the end of the game. Then India inexplicably conceded 4 GOALs in 6 minutes to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The only time Netherlands ever led in the entire game was just 10 seconds from the end, but they led when it mattered.

In India's last match in the 2003 Champions Trophy, the bronze medal clash against Pakistan, India conceded two goals in the last 7 minutes of the match to give away the bronze medal. India had twice held the lead, only to lose the match in the end. Thus India began and ended their Champions Trophy campaign by losing by last minute goals after leading most of the game..

Rewind to the 2002 Champions Trophy between India and Netherlands. India was leading 3-2 with just a minute to go, when Matthijs Brouwer scored and snatched a draw for the Dutchmen.

Even in the 2002 Champions Trophy bronze medal match, Pakistan fought back from 1-3 down with only 12 minutes left, to win 4-3 with a 3 goal burst in 5 minutes. India has thus lost two successive Champions Trophy bronze medal matches to arch-rival Pakistan due to last-minute goals.

In the 2002 Asian Games hockey final, 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

Who can forget the 2000 Sydney Olympics when India conceded a goal in the last 90 seconds to Poland and got kicked out of the semi-finals?

In the 1999 Asia Cup semi-final against India, South Korea was trailing 3-4 late into the match. However, Korea scored 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to storm into the final. India ended up with the bronze medal, the first time India did not make it to the final of the Asia Cup.

Modern hockey is played a lot in the mind also, and there Indian players should keep themselves awake and alert all the time, not relaxing for even a moment. What has happened to all that commando training which is supposed to give Indian players the so-called 'killer instinct'?

Indian players do not know basic mathematics - a match is played over 70 minutes, and not 60 or 65 minutes. Countries like Holland, Australia, Germany and South Korea push very hard in the last 10 minutes of any match, never giving up till the final second. Indians tend to celebrate too early, taking victory for granted when the match is not yet over. Indian players do not know how to keep ball possession in the last few minutes of any game. It also does not help that our fitness levels do not match those of the Europeans or the Australians.

Most important, Indians don't seems to learn from their mistakes. This team has messed up 7 times in major tournaments over the past 4 years. This has cost us a possible Olympic medal, two Champions Trophy bronze medals, an Asian Games gold medal and an Asia Cup gold medal. How India hockey would have changed if we won even one of those missed medals?

Coach Rajinder Singh bemaoned, "There is no spark in the team. The passion is missing in the players." Indian hockey captain Dhanraj Pillai said that the Indian team needed the help of a psychologist to become mentally stronger after the poor showing at the Champions Trophy. "The team needs to be mentally strong in crunch situations," said Dhanraj.

Thank God the real Indian commandoes don't come up with such sorry excuses for non-performance.

ight in the middle of the 2003 Champions Trophy, IHF secretary Jyothikumaran indicated that a foreign coach may be appointed to reverse the fortunes of the Indian hockey team which was "lacking in motivation".

“Appointing a foreign coach is a possibility. I am not happy with the approach of the team. The players seem to be lacking in motivation and also a game plan.” Jyotikumaran said in a tacit admission of the sorry plight of the Indian team.

Asked whether his observation could be construed as a reflection of improper coaching, Jyothikumaran said “You can see for yourself that we repeatedly missed chances and our midfield was not functioning effectively. Mark my words, it is an alarming sign that this Indian team has no wingers. If you do not use the wings, then you cannot stretch the rival defence. I think this is where we went wrong in our matches in the Champions Trophy here. If you look at other teams, they make use of the wings to open out the game, whereas our team tends to focus all their moves in the middle where it can get cluttered."

When asked for his reaction by the alternate media, coach Rajinder Singh hit back, "I am planning to recommend to IHF president Gill that the IHF should have a foreign secretary. Whatever the reasons for a foreign coach that Jyothikumaran gave, I can apply the same reasons back at him. The IHF management has to take its share of blame for tournament debacles. How can every Indian tournament losses be attributed only to the coaches and player, while the management gets away scot-free each time?

If the Indian team was lacking in wingers, why did the secretary wake up so late with this profound discovery? What was he doing while the Indian players were sweating it out in the camp? He made three trips to Lucknow, he could have told us in the camp itself while being happily put up in Lucknow's Taj Residency hotel.

In fact, the biggest reason that Jyothikumaran has to quit is the IHF management's decision to hold the camp at the state-run Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow in 35 degrees weather.

Due to the hot and humid conditions in Lucknow, ace full-back Dileep Tirkey was admitted to the hospital with dehydration. Dileep was given 18 bottles of fluids in the hospital, and he is still to fully recover from it.

Goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan and captain Dhanraj Pillai also suffered bouts of illness during the early part of the camp. Bangalore would any day have been a better venue keeping in mind its weather would be closer to that of Amstelveen as compared to Lucknow.

