Thursday, March 28TRUSTED FEARLESS INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS PORTAL

Tag: indian hockey team

Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Manpreet Singh shines in attacking role as India put four past Ireland

It is not often that a hockey match ends 4-0 with four different goal-scorers and the Player of the Match award goes to someone other than them. As India beat Ireland at the FIH Pro League in Rourkela on Sunday, it was Manpreet Singh who got the nod for the award in the end and it was fitting too, for the classy performance he produced in the midfield. India had somewhat of an unusual collection of scorers in Nilakanta Sharma (14′), Akashdeep Singh (15′), Gurjant Singh (38′), and Jugraj Singh (60′) as they closed out the Odisha mini-tournament with their third outright win, moving up to third place on 15 points. But Manpreet was in dazzling form, dictating India’s attacking pace and showing off his creativity to fashion proactive chances. After Ireland had made a fast start to the match...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Defence stands tall as India hold red-hot Australia to a 2-2 draw

When the FIH Pro League lineup for the Odisha mini tournament was confirmed, it was immediately obvious that the Indian men’s hockey team would face four stern – and important – tests over two legs against Australia and the Netherlands. With Paris Olympics as the aim, these were the games where India would have to show what level they were at.On Saturday in Rourkela, Harmanpreet Singh’s men held Australia for a hard-fought 2-2 draw before losing the shootout 0-3 to miss out on a bonus point. With that result, India finished with three draws in regulation time against the two powerhouses and lost once 4-6 against Australia in a crazy match. Harmanpreet gave India the lead with a drag flick (20′), before Blake Govers equalised from a penalty stroke (23′). Amit Rohidas, a local hero from h...
Sports

FIH Pro League: India’s battle vs World No 1 Netherlands lives up to billing in Paris Olympics buildup

Lalit Upadhyay leapt so high above the defence he might as well have been a footballer trying to head home a hopeful cross into the box.A second ago, the ball was in India’s half with Harmanpreet Singh stopping in his tracks to find passing options. None available, with all closely marked by the Dutch who were one-up, he turned to India’s Man Friday Hardik Singh to his right. Hardik spotted Lalit taking a step forward and lobbed a ball that travelled almost three-fourths the length of the pitch and kept on sailing. It was destined to land on the advertising boards until, like a superhero popping from nowhere to save a distressed soul’s life, Lalit jumped high, put his stick above his head and plucked the ball from the cool Rourkela air. Goal in just over 30 seconds! #FIHProLeague @jarm...
Sports

Ahead of Paris Olympics, why Indian hockey team coach Craig Fulton is trying to assemble team of 10 ‘aloos’ and a ‘keeper

In his typical self-effacing manner, Manpreet Singh once said, in a lighter vein, that he is called aloo by his teammates. One of the fittest players in the world, Manpreet was referred to as a humble potato for a simple reason: the utility factor. He could be used anywhere on the field, in any shape the team plays.By extending that logic, India coach Craig Fulton is now trying to assemble a team of 10 aloos and a goalkeeper. A centre-half, Manpreet, has played as a defender and an attacking midfielder. A forward, Gurjant Singh, has dropped back and played on the right of the midfield. Defenders have pushed up, midfielders switch positions among themselves and someone like Hardik Singh has covered literally every part of the field. On Monday, Manpreet started the FIH Pro League match a...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Craig Fulton’s vision of control over chaos is a work in progress as India edge out Ireland

Ned was just a nickname until it became a motivation mantra of sorts that could well be plastered on the walls inside the dressing room. Ned – Never Ending Dream.The acronym was born when ‘Ned’ started his own company more than a decade ago. When he moved to hockey coaching and took charge of Ireland, it became a rallying cry for the underdogs’ quest to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1948. In 2018, it became Belgium’s motto as they lifted their first World Cup. Ned’s dream now continues with India, the team he now coaches. Ned is Craig Fulton. The South African who, with his emphasis on defensive structures, transformed Ireland and turned Belgium into an unstoppable force. “He made us very tough to beat. We were defensively very good in that period,” says Michael Robs...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: India go aerial before crash landing against familiar foes Australia in a crazy match

