he inaugural editon of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) was won by the Hyderabad Sultans. Its coach was Narinderpal Singh, of the State Bank of India, Hyderabad.

The success in PHL I catapulted the Hyderabadi as assistant coach of the Indian teams that toured Malaysia (Azlan Shah Trophy) and Netherlands (8-nation Mini World Cup) in 2005. Narinderpal soon acquired the reputation as being 'player-friendly' and a 'great motivator'.

However, one year later, for the second edition of the PHL to be held in Chandigadh in January 2006, Narinderpal Singh is glaringly absent from the list of coaches of either his hometown Hyderabad Sultans, or any of the other 9 teams in PHL II.

One often hears about coaches of losing teams getting fired in professional sports leagues, but this is the first time where the coach of the league championship winning team has got fired.

Defending champions Hyderabad Sultans will instead be coached in PHL II by a Jalandhar Sher, India's chief coach Rajinder Singh Jr. His name was forcibly imposed by the IHF, overriding local Hyderabadi choices like Narinderpal Singh, Olympians Mukesh Kumar and Edward Aloysius, and Sports Authority of India coach Madhukaran.

Another coach in PHL I, Harendra Singh of the Chennai Veerans, found himself excluded from PHL II. Harendra, who was good enough to lead India to the semi-finals of the Junior World Cup earlier this year, and was in the running to be India's national coach, is now not even good enough to be among the top 10 coaches in the country (for the 5 Tier I and 5 Tier II PHL teams).

Harendra has played an important role in locating and coaching some of the best hockey talent of the country, like Olympians Adrian D'Souza and Sandeep Singh.

Says Harendra, "I am surprised at being ignored, despite my communicating to the IHF that I was free from December-end for any coaching assignments. What hurts is that not one official of the IHF had the courtesy to call me and inform me about my non-selection. I learnt about my exclusion from the PHL through some players."

What else to expect from a tamasha 'league' which is nothing a single-venue invitational tournament of handpicked teams and coaches. Is there any other professional sports league in the world that operates in such a fake manner?

Photograph by Vino John, courtesy The Hindu
Article courtesy The Hindu and Times of India

ndian cricket first set the trend of a full-time physiotherapist to take care of the players' fitness regimen, and Indian hockey soon followed suit.

Meet the new physiotherapist of the Indian hockey team, 28-year old Ravi Kanakamedala, who has had a career graph that spans multiple countries.

Ravi was born in Tenali (Andhra Pradesh), and was a long time resident of Visakhapatnam. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in physiotherapy from the MGR Institute of Medical Research in Chennai.

In 1999, Ravi left for his Masters at Auckland, where his link with hockey was first established. Ravi trained under the Kiwi hockey team's renowned physiotherapist, Wayne Hing. Ravi eventually became a New Zealand citizen.

In 2002, Ravi moved over to the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, working at the well known Hobart Sports Clinic in Australia. Training under Australia's Olympic physiotherapist Peter Eckhart, Ravi specialised on sports injuries resulting from competitive hockey.

Lower back, hamstring and knees are the key areas that are vulnerable in hockey players because of the nature of play. Bending forward to control the ball is a basic element of hockey, while frequent slap shots bring enormous pressure on hamstring muscles.

Ravi has been associated with the Tasmania State senior and junior hockey teams for the last three years. He has treated serious complications and succeeded in getting into shape Aussie hockey stars Matthew Wells and Zin Wright.

A chance meeting with Indian expatriates at Perth in 2004 stirred Ravi's imagination to work with the Indian hockey team. After three months of negotiations, the IHF selected Ravi for the job. Ravi says, "I was honestly surprised when the call came from the IHF."

However, this is a short-term contract, only till the end of the Champions Trophy (December 10 to 18). Nevertheless, Ravi resigned as the physiotherapist of the Tasmanian state hockey team to take up the new assignment.

Ravi is equipped with a foldable treatment table, ultra-sound machines and quite a few gadgets to get at the root of a problem. At the training centre in Chennai for the Champions Trophy, he has installed two tubs (for hot and cold baths), for faster recovery after a match. The players are now under constant biomechanical analysis.