The crucial pre-Champions Trophy practice camp of the Indian hockey team was marred by some bad planning, even thoughtlessness. The camp was spread over 20 days and originally scheduled to have 40 sessions. But 11 of those sessions were cancelled. Why? Because the players had to attend felicitations and functions charted out by the new sponsor of Indian hockey, Sahara India, which was also the camp host. The sponsors seemed more interested in their own publicity and were leaving no stone unturned to extract every bit out of the team to promote their own company, rather than promoting the game.

We had to abandon practice one day because some Bollywood star was coming. Another day was hijacked by a large television team that wanted us to perform for their show, that ended up trampling the new astroturf at the Sports College.

Can you imagine a special training camp preceding an important event like the Champions Trophy conducted in such a callous manner? India lost the Champions Trophy at the camp itself. Should not Jyothikumaran be the fall guy for this decision? Is there no such thing as moral responsibility?

The other day, this same IHF secretary was asked about the players' complaint relating to their remuneration. Kandaswamy said that no information has been withheld, the players all knew exactly how much they would get, but there was no need for the figures to be disclosed to the media.

Who is this IHF secretary to decide whether remuneration figures should be withheld from the media, and hence the public? Doesn't the Indian hockey fan have a right to know if the sponsors money is trickling down to the players, and not being pocketed by two-timing officials? The BCCI is refreshingly different and transparent on the money being given to the cricketers out of the same Sahara's sponsorship

It is high time the IHF has a foreign secretary. Kandaswamy has just not produced the results. In any other organisation, it is the top management that is held accountable for results. If they don't deliver, they are the first to be fired. If Indian hockey is in such bad shape that it needs a foreign coach, then I humbly ask why cannot Indian hockey have a foreign secretary too?"

Meanwhile, Australian hockey legend Richard Charlesworth has expressed willingness to be the IHF secretary in the backdrop of India's below-par performance in the 2003 Champions Trophy.

"Being the IHF secretary would be a challenge. I am not chasing the job, but am willing to consider any offer made in this regard," the 51-year-old said.

"However, any assignment should be long term of say 5 years, during which I can also groom Indian secretaries who can then take over. Basically, you need to put a structure in place that can sustain itself. There is a lot of talent in India, but you also need to have a structured long-term programme to maintain consistency of performance," said the former captain.

The concept of a foreign IHF secretary is being mooted in some quarters as it is thought that an "outsider" would be free of biases, pulls and pressures that an Indian secretary is subjected to.

Article by Tongue-in-Cheek

he following is a proposal for Sahara India, the sponsors of Indian (men's) hockey team. Since there is no National Hockey League in India, yet, Sahara should sponsor India's top players in the ultra-competitive European and Australian hockey leagues. Let Sahara India be transformed into Sahara Holland, Sahara Australia, Sahara Germany and Sahara England, with the players turning out in the Sahara brand while turning out for their respective clubs.

An 80 sq. cm. Sahara logo on the left sleeve of each player being sponsored would be just returns for Sahara (with the main area on the shirt being taken up by either the club title sponsor or the club name). Sahara and the concerned player should arrange for the No Objection Certificate from the respective player's employers.

Why the Dutch hockey league? In the 25 editions of the Champions Trophy, Netherlands has won 7 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 5 bronze medals. Netherlands has won the last two Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000), the last two Champions Trophy tournaments (2002, 2003), and the 1998 World Cup. In the same period, India has won nothing, zilch, nada. Holland must be doing something right. No Indian has ever played in the Dutch Hockey League, and Sahara can be a trailblazer by enabling a couple of players, especially penalty corner specialists, to play in Holland.

Why the Australian Hockey League? In the 25 editions of the Champions Trophy, Australia has won 7 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. Australia is the only country to have participated in all 25 editions of the Champions Trophy, winning medals in 19 of them. In contrast, India has just a bronze medal, that too more than two decades ago, in 10 appearances in the Champions Trophy.

Why the Bundesliga Division I? Germany has picked up the glittering Champions Trophy no less than 8 times, the highest by any of the 13 countries that have figured in the competition thus far. Besides, it has won 5 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. Thus Germany, like Australia, has won 19 medals in the 22 times it has participated in the Champions Trophy (the only exceptions being 5th place in 1982, last in 1998 and last in 2003).

Why the English National Hockey League Premier Division - well, England has done better than India in hockey in the last two decades. England has won the Olympic gold medal (Seoul, 1988), something that Indian hockey fans will die for. England has won the World Cup silver medal (1986, London), the same World Cup in which India finished LAST. In fact, since 1986, England has finished higher than India in 3 of 4 World Cups. England has won the Commonwealth Games hockey bronze medal, shutting out India in the bargain.