The 60 minutes on a breezy night under lights against Australia neatly summarised the 60 years of Indian hockey since they stopped being the world masters. Suffering, comeback, hope before things, eventually, fall apart.On Thursday at the Kalinga, there were at least two elements that aren’t usually associated with an Indian performance against Australia – comeback and hope. For those clinging on to some positives to take away from India’s 4-6 defeat in the FIH Pro League, it would be that. The tennis set-like scoreline doesn’t reflect how good India were – albeit in spells – and how unfair the final score might feel to the players who left everything on the field. A Goal Fest we witnessed tonight. A game of comebacks. The first half belonged to Team India, second half Australians domi...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Hardik Singh proves to be India’s heartbeat, PR Sreejesh stands tall again as hosts edge out Netherlands in thriller

That Hardik Singh is the heartbeat of the Indian men’s hockey team couldn’t have been more evident than on Sunday in Bhubaneswar. The vice-captain was at the centre of most things good his side did in the FIH Hockey Pro League match against world No. 1 Netherlands. In a riveting game between two top sides, India took the lead through Hardik and scored an equaliser late on thanks to captain Harmanpreet Singh, from a PC that his deputy won. A 2-2 draw saw the teams share a point each before PR Sreejesh showed in class in the shootout as India won an additional bonus point. It wasn’t quite two teams going all-out attacking throughout the game, it was a bit of ‘cat-and-mouse’ as Dutch coach Jeroen Delmee put it at half time. But the match built up into a nice crescendo before India edged i...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh shines as India put on a skillful, controlled show in season-opener to beat Spain

The sly feints were the first hint that India were ‘in the mood’. The cute dinks over the stick were further evidence of it. The drag-flickers nutmegging goalies, defenders making stealing an artform and players putting their bodies in the line to stop the ball from flying into the net only affirmed that India, the repeat offenders in making low-energy starts, meant business.There were goals. Four of them, including a ridiculous no-look slap-hit by Lalit Upadhyay. But it’s the little tricks and flicks; a sneaky run here, a sharp save there that made the team a delight to watch in their FIH Pro League season-opener against Spain at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Spain may not inspire the same level of dread among the Indian players as some of the other teams. But they are no pushove...
Sports

Coach Fulton on defender Varun’s rape case – ‘It’s a distraction, not great but we have to move forward’

The news of Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Varun Kumar being accused of rape is a ‘distraction’ and is ‘challenging’, chief coach Craig Fulton said. However, he said the team has a plan in place ‘on how we go’ without him in the months leading up to the Olympics. Varun was supposed to be a part of the team for the Pro League matches starting Saturday in Odisha but left the group after an FIR was filed against him in Bengaluru last Tuesday. The defender, who is a drag flick option too for his side, is exploring legal options to tackle the allegation, which he described as a “calculated attempt to extort money” from him, reported PTI. Speaking on the issue on the eve of India’s first match of the competition against Spain, Fulton said: “If you take it from the outside-in, of course it’s ...
Sports

FIH Hockey Pro League: Eyes on youngsters as Craig Fulton looks to finalise India’s Olympic Games squad in Odisha

The dossiers are getting thicker. And training drills are being designed basis that. As much time is spent indoors – in the meeting rooms of hotels, stadiums, and training centers, plotting the downfall of every opponent – as the minutes spent on the field, where the plans will be put into motion.Every move will be analysed and each match will be an audition. “It’s test matches now. Home stretch,” says coach Craig Fulton. “We are looking to confirm our Olympic squad.” With that, the South African laid down the marker for India’s hockey players. Over the next fortnight, the eight games that India play against the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, and Ireland in the FIH Pro League in Odisha will, in essence, be the selection trials for the Paris Olympics squad. The matches later this year, F...
Sports