Ravi is diplomatic in his assessment of the Indian hockey players. "I think they are okay, but they need to work a lot to meet top international standards. My first priority is to improve the fitness of the team to level 14 in the beep test. I am also working on improving the stamina of all the players, as our team tends to lose steam in the last few minutes."

Ravi says, "I have spent a lot of time trying to educate the players on coming open with their injuries, and helping them understand that treating an injury early is better for their game than carrying it for long and making it worse.

Ravi's mother tongue is Telugu. The other Indian languages he speaks are Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, making him acceptable to every section of the multi-lingual Indian hockey squad. In addition, Ravi speaks English with an Australian accent.

17-year old Pankaj Sharma wins the Shootout in Ludhiana

Champions Trophy road show was conducted across the hockey heartland of India, from November 24 through December 4. The geographical area covered by the promotion was a large swath of western, central and northern India, including the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgadh.

Ten Sports, the official television partner for the 2005 Champions Trophy, mounted a hockey goal post on a branded truck. Hockey fans then tested their penalty stroke skills against a goalkeeper defending the goal. Winners of the contest in each city won an all-expense paid trip to the 2005 Champions Trophy in Chennai.

The 14-city Champions Shootout took place along 3 separate routes, and included the following cities:

	Dates	Route 1	Route 2	Route 3
	November 24-25	Surat	Indore	Patiala
	November 26-27	Vadodara	Bhopal	Chandigadh
	November 28-29	Ahmedabad	Jabalpur	Ludhiana
	November 30, Dec 1	Udaipur		Jalandhar
	December 1-2		Raipur
	December 3-4	Jaipur	Nagpur

Bhopal - the venues in Bhopal were BSS College and Mata Mandir. The winner from Bhopal was Qazi Meharajuddin, who plays locally for the Railways. The chief guests for the Bhopal road show were local heroes Sameer Dad and Mohammad Altaf.

Chandigadh - the venues in Chandigadh ranged from Sector 22 to Sector 17 Main Market. After two days of very good crowd turnout, it was 18-year-old Mandeep Singh who sent three goals past the goalkeeper and won himself a trip to the Champions trophy in Chennai. The crowd went absolutely berserk when Mandeep struck his third goal. Mandeep himself was drenched in excitement.

Indore - the venues in Indore were Raj Mohalla and Apollo Square, with Pankaj Yadav eventually emerging the winner, amidst the overwhelming din and noise made by youngsters, many of whom who sneaked their way from schools and colleges to be part of this event.

Ludhiana - the venues in Ludhiana were Model Market, Zagroho Flyover, RT cinema and Kipps Market. The final held at Kipps Market drew more than 1800 people. All the finalist were running neck and neck with each other, before 17-year-old Pankaj Sharma held his nerve and emerged the final winner.

en Sports will telecast live all 18 matches of the 2005 Champions Trophy, to be held in Chennai from December 10 through 18.

The Champions Trophy final is scheduled for Sunday, December 18. The commentary team on Ten Sports will comprise legendary Australian player Rick Charlesworth and hockey expert David Christison.

Ten Sports will also telecast a half-hour special preview show on the opening day of the tournament, at 6:00 pm IST. The preview will discuss the chances of the various teams in the tournament, with a special focus on India, as well as takes a look at the stars expected to shine at the event. There will also be a novel feature called 'Laptop Logic' on how India has fallen behind the times in the use of technology to improve its performance.

The original schedule had to be changed at the last minute as Doordarshan agreed to show India's matches live, provided India played its matches at 6:30 pm and not 8:00 pm.