Where does the IHF fit in in the scheme of things, or does it? Until and unless player contracts are signed, the IHF legally does not own the players, and the players don't have to report their every action to this bureaucratic federation. First off, there has to be a change in attitude of the IHF officials. Kandaswamy and co. should realise that Indian players playing in national hockey leagues abroad, in countries that are far better in hockey than India, and being exposed to new training methods and coaching strategies, is ultimately beneficial to Indian hockey.

Per the table below, over the last couple of years, 42 players have played abroad for foreign clubs in Australia, England, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain - and not a single one of them was Indian. Players from 15 different countries have played league hockey in Europe and Oceania in the last couple of years, including from countries like Trinidad & Tobago, Scotland, Ireland, Japan and Canada, but India does not figure in the list.

Country	Club	Foreign Player	Country
Australia	Adelaide Hotshots	Maximiliano Caldas	Argentina
	Sydney	Mark Irwin	Ireland
	Unknown	Naohiko Tobita	Japan
England	Canterbury	Brian Garcia Kwan Browne Hayden Shaw	Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad & Tobago New Zealand
	Hampstead	Benjamin Simes Eddie O'Brian Tim Thompson Greg Pierce Craig Carolan Gary Boucher	Australia Australia Australia New Zealand South Africa South Africa
	Old Loughtonians	Scott Smith	Canada
	Reading	Todd Williams Grant von Mayer Eiko Rott Torben Gottschau Justus Scharowsky Simon Towns Ken Robinson	Australia Austria Germany Germany Germany New Zealand New Zealand
	Southgate	Grant Smith	Australia
	St. Albans	Craig Keegan	Australia
	Surbiton	Craig Jackson Greg Nicol Gregg Clark Stefan Saliger	South Africa South Africa South Africa Germany
Germany	Hamburg Gladbacher	Russell Garcia Jimi Lewis (GK)	England England
	Hamburg Gross Flottbeker	Russell Garcia Jimi Lewis (GK)	England England
	Harvestehuder THC	Mohammad Nadeem Mohammad Waseem Sohail Abbas	Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan
	Moechengladbach HC	Kang Keon-Wook	South Korea
	Stuttgart Kickers	Seong Tae Song	South Korea
Netherlands	Amsterdam	David Matthews Ben Hawes	England England
	Klein Zwitserland	Laurence Docherty	Scotland
	Orange et Zwart	Shahbaz Ahmad	Pakistan
	Unknown	Brent Livermore	Australia
	Unknown	Brett Garrard	England
	Unknown	Jorge Lombi Maximiliano Caldas Fernando Zylberberg	Argentina Argentina Argentina
New Zealand	Canterbury Cavaliers	Taeke Taekema	Netherlands
Spain	De Campo (Madrid)	Jorge Lombi A. Almeida	Argentina Argentina

This is ultimately a loss to Indian hockey, as how long will Indian players compete in the same domestic tournaments, with the same teams, year after year? Where is the international club exposure for professional growth? Do our players lack ambition? Or does the IHF play spoilsport, like it did for Mukesh Kumar when he attempted to play club hockey in Malaysia?

In the long-term, India needs to have its own (Sahara?) Hockey League, spread in key hockey locations across the country, and with a sprinkling of foreign stars playing for Indian clubs in India. But the IHF only talks about it, there have been no concrete steps taken, or timelines specified.

Until the above happens, it is upto Sahara to take the initiative, negotiate with the players, ask them about their foreign club choices, negotiate with the clubs, confirm non-clash with the national training calendar (if the IHF has one), and then send the player abroad. Oh yes, it can also inform the IHF out of courtesy, but not as a legal requirement.

Graphic courtesy B. K. Sharma of The Indian Express

ising hockey star Jugraj Singh was injured in a road mishap in Dakoha near Jalandhar around 10:30 pm on September 2. The 20-year-old player was driving the car through pouring rain, along with two other friends, when the car banged into an electric post while trying to avoid a cycle-rickshaw. Jugraj and six of his friends were returning to their houses in Dakoha in two cars, after having dinner in a local restaurant, when the mishap occurred.

Senior police officials reached the spot and took Jugraj and his two injured passengers to the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital in Jalandhar. Later his family members moved him to the Intensive Care Unit of Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana.

Dr. R. S. Cheena, Medical Superintendent at the Dayanand Medical College, said that Jugraj suffered multiple fractures on the right foot, femur and pelvic bones, as well as the right elbow. Jugraj underwent 3 operations over 8 hours. Steel plates and screws have been inserted in his thigh, elbow and abdomen. The player was also examined by eye specialists for possible damage.

After the operation, though a little groggy, Jugraj said "Main chardi kala wich haan. Main chahnda hah ki bahut mehnat karan, te unaa diya expectations te pura utran," (I'm in high spirits. I want to work hard and fulfill the expectations of my supporters).