Women’s hockey Olympic qualifiers: India stay on road to Paris with convincing win over Italy

The ball was still mid-flight when Salima Tete took off.The forward, who has taken it upon herself to ensure India do not miss the Olympic bus, received a pass inside the ‘D’ on the right with seconds remaining in the third quarter. She looked up to see where the goalkeeper was and, from an acute angle, unleashed a ferocious hit. As the ball flew into the far corner, Salima dashed towards the other side, in the direction of Udita Duhan. In the centre of the pitch, the two players who have turned around India’s faltering campaign embraced each other. Soon, they were swarmed by the rest of the teammates. Salima’s goal came at a time when Italy still had some fight left in them. Unfazed by the two-goal deficit, the Europeans continued to dart forward, test the Indian defence and win penalt...
Sports

Ahead of do-or-die match, breaking down what needs to happen for Indian women’s hockey team to stay in qualification race for Paris Olympics

It’s a situation the men’s team is fairly familiar with: a big tournament, a seemingly straightforward task made hugely complicated and not knowing which side will turn up on the match day – the sensationally skilful or frustratingly awful.The women have followed in their footsteps. In two days, India’s hopes of qualifying for the Olympics have gone from touching the nadir, thanks to the opening-day defeat to the US, to being resurrected in the most extraordinary fashion with a win over New Zealand on Sunday. When the Savita Punia-led team returns to action in the Olympic qualifying tournament on Tuesday, they’ll hope there will be no more twists. That bit, though, won’t be entirely in their hands. Before they take the field in Ranchi at 7.30 pm local time, India will have their eyes fi...
Sports

Hockey Junior World Cup: Familiar follies, another fourth-place heartbreak as India lose bronze medal match against Spain

As the final hooter went after 1-3 defeat to Spain, the goalkeeper Mohith HS stood on one knee staring into the distance, quite possibly wondering what more he could have done. The rest of the Indian team looked shellshocked as Spain celebrated only their second bronze in the tournament. For the two-time champions though, the wait to return to the podium continued. After the semifinal defeat for India at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup against Germany, the conclusion was clear. There was deep disappointment for captain Uttam Singh and coach CR Kumar that they missed out on reaching the final, despite creating a bucketload of opportunities to score. On Saturday, it would turn out to be a familiar tale once again in the bronze medal match as India went down 1-3 against Spain in Kual...
Sports

Paddy’s field work: Blending Indian hockey’s silent and aggressive warriors, defanging opponents into shirt colours & brainstorming in Hindi

Paddy Upton relies on the simplest of techniques to declutter the most complex of subjects.To take away the fear – or complacency – he is training India’s hockey stars to look at their opponents merely as coloured shirts, thus stripping the players of their aura. To deal with the different, clashing personalities within the dressing room, he has bracketed them into two categories: the silent warriors and the ultra-aggressive warriors. Or, as he puts it, the KL Rahuls and the Virat Kohlis. And to define the ‘Indian style’, he falls back on an idiot-proof analogy. “Just go drive on a road in Mumbai and go drive in Belgium. You see a massive difference,” says the South African mind master, who joined the Indian hockey team’s backroom staff this year. “One is unstructured and the other is a...
Sports

Hockey Junior World Cup: Stern test awaits Uttam Singh and Co as they take on Germany in the semifinal

Uttam Singh couldn’t mask his glee even though close to 48 hours had passed since he scored a goal from the unlikeliest of penalty corner variations. “We had worked on them in practice,” the India junior captain said, talking about his late winner against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the Junior World Cup. “There were two minutes left in the match and it was the right time to use it. Coach signalled us to go for it and we executed just as per our training.” Uttam stresses on the execution bit. And coach CR Kumar, seated next to him on the eve of the semifinal against Germany, nods in agreement. For Uttam and Kumar the only real difference between the win against the Netherlands on Tuesday and the defeat in the group stage to Spain, who will play France in the other semifinal, w...
Sports