India's match schedule on Ten Sports and Doordarshan is given below:

	Day	Date	Time (IST)	Matchup
	Saturday	December 10	6:00 pm	Tournament Preview
	Saturday	December 10	6:30 pm	India vs. Spain
	Sunday	December 11	6:30 pm	India vs. Pakistan
	Tuesday	December 13	6:30 pm	India vs. Australia
	Wednesday	December 14	6:30 pm	India vs. Germany
	Friday	December 16	6:30 pm	India vs. Netherlands
	Sunday	December 18	3 - 8 pm	Finals

The Indian team for the Champions Trophy was picked by Selection Committee members Gurbaksh Singh, Surinder Singh Sodhi, B. P. Govinda, Harmeek Singh and government nominee Ajitpal Singh. In the midst of all these Olympians, Jyothikumaran was co-opted into the Selection Committee based on his position (IHF Secretary) and not based on his playing experience.

The Indian team will be led by Gagan Ajeet Singh, in the absence of the injured Dileep Tirkey who was originally named the captain. There is only one new face in the senior team - talented forward V. Raja from Tamil Nadu. The Indian team is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza (Indian Airlines), Bharat Chetri (Karnataka)

Full-backs: Kanwalpreet Singh (Punjab Police), Harpal Singh (Namdhari XI), Sandeep Singh (Indian Airlines), William Xalco

Midfielders: Vikram Pillai, V. S. Vinaya (Indian Airlines), Viren Rasquinha (Indian Oil Corporation), Ignace Tirkey (Services)

Forwards: Ravipal (Punjab and Sindh Bank), Arjun Halappa (Indian Airlines), Tushar Khandekar (Bharat Petrolem), Prabhjyot Singh, Rajpal Singh (Indian Oil Corporation), Adam Sinclair, V. Raja (Tamil Nadu), Gagan Ajeet Singh (Punjab Police)

Officials: Rajinder Singh - Chief Coach, Clarence Lobo – Assistant Coach, Charles Cornelius - Goalkeeping Coach, Sampath Kumar - Trainer, Ravi Kanakamedala - Physiotherapist, Santosh - Team Doctor

eteran hockey player Tarsem Singh Kular, who was part of the Indian team for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, passed away in Jalandhar on November 27.

Singh, 59, came back to his residence at Sansarpur at night after attending a party and suddenly collapsed, family sources said. Doctors said that a heart attack might have been the reason for the sudden collapse.

The Indian hockey squad for the 1968 Olympics, of which Tarsem Singh was a part, had won a bronze medal. Tarsem eventually retired from the Border Security Force.

Pargat Singh, Director (Sports), Punjab, expressed grief over the demise of the veteran Olympian and said that the country has lost a guiding force for hockey with his death.

Col. Balbir Singh, who played with Tarsem Singh in the 1968 Olympic team, said that Tarsem always inspired budding hockey players of Sansarpur, known as the nursery of Indian hockey.

V. Raja taking an acrobatic shot at goal in the Junior World Cup match against Poland
Photograph courtesy Vijay Sathya

he Photograph of the Month for December 2005 features V.Raja taking an acrobatic, reverse stick shot at goal in the Junior World Cup match against Poland.

Raja hails from Vadipatti, a remote mofussil town in Tamil Nadu. His father Veerasvami, an assistant engineer with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, is a sports enthusiast himself

Raja has had a good year in 2005, playing for India in the Junior World Cup, then a stint with Eindhoven in the Dutch hockey league, and now making his debut for the senior Indian team in the Champions Trophy.

s per the IHF Auditors Report from 2001-02:

• No bills were produced for Rs. 49.99 lakhs worth of air travel expenses claimed by the IHF.
  
• No bills were produced for Rs.11.64 lakhs worth of boarding/lodging expenses claimed by the IHF.
  
• There were unrecorded purchases of sports kits and dresses worth Rs. 15.05 lakhs claimed by the IHF.
  
• Personal mobile phone expenses of the IHF office bearers for Rs. 8.95 lakhs were unaccounted for.

A few months ago, six highly-respected former hockey players, alarmed at the continuing decline of the game, sent an SOS directly to prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The petitioners (Ashok Kumar, Balbir Singh, Pargat Singh, Gurdeep Singh, the late Tarsem Singh and M. K. Kaushik) claimed that IHF's autocratic functioning and mismanagement of funds were killing the game.