The doctors said that it would take a minimum of two weeks for Jugraj to be discharged from hospital, and six to eight months of intensive physiotherapy and major rehabilitation programme for him to start playing for the country again. While he would have to miss the forthcoming Asia Cup and the Afro-Asian tournament, his participation in the 2004 Olympics would largely depend on his rate of recovery.

News of Jugraj's injury has brought the Indian team closer together. Many players, including chief coach Rajinder Singh and captain Dhanraj Pillai, rushed to Ludhiana as soon as they heard of it.

Rajinder Singh said: "Jugraj is a strong boy. He has great will power. I spoke to Jugraj and he said he will work hard to be back in action soon. His injury is a big blow to the Indian team."

Dhanraj Pillai, who travelled from Pune to meet the ailing star in the hospital, said, "Jugraj has always been a fighter on the hockey field, taking shots from players like Sohail Abbas on his body. Over the last two years, Jugraj has become a vital part of the side. I am confident that he will fight his way back to recovery following the accident."

Deepak Thakur and Gagan Ajit Singh drove in from Ferozepur and Una (Himachal Pradesh) to see Jugraj in the hospital.

"Jugraj's father and family are thankful to God that Jugraj is still alive," said Gagan Ajeet. "Jugraj's doctor told me that had there been a person of lesser build, he would have surely died, so much bleeding has taken place from his pelvis."

Jugraj's usual roommate during tours, Deepak Thakur, said, "It was not just the high spirits he displayed on the field, Jugraj was our trump card - he could score goals for us even in last moments of a match. His absence will hurt us deeply."

A touching tribute to Jugraj came from Pakistan hockey coach Tahir Zaman. "Irrespective of the national borders, we all belong to the hockey family. It was shocking to hear about Jugraj's accident. His best was at fore in the Champions Trophy in Amstelveen where he impressed all. He was not only good at penalty corner conversions, but also displayed his abilities as a talented defender. We are praying to Allah for his speedy recovery. We wish to see him back in action again," said Tahir Zaman over the telephone from Lahore to Times of India.

President Abdul Kalam, who was touring Ludhiana in Punjab at the time of Jugraj's accident, spoke on the phone to the star player and wished him a quick recovery. Former cricket captain and staunch hockey supporter Bishen Singh Bedi also paid a visit to Jugraj in the hospital.

When initially contacted by Rediff.com, IHF secretary Jyothikumaran was unwilling to say whether IHF would pick the bills for Jugarj's treatment. "I have spoken to the parents of Jugraj and told them we will be happy to render them any assistance," he said. Asked whether 'any assistance' means footing his medical bills, Jyothikumaran shot back: "Please do not put words in my mouth. Just quote me as I told you."

On the other hand, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Vijay Goel, visited Jugraj in the hospital, and then announced that the Sports Ministry will take care of the medical expenses of hockey player Jugraj Singh. Speaking to Rediff.com, Goel said, "Jugraj is a fine hockey player who was the star of the Indian team during the recent Champions Trophy. We are not going to let our hockey players down and have decided to pick his medical bills, and even send him abroad for treatment if required. We hope he has a fast recovery so that the Indian team does not suffer because of his long absence."

Gagan Ajeet, along with Jugraj and Thakur had led India to that memorable 7-4 win over Pakistan at Amstelveen, scoring two goal each. Jugraj, Gagan and Deepak also formed the three players in India's penalty corner triangle. While Thakur took the push and Gagan stopped the ball and set up the shot, Jugraj used his power to flick the ball into the net.

With Jugraj's absence, during penalty corners defence Dhanraj may play in Jugraj's position and be the main rusher in the team. To take Jugraj's place for the penalty flicks, the IHF may requisition the services of Len Ayyappa, who has got considerable success in the Malaysian National Hockey League. Another name being considered is u-21 star Sandeep Singh, who scored 4 goals in a row against Pakistan in the recently concluded Junior Challenge in Poland.

Jugraj won't be missed just for his flicks; he's also someone who stands up for his teammates when things go wrong. Midfielder Viren Rasquinha recalls that during the Australia tour in June, when India won one tournament, the team conceded a penalty-corner due to his mistakes in the last stage of the match. Viren got a lot of flak from the other players, but Jugraj stood by him. Jugraj came up to Viren and said, "Don't worry, we will defend the penalty-corner for you."

Even from his hospital bed, Jugraj Singh has only one thing on his mind – beating arch-rival Pakistan in the Asia Cup to be played in Kuala Lumpur this month. Jugraj had an emotional, hospital-bed meeting on with team captain Dhanraj Pillai, who promised to beat Pakistan and win the upcoming Asia Cup in his absence.

