n the annual Player of the Year nominations announced by the FIH, 3 of the 10 players nominated for the Young Player of the Year awards were from India - Junior World Cup-winning captain Gagan Ajeet Singh, penalty-corner ace Jugraj Singh and dashing forward Prabhjyot Singh. 2 of the 10 players nominated for the Senior Player of the Year awards were from India - defender Dileep Tirkey and goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan. 4 of the 5 Indian nominees - Gagan, Prabhjyot, Devesh and Dileep Tirkey - were products of the Air India Hockey Academy in Delhi.

The nominees were as follows:

Country	Junior Player	Country	Senior Player
Argentina	Matias Paredes	Argentina	Jorge Lombi
Australia	Grant Schubert	Australia	Brent Livermore Troy Elder
India	Gagan Ajit Singh Jugraj Singh Prabhjyot Singh	India	Devesh Chauhan Dileep Tirkey
Netherlands	Floris Evers Taeke Taekema	Netherlands	Teun de Nooijer
Spain	Alex Fabregas Eduard Tubau	Spain	Pablo Amat Xavier Ribas
Germany	Till Kriwet	Pakistan	Sohail Abbas Waseem Ahmad

The selection panel comprised 6 voters from 6 different countries - coaches Ric Charlesworth, FIH Master Coach (Australia) and Paul Lissek, FIH Master Coach (Germany), and journalists Bruce Hamilton (Australia), S. Thyagarajan (India), Sardar Khan (Pakistan) and Pat Rowley (England).

The winners were determined by a secret ballot amongst the panel members, and were announced on December 5 at OneWorld Sport, Parramatta, in Sydney. No Indian player won any award, with Grant Schubert of Australia winning the Young Player of the Year award and Teun de Nooijer the Senior Player of the Year award.

It is the second year in a row that an Australian has claimed the Young Player of the Year honour, after fellow striker Jamie Dwyer’s win in Perth last December.

“I was shocked to be nominated, let alone win the award. It’s a great achievement, one that I’ll remember for a long time. It gives me more confidence to play at the international level.” Schubert said.

Schubert, who hails from Loxton on the Murray River in South Australia, made his debut for the Australian national side only in August 2003. He won the award due to his impressive showing in just one tournament - the 2003 Champions Trophy, where he scored 9 goals in 6 matches to win the Most Promising Player award, and finished second behind Argentine Jorge Lombi on the top goal scorers’ list.

As Stick2hockey.com commented, "2001 Junior World Cup winning captain Gagan Ajeet Singh was nominated both in 2002 and 2003 in the Young Player of the Year category. The youngster has already carved a niche for himself in the world stage, scoring spectacular goals in the 2002 Asian Games, 2003 Champions Trophy, 2003 Hamburg Masters and the inaugural Afro-Asian Games. That none in the selection panel witnessed the Afro-Asian Games is another matter, where he scored five goals, including three mesmerizing goals against Pakistan in two matches. He and his country deserved recognition. India won four the six tournaments it played in 2003 and downplaying the feat is not appropriate."

In the women's category, Maartje Scheepstra of Netherlands won the Young Player of the Year award, while Mijntje Donners won the Senior Player of the Year award. Netherlands thus swept 3 of the 4 awards in contention.

Of the four award winners, the most extraordinary journey is that of Maartje Scheepstra. Born in Yali in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 23 years ago into a family of 11 brothers and sisters, including a twin sister, she was weak and expected to die shortly after birth. She was saved by her natural father who carried her 6 hours through the jungle to a hospital where she was cared for by a Dutch doctor. The doctor’s family adopted Maartje when they returned to Holland after a failed attempt to find her biological family.

Article by Vineeta Pande, Times of India

treaks of colour in their hair, swanky cars, latest gizmos, striking looks. The ambassadors of Indian hockey have turned upwardly mobile. Under the media glare, thanks to their four tournament triumphs in 2003, many of our stick-wielding heroes have become image conscious now.