The letter, accompanied by auditor's reports of three financial years, pointed out glaring financial irregularities in the IHF accounts

The Prime Minister's Office responded with a 12-page reply to the petitioners, asking them to follow up with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. However, the Sports Ministry, as expected, refused to step into the quagmire, stating that the IHF is an autonomous body they have no say in its functioning; at best they can only monitor the IHF's activities.

One of the petitioners, Gurdeep Singh, is terribly frustrated and angry with the Sports Ministry's response. He is now planning to invoke the 'Right to Information Act' against the IHF.

India, once the champions of hockey, have steadily slipped on the world stage. An autocratic president, arbitrary decisions, constant chopping and changing 7of teams, absence of any vision, financial bungling and a non-existent players' body are seen as the main reasons for the virtual death of the game.

Article courtesy The Times of India

n Indian sport, nothing sells like cricket. Other disciplines just wait on the sidelines, hoping for a small moment under the spotlight.

In a country mad about cricket, the sponsors have made their choice obvious. However, now even the national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, does not have the money or the inclination to India's 'national sport' of hockey.

Prasar Bharati, which is paying Rs. 7.5 crores for each one-day international to the Indian cricket board (BCCI), is not ready to shell out Rs. 6 lakhs for each Champions Trophy to the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).

Despite the fact that the forthcoming Champions Trophy is played among the top six teams in the world, and that it is being held in India (Chennai) after a gap of nine years, Prasar Bharati is not interested because "Hockey does not sell".

Sources say that the IHF had approached Doordarshan with a proposal to telecast the 18 Champions Trophy matches, but Doordarshan's top officials rejected it. Instead of agreeing to pay telecast rights, Doordarshan officials asked the IHF to pay for technical assistance from Doordarshan.

When Times of India contacted a top Doordarshan official, he said: "We are not against telecasting the Champions Trophy. Let these IHF officials come up with a proper proposal and we will do the needful. While we are not interested in marketing hockey, we are ready to assist the IHF with all the technological help. As per Doordarshan's cash outflow scheme, IHF needs to pay Doordarshan about Rs. 50 lakhs for the use of its equipment to produce the matches. Why should Doordarshan have to spend the money?"

Reacting to Doordarshan's stance, an IHF official said: "Raising Rs. 50 lakhs at short notice will not be easy for us. It is the Indian public that will suffer if an India-Pakistan match is not shown live on Doordarshan."

Rita Allen is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Rita wrote the following to BharatiyaHockey.org:

My late husband's father, Richard James Allen, was the goalkeeper for the Indian Olympic hockey team for the three consecutive Olympics, from 1928 through 1936. He is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as the World's Best Hockey Goalkeeper.

Richard James Allen married Phyllis Evelyn Belchambers, and they had three children. One of these children was my husband, Ronald Arthur Allen. If anyone is interested in further details, please feel free to contact me.

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

his month's edition of Fun With Numbers deals with the Champions Trophy tournament.

Number	Description
26	Total number of Champions Trophy tournaments held
8	Maximum Champions Trophy tournament wins (Germany)
443	Total number of Champions Trophy matches played
77	Maximum Champions Trophy matches won (Netherlands)
1953	Total number of Champions Trophy goals scored
366	Maximum Champions Trophy goals scored (Netherlands)
136	Highest scoring Champions Trophy tournament (Karachi-1980)
39	Lowest scoring Champions Trophy tournament (Lahore-1988)

Pakistan and India are the bottom-ranked teams in the 2005 Champions Trophy. Also, while all the other participating countries in the 2005 edition have won the Champions Trophy at least once, India is the only country to have never won the Champions Trophy.

The Champions Trophy country records of the participating countries are given below.

World Ranking	Country	CT Appearances	Gold	P-W-L-D-GF-GA
1	Australia	25 out of 26	7	139-72-36-31-356-262
2	Netherlands	24 out of 26	7	136-77-39-20-366-255
3	Germany	23 out of 26	8	130-69-34-27-300-248
4	Spain	14 out of 26	1	80-21-44-15-143-197
5	Pakistan	25 out of 26	3	139-66-49-24-348-285
6	India	11 out of 26	-	61-17-34-10-126-172