While Savita and Co went on to win the Asian Champions Trophy, two Indian umpires felt joy from their Plan B

In Ranchi during the Asian Champions Trophy, thousands descended at the Astroturf Hockey Stadium to watch the Indian women’s hockey team. But even when Savita Punia and Co were not playing, they had a couple of other Indians to cheer for. In a few of the non-India matches, two umpires got a smattering of applause every time they walked out onto the field leading out the teams. For Rama Potnis and Yogita Pasi, two youngsters who grew up with dreams of playing hockey at the highest level, it felt like vindication. Rama, a 29-year-old from Kohlapur in Maharashtra, started playing around 2006 when she was in class V. Yogita, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, began her hockey journey in 2005. Both of them, however, had to abandon hopes of scaling up the rungs as players because of injuries. Her pas...
Sports

Asian Champions Trophy: Savita Punia and Co know they were poor against China in Hangzhou, now they get a chance for a do-over

At Gate No 1 of the hockey Stadium in Ranchi, there is the regular tournament branding but it is impossible to miss what is next to it: a roughly 20-feet cutout of India captain Savita Punia. The goalkeeper who has stood tall between the posts many a time in the recent years, is literally doing so at the venue of the Asian Champions Trophy. “Haan dekha,”(yes, saw) Savita tells The Indian Express with a sheepish smile when shown a photo of it. “I have never seen anything like this for myself before. Hockey India posted a video and my brother saw the cutout and called me. Even my family knows how I am not comfortable with these things. But it’s good of course, that there is a regard. However this is not something like a thing to celebrate. If it was a cutout of our team I would have perha...
Sports

Women’s Asian Champions Trophy: In India’s 5-0 win against Malaysia, a delightful goal made entirely in Jharkhand’s Simdega

A Hockey Jharkhand official informed a few reporters before the pushback between India and Malaysia at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy that a lot of kids from the district of Simdega are at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. His rough count is 150 but perhaps there are even more.That section of the stands is the most vibrant as a capacity crowd set up a raucous atmosphere. And they had a superb view as India scored their third goal of the night… one made entirely in Simdega. India defeated Malaysia 5-0 on Saturday to make it two wins in two matches. Vandana Katariya (7′, 21′), Sangita Kumari (28′), Lalremsiami (28′), and Jyoti (38′). Perhaps the best goal of the night but definitely the most significant goal of the night was scored by Sangita to put Ind...
Sports

Asian Champions Trophy: Savita Punia to lead India’s charge in Ranchi as Hockey India name largely same squad as Hangzhou

It will be a largely unchanged Indian women’s hockey team squad from Hangzhou that will take part in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2023 set to take place from 27th October to 5th November in Ranchi, Jharkand. Hockey India announced a 20-member squad on Wednesday with Savita Punia leading the side with Deep Grace Ekka as her deputy. India recently won the bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou. India will compete at the ACT alongside Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. India’s Chief Coach Janneke Schopman said, “It is an important tournament for us to continue our momentum and our steady improvement as a team. While we performed well at the Asian Games to claim bronze, the upcoming tournament will give us a chance to further improve our standings against our Asian ch...
Sports

Asian Games hockey gold: Of pride and a plan coming together

The Indian men’s hockey team entered Asian Games as overwhelming favourites for gold, and they completed the job with just a brief hiccup in the semifinals. For coach Craig Fulton, the priority was to establish his team as the best in Asia. He did not have much time to do it, but the plans came together since he took over in May. “I think I am proud more than anything,” the South African tells this newspaper. “It’s been under 5 months really and a lot has happened in that time, first with getting to know the squad, then two rounds of Pro League, then Spain, then Asian Champions Trophy. It’s been tough. The boys have pushed really hard. And I think if you look back at all the results, it’s shown consistency that we are proud of.” One of the first things that Fulton did was bring in his ...