And it all begins at the top. While some have got their hair coloured, some have shaved their heads for that bald and beautiful look. Striker Gagan Ajit Singh, midfielder Bimal Lakra and goalkeepers Devesh Chauhan and Kamaldeep Singh have coloured their hair, a la Japanese footballer Hidetoshi Nakata. Drag-flicker Len Aiyappa wears a clean shaven head, a la Brazilian Ronaldo. Arjun Hallappa is growing his locks so that he can make a pony-tail, a la David Beckham. Forward Sandeep Michael sports a plucky French beard. Prabhjyot Singh wears a bandana. Jugraj Singh liked to wear a headband. The fashion statements are loud and clear.

The style desire is not confined to the top players. Domestic players too are getting trendy. Bharat Petroleum’s captain M. Prakash has got his hair bleached. He says wide media coverage has made the players more aware of their looks.

Thus, big brands are in and street ones are out. Watches, jeans, sunglasses, mobile sets. Only the top international logos will do now. “I change my cell phone with the latest model every six months,” says Indian striker Prabhjyot Singh. On overseas trips, a lot of foreign stuff is bought. Why, skipper Dhanraj Pillay uses only globally famed cosmetics brands.

Style statement and Indian hockey? It does not sound incongruous anymore.

etter to the editor, Times of India (Mumbai), from Sneha Gour, Nashik (published November 7)

It was disheartening to find that a newspaper of your calibre failed to provide an exciting review of the electrifying Indo-Pak Afro-Asian Games hockey final played on October 31, in which we won the gold. We expected exhaustive coverage of the match, with colour photographs and expert comments. To our utter surprise, you devoted the entire sports page to the one-day cricket match that was still to be played in Mumbai. To top it all, the Indian cricket team handed over the match to the Aussies without a good fight.

It seems as if our cricketers don't get enough time to practice the game, given their hectic schedule of shooting for advertisements. Yet they are applauded - as well as excused for poor performance - whereas other sports players who put in 100% of their effort and win are overshadowed by the cricketers.

We look forward to less biased sports coverage, and hope to read more about sportspersons like Gagan Ajeet Singh, Dhanraj Pillai, Sania Mirza and Anju George, rather than the usual Virendra Sehvag, Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar.

Letter to the editor, Times of India (Mumbai), from Sunita Dube, Mumbai (published on November 8)

Congratulations for rubbing salt in the wounds of sportspersons other than cricketers and belittling their achievements. When India won the Afro-Asian Games gold in hockey, beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, your front page photograph the next day was of the empty pitch at Wankhede Stadium. In fact, there was no picture of the jubilant hockey team in the entire edition.

However, the next day the Australian players were in the limelight since they had beaten India. If we are a cricket-hungry nation to the detriment of other sports, the media has no small role in it.

Article courtesy The Hindu

uring a series of FIH committee meetings held at the Hilton Hotel in Brussels in late November, IHF secrtary Jothikumaran, who was a member of the Development and Coaching Committee, suggested that a world hockey academy be set up in Hyderabad to take advantage of the excellent facilities available now after the Afro-Asian Games. The move came in for a lot of appreciation not only during the meeting, but also when the concept was discussed in some detail during the visit to Hyderabad of the FIH President, Ms. Els van Breda Vriesmann, for the Afro-Asian Games.

Incidentally, Ms. Els was all praise for the manner in which the Games were conducted, and also for the importance shown to creating such a sophisticated hockey infrastructure in the Andhra capital.

The Communications Committee also met in Brussels, with England's David Burt at the helm. In the two-day sitting, the Committee took note of the encouraging enhancement of hockey's profile on global television networks. The increased interest of the media, especially in India, and the importance of enlarging the media database were discussed in detail. The modes and methods employed for selecting the annual Player of the Year award, and the ways and means to bring the sport into greater focus in the Olympique Museum in Lausanne (Switzerland) were also debated during the meeting.

Mr. Steve Morris, Secretary and Communications Manager, FIH, presented a report on the audience impact from television surveys, and also the efforts taken to introduce a monthly world players' rating utilising the services of a panel of top coaches in the continent. He revealed that Dubai-based TEN Sports is prepared to provide the necessary inputs for this exercise.

Article courtesy Rediff.com

njured drag-flick specialist Jugraj Singh could be back on the hockey field in time for India's Olympic qualifiers in Madrid, Spain, in March 2004. After undergoing successful multiple surgeries in Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA, the ace full-back has returned to India to undergo extensive physiotherapy.