"It was a very emotional moment,'' Dhanraj was quoted saying in The Hindustan Times. Jugraj reportedly told Dhanraj, "I can't play against Pakistan. You have to win against them and win the tournament."

"We are going to bring the Asia Cup for him,'' Pillai said. We want to gift Jugraj the Asia Cup,'' echoed teammate Gagan Ajeet Singh.

This is an open challenge to the Indian hockey team - win the Asia Cup for Jugraj Singh. India has never won the Asia Cup before, and this is the best get-well gift they can give to Jugraj.

The Asia Cup will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Malaysia, from September 21 to 28.

he silver jubilee edition of hockey's most challenging annual tournament, the Champions Trophy, was held in Amstelveen, Holland, from August 16 to August 24. The six countries that participated were India, Pakistan, Australia, Argentina, Germany and Netherlands.

Germany sent its 'B' team of mainly u-23 players to the event, reserving their main team to play in the European Nations Cup in Spain in September, which is the qualifying tournament for the Athens Olympics. Germany coach Bernhard Peters said that it would be "foolish to play in both the tournaments with same team" since both are being held within a span of a couple of weeks.

"We may not make it to next year's Champions Trophy, but it would be tragic if we did not qualify for the Olympics," Peters said.

The next edition of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan comes only after the Athens Olympics. If Germany make it to the Olympic semi-finals, they remain in the Champions Trophy fold, irrespective of their last-place finish in the 2003 edition.

Pakistan recalled 3 of its key players - Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmed and skipper Mohammad Nadeem for the prestigious tournament. Sohail Abbas scored 9 goals, finished as the joint second leading scorer and played a key role in Pakistan winning the bronze medal.

Sohail's heroics answered once and for all the question: Who is greater for Pakistani hockey - Sohail Abbas or secretary Brig. Musarratullah Khan? It remains to be seen whether the PHF secretary would be penalised for anti-national activities for dropping these three key players for the Australian tour and causing Pakistan to come last in both the tournaments. Pakistan had scored just 6 goals from the 34 short corners awarded during the Australian tour.

Anyway, on to India now. India played just one great match in the entire tournament - the 7-4 victory over arch-rival Pakistan that prevented the latter from reaching the Champions Trophy final. This was the largest number of goals scored by India against Pakistan. This classic was watched by huge number of television viewers in India. People burst crackers in Mumbai after the incredible victory. The Students Gymkhana in IIT Bombay arranged for the match to be shown on the big screen in its lecture theatre.

However, India just had that one good match, against Pakistan, in the 6-match tournament. While all other teams whipped the German team, India just luckily managed to beat them off a 68th minute goal. The biggest crime of all - it lost to eventual champions Netherlands 3-4, after leading 3-0 till the 63rd minute. This shock defeat was unpardonable at this level of hockey. India qualified for the bronze medal playoff only because of Australia's thumping victory over Argentina.

Traditionally regarded as slow starters to major tournaments, mainly because of being overawed by the occasion, India remained true to form by losing its opening match to Holland and then barely beating Germany in its second match. By this time, the damage had been set and it was all downhill for India, except for the freak victory over Pakistan.

Needless to say, had defending World Cup champion Germany sent its main team, India would have been playing for the 5th-6th place with Argentina. India's loss to Pakistan in the bronze medal match was a necessary correction to Indian hockey. Had India won the bronze, the problems afflicting the Indian team would have been glossed over by the fact that India had beaten Pakistan twice.

Why was rolling substitution not used a bit more. Why was Tejbeer Singh not given his due playing time? Why was untested rookie Deedar Singh chosen in the team? Arjun Halappa, had he been selected instead, would at least have seen some playing time, relieving the other players at times of injuries and/or rolling substitutions.

India's match results were as follows:

	Date	Time (IST)	Matchup	Goal Scorers - India
	August 16	6:30 pm	Netherlands 4 - India 3	Jugraj Singh (44 m, PC) Deepak Thakur (51, 62 m)
	August 17	8:30 pm	India 3 - Germany 2	Gagan Ajeet (41, 68 m) Prabhjyot Singh (61 m)
	August 19	8:30 pm	Australia 4 - India 1	Dileep Tirkey (48 m, PC)
	August 20	8:30 pm	Argentina 4 - India 2	Deepak Thakur (28 m) Baljeet Dhillon (47 m)
	August 22	8:30 pm	India 7 - Pakistan 4	Jugraj Singh (23, 34 m) Deepak Thakur (51, 65 m) Prabhjyot Singh (55 m) Gagan Ajeet (60, 61 m)
	August 24	4:00 pm	Pakistan 4 - India 3	Jugraj Singh (26 m) Prabhjyot Singh (35 m) Deepak Thakur (47 m)

The following were the tournament awards - Player of the Tournament - Teun de Nooijer (Netherlands), Top Goal Scorer - Jorge Lombi (Argentina, with 10 goals), Most Promising Player - Grant Schubert (Australia) and Fair Play Trophy Winner - Jeroen Delmee (Netherlands).