The expert attending on him expressed optimism of the player returning to action in another couple of months. "The damage in his right elbow has been repaired. Some grafting has been done in his elbow to make up for bone loss," said Laljee Kent, Senior Orthopaedic Consultant, Batra Hospital, Delhi. "It will take about two months for him to make a comeback," he said.

Kent said the 20-year-old was treated by one of the world's best experts, Peter Cole, in the United States. "Since Jugraj is a drag flicker, it was imperative that his elbow was set right and this is why we referred him to someone who is an authority on elbow injuries."

The talented Punjab player was involved in a car accident in September and suffered grievous injuries, which saw him miss out on India's title triumphs in the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur and the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad.

Article courtesy Rediff.com

t was a different playing field for India's ace hockey forward Gagan Ajeet Singh, as he opted for a camel back instead of a hockey stick to manoeuvre his way through a strong cattle line-up.

The hockey star was in Pushkar, Rajasthan, to attend the 10-day Pushkar Mela on the invitation of the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC). Gagan, who belongs to a peasant family, rode a camel to visit various pandals and cattle markets in the fair, with the large festival crowd cheering him all the way.

The Junior World Cup-winning captain and his wife Aaina attended a few functions organised as a part of the fair. Pushkar Mela is the world's biggest cattle fair, organized every year by the RTDC.

"I always wanted to visit Rajasthan during the Pushkar fair. The magnitude of the event undoubtedly attracts me, like lakhs of others," Gagan told reporters. "I am thankful to RTDC for inviting me to be a part of the rich heritage."

ockey star Ignace Tirkey, the hero of the 2003 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, has been selected for the prestigious Ekalavya Award for 2003.

Instituted in 1993 by the Indian Metal Public Charitable Trust of the Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA), the award carries a cash prize of Rs. 75,000 and a citation. IMFA gives the prestigious Sarala Puraskar for excellence in Oriya literature, and the Ekalavya Puraskar for encouraging sportspersons from the state every year.

23-year old Tirkey, from Nawapara village in Orissa's Sundargarh district, has proved that he is one of Indian hockey's most promising stars, a company official said. The Ekalavya Puraskar Committee had been watching his performance for the last two years, he added.

Earlier recipients of the award include Debasis Mohanty and Shiv Sundar Das (cricket) and Dileep Tirkey (hockey).

he super league stage of the 40th ONGC-Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament was held at the Shivaji Stadium, Delhi, from November 18 to November 25. In a repeat of last year's final matchup, 5-times champion Punjab Police and 9-times champion Indian Airlines reached the final of the tournament, with the following match results:

Date	Punjab Police	Indian Airlines
Nov 19	drew with Bharat Petroleum 2-2	beat Tamil Nadu 4-1
Nov 20	beat EME, Jalandhar 4-2
Nov 21		beat Namdhari XI 4-1
Nov 22 (quarters)		beat Border Security Force 2-0
Nov 23 (quarters)	beat Indian Oil 3-2 (GG)
Nov 24 (semis)	beat Bharat Petroleum 2-0	beat Tamil Nadu 6-1

In the final played on November 25, defending champion Punjab Police outplayed fancied Indian Airlines 3-0 to retain the Jawaharlal Nehru hockey tournament. All 3 goals came off penalty corners, and were scored by brothers Daljeet Singh Dhillon (46 m) and Baljeet Singh Dhillon (58, 68 m).

Dhanraj Pillai toiled hard for the losers. In one great spell early in the second half, Dhanraj tore the rival defence apart and dribbled right into the middle of the circle, but Mukesh Kumar could not cash in. Then there was a cross on a counter attack that screamed across the D, with Arjun Halappa and Sameer Dad watching helplessly.

Dhanraj was not done yet. He laid another brilliant pass from the right to see V. S. Vinay missing the connection from close. Dhanraj limped off shortly after that, taking a ball on his foot, then came back after the Airlines goal fell and contributed one more defence-splitting pass, with Mukesh bungling again.