The Indian team to the 2003 Champions Trophy was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh

Full-backs: Dileep Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh

Half-Back: Ignace Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillai, Bimal Lakra, V. S. Vinay, Baljeet Singh Saini

Forwards: Dhanraj Pillai (captain), Gagan Ajeet Singh, Prabhjyot Singh, Tejbeer Singh, Deepak Thakur, Deedar Singh, Baljeet Singh Dhillon.

Officials: Chief Coach - Rajinder Singh, Assistan Coach - Baldev Singh, Goalkeeping Coach - A. B. Subbaiah, Physical Trainer: Sampath Kumar

India's Hamza Mujtaba in action in the 6-nation Junior Challenge tournament in Poland

6-nation u-21 Junior Challenge hockey tournament was held in Gniezno, Poland, from August 18 to 24. This year's edition catered to the u-21 age group, unlike the previous year's edition when it was for the u-18 age group.

India, Pakistan, Germany, France, Malaysia and host Poland featured in the week-long championship. The tournament was played on a single league basis with every team playing 5 games, and the side having highest number of points at the end of the league emerging as winners.

The Indian team was essentially the same team that won the 81st MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament in Chennai in July. Of the Indian team members, Prabodh Tirkey and Tushar Khandekar also attended the senior camp which was held in Lucknow for the Champions Trophy. Skipper Prabodh Tirkey was the only player left from the team that won the 2001 Junior World Cup in Australia. 14 players of the 16-member Indian u-21 squad had never previously played against any European sides.

The Indian team had a 20-day camp in Bangalore (something that the Indian senior team wished for, but could not have). Sahara India Parivar felicitated the team prior to its departure for Poland. Each player of the squad was presented with a memento, a shawl, a gold bracelet having the name of the player embossed on it and a Swiss watch.

Interestingly, Prabodh Tirkey's brother Ignace Tirkey, and Birendra Lakra's brother Bimal Lakra were both playing in the Indian senior team in the Champions Trophy.

The Pakistani team had a 5-week European tour, culminating in this 7-nation tournament. During the first leg of their tour, Pakistani came second in a 4-nation junior tournament at Alcala Real (Spain). In the second leg of their tour, the Pakistan juniors won a 3-test series 2-0-1 against Spain, won a 2-match series 2-0 against French clubs, and won a 3-match series 3-0 against Dutch clubs.

The final leg of their tour before the Junior Challenge tournament was a 3-match series against Poland. The Pakistan juniors lost their first game 3-4. In the second game, the match was abandoned after Pakistan players exchanged hot words with umpires and rival players after a goal was disallowed. Following the ugly incident, Pakistan team manager Col. Abdul Rauf went into the field and it was then that the match was called off ten minutes before time, with the Polish side leading 6-5. The Polish Hockey Association secretary also came into the field and accused the Pakistanis of unsporting behaviour.

Back to the tournament, the results of India's matches were as follows:

Date	Result
Aug 18	India beat France 10-0
Aug 20	India beat Germany 3-0
Aug 21	India beat Malaysia 3-0
Aug 23	India beat Poland 9-1
Aug 24	India beat Pakistan 5-0

In India's final round robin match on August 24, on the same day when the Indian seniors lost to Pakistan, penalty corner striker Sandeep Singh struck a spectacular hat-trick to propel the Indian junior team to a 5-0 victory over Pakistan to lift the u-21, 6-nation Junior Challenge tournament. Even a draw would have been sufficient for India to win the tournament.

After skipper Prabodh Tirkey scored the opening goal off an indirect penalty corner in the 4th minute, Sandeep blasted goals in the 15th, 51st, 54th and 68th minutes. The rock-like Indian defence never allowed Pakistan forwards to move freely. While India converted 5 of its 6 penalty corners, Pakistan was unable to convert any of 4 they secured.

The Indian juniors thus maintained their recent unbeaten record against the Pakistani juniors. India juniors beat Pakistan 3-0 in Cairo in October 2002, beat Pakistan 2-0 in January 2003 in a 4-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur, and drew 1-1 in March 2003 in Cairo.

Prabodh Tirkey was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, Adrian D'Souza was declared the Goalkeeper of the tournament, while the Forward of the Tournament was Sandeep Singh, who was the top goal scorer with 12 goals in the tournament, including a hat-trick in the final.

Harinder Singh, the Indian team coach, said, "India scored from 18 of the 30 penalty corners it earned. We had 11 direct conversions and 7 indirect. I was very pleased by the fact that we let in just 1 goal in the entire tournament. We conceded 14 penalty corners but none of them resulted in a goal. The defence was very organised, and the midfield also did very well. Not one player suffered from any injury. I would give credit to our trainer, Saju Joseph. He did a marvellous job.''