Punjab Police went home richer by Rs. 2.5 lakhs, while Indian Airlines received Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Earlier, Bharat Petroleum defeated Tamil Nadu 3-2 to finish third and win Rs. 1 lakh. Tamil Nadu bagged the ONGC Fair Play Trophy, Bharat Petroleum won the Pepsi Penalty Corner Trophy, while Indian Oil won the Sardar Daljeet Singh Trophy for the Most Promising Team.

Punjab Police was managed by Pargat Singh, while Indian Airlines was managed by Mervyn Fernandes. Indian Airlines last won the Nehru tournament more than a decade back, in 1993.

he 14th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament was held at the Shivaji Stadium, Delhi, from November 27 to December 3. Two foreign teams took part in the tournament - Star Club, Lahore and Dynamo Kazan of Russia. The team from across the border featured in its ranks former Pakistani captain Mohammad Sarwar.

Indian Oil and Indian Airlines reached the final of the tournament, with the following match results:

Date	Indian Oil	Indian Airlines
Nov 28	drew with Air India 2-2	beat Dynamo Kazan, Russia 7-1
Nov 29	beat Star Club, Lahore 4-2	beat Bharat Petroleum 2-0
Nov 30		beat ONGC 11-2
Dec 1	beat Indian Navy 4-1
Dec 2 (semis)	beat Bharat Petroleum 2-1	beat Air India 3-2

In the final played on December 3, Indian Oil beat Indian Airlines 2-1 through a golden goal by Deepak Thakur to win the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament. Arjun Halappa had given the lead to Indian Airlines in the very first minute, but Indian Oil restored parity through Player-of-the-Tournament Prabhjyot Singh's brilliant reverse flick in the tenth minute. After the score was tied 1-1 at the end of the regulation time, Deepak Thakur scored the all-important goal from a penalty-corner, five minutes into extra-time.

Indian Airlines played the final without two of their most senior players. High-profile Dhanraj Pillai was away attending a family bereavement, while skipper and defence stalwart Dileep Tirkey had to leave midway through the tournament to honour a prior commitment.

Veteran Mukesh Kumar was expected to step into the breach in the absence of these two stalwarts. However, it was a highly forgettable outing for Mukesh Kumar as he struggled to control the ball right through the match, and failed to give finishing touches more than once. In the 61st minute, Mukesh Kumar, on a counter attack, got a pass inside the circle from Brojen Singh with only goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan to beat. But the Hyderabadi, instead of controlling the ball and taking proper aim, managed only a wild shot that landed in the gallery, much to the disappointment of his team mates.

This was Indian Airlines' second defeat in a tournament final within a week. Indian Airlines had lost to Punjab Police in the summit clash of the Jawaharlal Nehru hockey tournament held a week earlier. This jinx started in 2002, when Indian Airlines finished runners-up in both the Jawaharlal Nehru and the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournaments.

Photo and text courtesy Great Indian Olympians by Ezekiel and Arumugam

he Photograph of the Month for December is of captain Shankar Lakshman standing on the victory podium in the 1962 Bangkok Asian Games. When Lakshman was selected as captain of the Indian hockey team in the 1962 Asian Games, he was the first goalkeeper to be named the captain of any country's hockey team. Under his leadership, India won its first-ever Asian Games hockey gold medal, beating Pakistan 1-0 in the final.

In all, Shankar Lakshman played in 3 Olympic finals and  3 Asian Games finals - all against Pakistan. Lakshman won gold in the 1956 Olympics, 1964 Olympics and the 1966 Asian Games. In four of these six finals, no Pakistani could score a goal against him. In the remaining two finals, Lakshman conceded three goals. Six finals and only three goals must rank as a wonderful record for any goalkeeper.

Shankar Lakshman received the Arjuna Puraskar after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold, and the Padma Shree after the 1966 Asian Games gold. He is the only hockey goalkeeper to be doubly honoured thus by India.

he difference between financial awards given to women's and men's national hockey team players is quite glaring in India.

After the Indian women's team won the Afro-Asian Games gold medal, upsetting South Korea in the semi-finals and South Africa in the final, the Indian Women's Hockey Federation (IWHF) gave a cash reward of Rs. 10,000 to each player of the victorious team.

After the Indian men's team won the Afro-Asian Games gold medal, comprehensively beating Pakistan 3-1 in the final, the IHF awarded Rs. 1 lakh to each member of the gold medal winning team. In parallel, Indian men's hockey sponsors, Sahara India, declared a bonus of Rs. 1.5 lakhs to each member of the victorious team. This cash award is apart from Rs. 25,000 which the national team players are getting monthly from Sahara.

There are two things that stand out - each member of the Indian men's team got 25 times what each women's team member got (Rs. 2.5 lakhs to Rs. 10,000), for winning the gold medal at the same Afro-Asian Games tournament. Also, the cash award that each women's team player got (Rs. 10,000) is less than what each men's team player gets as a monthly salary from Sahara (Rs. 25,000).

It would be highly desirable if Sahara India extends its benevolence to the Indian women's hockey team too. The women's team has won the Commonwealth Games gold (Manchester, 2002) and the Afro-Asian Games gold (Hyderabad, 2003), and with the right financial and media incentives, can reach the top flight of world hockey like their male counterparts.

uring the Afro-Asian Games, a 90-page paperback on hockey, 'Nation's Pride Dhanraj Pillay' was released by the Andhra Pradesh sports minister, P. Ramulu at the Viceroy Hotel in Hyderabad. The first copy of the book was presented to Sri. P. N. V. Prasad, Chairman, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh. Top Indian Olympic Association officials, including its president  Suresh Kalmadi were present during the brief ceremony.

'Nation's Pride Dhanraj Pillay', written by hockey yearbook compiler K. Arumugam, traces the life and times of the great field hockey player of our times, Dhanraj Pillay. The book describes how Dhanraj, the poor boy from Pune, rose to become a sporting icon of the India. All those who contributed to his hockey interests, like his mother, elder brother Ramesh Pillai, various coaches and well wishers, have been properly highlighted in this work. The book has 45 photographs, and aims to target the younger generation in order to popularize the game of hockey.

The book is first under the Popular Hockey Series being brought out by the Delhi-based Field Hockey Publications. The next book under the series will be on tribal star Dileep Tirkey, which is expected to hit the stands by the end of the year.

Theo Braganza, owner of Mumbai-based Marine Sports, possibly India's only sports bookshop, is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Besides selling all kinds of sports books, Marine Sports also publishes books on cricket, hockey, football and other sports. In 12 years, the Marine Sports has published some 65 titles. Marine Sports also started selling sports videos in 1985.

Marine Sports had even considered reviving the now defunct magazine Inside Hockey with the assistance of former hockey internationals, though that venture did not materialise eventually. Presently, Marine Sports stocks the various Hockey Year Books written by Arumugam, and also his latest book 'Nation's Pride Dhanraj Pillay'.

Theo, who hails from Mapusa in Goa, is presently the secretary of the Association of Cricket Statisticians & Scorers of India (ACSSI). Theo is well respected in Mumbai sporting circles, and can be counted on to locate rare sports books, on cricket, hockey and other sports. He also has a good stock of sports photographs and (mainly cricket) videos. Sports buffs will find in Theo a valuable sporting resource.

 

he Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur from January 8 to January 18, 2004, is India's first assignment in this upcoming Olympic year.

12 editions of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup have taken place so far - India and holders Pakistan are the only 3-time winners, and Pakistan is the only back-to-back title winner. The only other Asian team to have won the title is South Korea in 1996. Hosts Malaysia have never won the event. India last won the event way back in 1995.

The list of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup winners is given below:

Year	Venue	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Kuala Lumpur	Australia	Pakistan	India
1985	Ipoh	India	Malaysia	Pakistan
1987	Ipoh	Germany	Pakistan	Britain
1991	Ipoh	India	Pakistan	U.S.S.R
1994	Penang	England	Pakistan	Australia
1995	Kuala Lumpur	India	Germany	New Zealand
1996	Ipoh	Korea	Australia	Malaysia
1998	Ipoh	Australia	Germany	Korea
1999	Kuala Lumpur	Pakistan	Korea	Germany
2000	Kuala Lumpur	Pakistan	Korea	India
2001	Kuala Lumpur	Germany	Korea	Australia
2003	Ipoh	Pakistan	Germany	New Zealand