"We dedicate our trophy to the Kargil War heroes. The boys were charged up in the match against Pakistan, and Sandeep ignored an injury to continue. He was outstanding as the team whipped Pakistan,'' Harinder concluded.

Team: Prabodh Tirkey (captain), Adrian D'Souza, A. C. Kuttappa, William Xalxo, Sandeep Singh, Hamza Mujtaba, Gurbaj Singh, Jagat Jyothi, Vivek Gupta, Nitin Kumar, Vikas Toppo, Birender Lakra, Girish Pimpale, Adam Sinclair, Tushar Khandekar and Hari Prasad

Officials: Chief Coach - Harendra Singh, Assistant Coach - Clarence Lobo (Tata Sports Club), Physiotherapist/Trainer: Saju Joseph.

he 52nd Senior National Championship (women) was held at the at the Dhyan Chand Stadium in the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow, from August 20 to August 30. It is good that at least women's hockey can hold its annual hockey championship, the IHF has last held the men's national hockey championship 4 years back, in 1999.

From 13 teams in the 2002 Jalandhar women's nationals, the 2003 edition has attracted a whopping 30 teams. Combined Universities was making its entry in the women's nationals for the first time since 1996. The fact that they reached the final signified the importance of looking to schools and colleges for new talent in hockey. Combined Universities entered this championship on one month's notice, and picked its team only ten days ago.

Jharkhand, runner-up at the Hyderabad National Games, was hampered by the absence of six of its key players, who were part of the junior India team which left for Japan around the same time as the senior nationals.

Railways and Combined Universities made it to the final, with the following match results.

Date	Railways	Combined Universities
August 20		beat Mumbai 1-0
August 21	beat Chattisgad 17-0
August 24	beat Bhopal 14-0	beat Tamil Nadu 4-0
August 26		beat Vidarbha 11-0
Aug 27 (quarters)	beat Orissa 10-1	beat Karnataka 3-2 (GG)
Aug 29 (semis)	beat Haryana 5-2	beat Punjab 1-0

In the final played on August 30, defending champion Railways trounced Combined Universities 6-0 to retain the senior national women's hockey title. Railways, who led 3-0 at half-time, exhibited an aggressive brand of hockey and never allowed their opponents to venture into their penalty area. The champions converted 3 of the 13 penalty corners they forced, while the Universities team failed to take advantage of the solitary penalty corner that came their way in the 44th minute of the game. Preetam Rani Siwach was the top scorer of the tournament with 20 goals.

This was the 19th straight national championship for Railways, since they first won in 1980-81 Indore Nationals. No other Indian team in any other sport has such a dominating record as the Railways in women's hockey.

In the match for the third and fourth positions, Haryana defeated Punjab 3-1 to finish third. Combined Universities had finished second on two earlier occasions, both times to Punjab (1978 Chandigadh nationals and the 1979 Jabalpur nationals).

The 1964 Indian Olympic Hockey Team That Played In Singapore

he Photograph of the Month for September was sent to BharatiyaHockey.org by Amarjeet Singh, who located it in the Singapore National Archives. The photograph is of the 1964 gold medal winning Indian Olympic hockey team that toured Singapore.

Balbir Singh Sr. had the following reminiscences on seeing the photograph:

This is the Olympic team of 1964 that won the Olympic gold. I was not with this team. The names from left to right are: Inder Mohan Mahajan (manager), Dharam Singh (coach), Charanjeet Kumar (captain), S. Christie (goalkeeper), Prithipal Singh, Gurbaksh Singh, Mohinder Lal, Jagjit Singh, Joginder Singh and V. J. Peter. Other team members are not visible in this picture.

ewan Farooq Motors Ltd. contributed Rs. 5 lakhs as the co-sponsor of the Pakistan hockey team for the 2003 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, Holland.. The title sponsor of the Pakistan national team for the year 2003-2004, however, remains National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), who had announced a generous package of Rs. 1 crore for the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Dewan Farooq Motors Ltd for the first time came forward for branding the sports attire of the national contingent. The title sponsor's logo measuring 350 sq. cm. was displayed on the middle of the players shirt. An 80 sq. cm. logo on the left sleeve was that of the co-sponsor, Dewan Motors Limited

To keep the flow of sponsors coming in, the PHF has appointed Sardar Naveed Haider Khan as Director (Marketing) of the PHF. In addition, Sardar Haider will also look after the Media section of the PHF.

he 25th Champions Trophy was a major media coup for the FIH. The tournament was shown live in 3 continents - Asia (TEN Sports), North America (Zee TV) and Europe (Eurosport - only a few matches, though).

Five television channels from India were present at the Champions Trophy - Aaj Tak, NDTV, Sahara Samay, Star News and Zee TV. Former Olympians were roped in to give expert comments - Pargat Singh came on Zee TV, M. K. Kaushik was very impressive on Star News, while Ashok Kumar gave his match analysis on NDTV. Dhanraj Pillai featured in promos for Sahara Samay.

Zee TV became the first broadcaster in North America to provide live coverage of an international hockey tournament. This deal came through after Octagon CSI, FIH's distribution partner, brokered the deal that brought all 18 matches live to the million plus subscribers of Zee TV North America.

Dubai-based TEN Sports channel, which telecast the 6-nation event live in South Asia and the Middle East, aired a special programme on August 14 titled 'My heart beats for India', linking India's Independence Day celebrations to the national men's hockey squad's aspirations, as a build-up to the 2003 Champions Trophy tournament. This promotion aimed to project the national team players, and through them the sport itself. The channel also coined high-octane nicknames for Dhanraj Pillai and co.

Explaining the rationale behind the concept, Mohit Mehra, Manager (Marketing) said: "For a very long the Indian hockey players have been playing for little more than national pride. 'My heart beats for India' has some of the important people in present-day Indian hockey talk about their most memorable experiences and their most emotional moments while representing the country".

Rajinder Singh talked about the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold, as well as his hat-trick against Pakistan in the 1982 Champions Trophy, where India finished with the bronze medal, India's only medal in 10 appearances in the Champions Trophy.

Captain Dhanraj Pillai recalled some of his greatest moments against Pakistan, especially the Chennai South Asian Federation Games final, where India beat Pakistan 5-2 in front of a frenzied crowd.

Former skipper Dileep Tirkey dwelt on the heartbreak at Sydney Olympics against Poland where a goal scored in the last 90 seconds of India's last match forced India out of the semifinal race.

Devesh Chauhan talked about his performances under the bar against Pakistan in the Busan Asian Games semifinal against the feared Sohail Abbas. India won the semi-final 4-3, with India eventually finishing second and Pakistan falling out of the medal bracket completely, ending up fourth.

Ten Sports's coverage of the Champions Trophy had Hero Honda as the presenting sponsor, while Titan, Hutch, Toyota, Asian Paints and Hindustan Petroleum were the associate sponsors.

Clotilde LARROSE of France is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Clotilde had the following to say to BharatiyaHockey.org:

I am very happy to discover this Indian hockey website. I live in France, and I just came back from the Champions Trophy in Amstelveen. I had represented France during the second World Youth Festival organised by the FIH. It was a great experience. I meet two participants from India, two boys who were very funny.

I saw the magical game between India and Pakistan on August 22, it was sumptuous. The atmosphere between India and Pakistan was very sporting. No war, just peace! So a good example (or demonstration) of hockey.

See you later,
Friendly Clotilde

Clotilde is a member of the S.A. Mérignac club in Bordeaux. In Amstelveen, Clotilde gave a presentation on the website she has created on the French national youth teams. As a player, Clotilde participated in four u-16 European championships and one u-18 European Cup. As an umpire, she officiated at the u-21 women's Celtic Cup.

Clotilde is presently in Barcelona for the Euoropean Nations Cup.

ow pathetic is India's performance in the Champions Trophy? Not only does India have just 1 bronze medal in 10 appearances in the Champions Trophy, among the top 30 goal-scorers all-time in the Champions Trophy, there is not a single Indian! Players from 7 countries are in the top-scorers list, but none from India. Pakistan and South Korea are the Asian countries in the list, but not India.

Is India a B-level country in world hockey - more hype and less performance. At least, the statistics seem to say so.

Goals	Player	Country
32	Mark Hager	Australia
30	Carsten Fischer	Germany
29	Stephen Davies Floris-Jan Bovelander	Australia Netherlands
27	Xavier Arnau Sohail Abbas	Spain Pakistan
26	Paul Litjens	Netherlands
24	Taco van den Honert	Netherlands
23	Ties Kruize Stefan Blocher	Netherlands Germany
21	Hanif Khan Teun de Nooijer Bram Lomans	Pakistan Netherlands Netherlands
20	Jay Stacy	Australia
19	Roderik Bouwman Khalid Bashir	Netherlands Pakistan
18	Richard Charlesworth Kalimullah Khan	Australia Pakistan
17	Michael Peter Seung Tae Song	Germany South Korea
16	Kamran Ashraf Juan Escarre Robert Cattral	Pakistan Spain Britain
15	Colin Batch Hassan Sardar Martin Eikelboom Christoph Bechmann Juan Luis Coghen Florian Kunz	Australia Pakistan Netherlands Germany Spain Germany

Statistics courtesy Syed Akbar Ali Wahidi of Pakistan