India to Start Olympics Qualifying Mission from 1 March

Indian hockey team will start their Olympics qualifying mission from March 1. India will play their first match against Mexico, who has replaced Egypt following their withdrawal due to financial constraints. Besides India and Mexico, the tournament features Bangladesh, England and Austria. Each team will play five matches in the tournament. The final match will be held on March 9 March.

Newindpress reported:

“Mexico replacing Egypt is not a big problem for India. The biggest hurdle is England. We have to beat them twice to qualify, god willing we will be able to do,’’ said IHF secretary Jothikumaran.
“Our preparations are in full swing. The Test series against Belgium will give our boys good practice. After the Test series our boys will train in Perth from February 1 to 15. They will play practice matches against Western Australia and Chinese team,” added Jothikumaran.

Hockey Powers Shine in the First Day of Junior Men's 8 Nations Invitation Tournament

Junior Men's 8 Nations Invitation Tournament has been started in Malaysia. The big names of world hockey have smashed their opponents in the first day of the tournament. Malaysia lost to Australia 5-2. India, Netherlands, Germany have also projected big margin wins against South Korea, New Zealand and Pakistan respectively. Pakistan and South Korea were unimpressive, despite the fact that they are also considered as powerhouse of hockey.

Bernama reported:

Malaysian coach V. Muraleedharan said the team need to improve further in their technical play which was inconsistent.
Asked on their strategy for tomorrow's match against the skilful and fast Pakistanis, he said they will be banking on counter attacks and will tighten the defence.
Meanwhile, in the another three matches, the Netherlands recorded the biggest win thumping New Zealand 9-1, while India beat South Korea 6-1 and Germany beat Pakistan 5-1.

Canada Dominating in the World Women’s U-18 Hockey Tournament

Canada has maintained their impressive run at the inaugural world women’s U-18 hockey championship. Canada has recently roared past Germany projecting a 10-1 victory. Earlier, Canada had a 11-2 victory over Czech Republic in their opening match of the tournament. So, they are in a steady way to win the championship.

The Canadian Press reported:

Brianne Jenner scored twice and added an assist as Canada defeated Germany 10-1 Tuesday to improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Canada defeated the Czech Republic 11-2 in its opening game Monday.

Canada outshot Germany 54-9 Tuesday, which meant London, Ont., native Mazzotta didn't have much to do in her first start of the tournament.

"It's never boring because you are watching great hockey in front of you," Mazzotta said. "But you've just got to stay focused and kind of run situations through your mind like if the puck were to flip out I'm going to be on top of my crease, I'm going to be ready."

Premier Hockey League Best of Three Final Starts Today

Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Chandigarh Dynamos are the two finalists of the Premier Hockey League in India. The first of the best of three finals will be held today. Both the teams confident to win the trophy though both the teams have admitted that the team plays better will be the winner of the final.

The Hindu reported:

On the eve of the first final, Hi-Fliers and Dynamos assessed each other and concluded, that “the team that plays the best shall win.”

Hi-Fliers coach Ashish Ballal observed, “I am more than satisfied with the performance of the team. Even if we did not play too well, we are in the final. We have taken all steps that will help us make progress and we will rise to the occasion. May the better team win the title.”

Indian Hockey Needs to Revive

Premier League Hockey now seems to bring back the golden time of hockey in India. Well, cricket is still the dominant sports in India as most of the Indian people follow the Indian teams. However, public interest for hockey has been limited to World cup, Olympic Games and Asiad. So, not many youngsters are eager to see their future in hockey. Now, the time has to think about hockey and take some proper initiative to develop hockey in the country.

Merinews reported:

The 2005 edition was won by the Hyderabad Sultans while in 2006, Bangalore Hi Fliers defeated Chandigarh Dynamos to emerge victorious and last time it was Orrisa Steelers who bagged the honours.

While most experts agree that it is too early to predict the fallout of the PHL, many in Indian hockey circles are delighted to have hockey glamorised with the intention of reviving the flagging sport. Experts accuse the Indian Hockey Federation of being too lethargic and bureaucratic in popularising the sport. Meanwhile the International Hockey Federation is keenly studying the format.

Missy Meharg and Tjerk van Herwaarden Received USA Field Hockey Accreditation

Missy Meharg has received accreditation of USA Field Hockey highest coaching. She is the head coach of Maryland. Tjerk van Herwaarden also got the same accreditation recently. So, they have been invited to take part in the USFHA Level III accreditation course for the first time. So, this is good news for Maryland.

CSTV reported:
The USFHA's comprehensive coaching accreditation program features four course levels, beginning with the developmental through to the international/elite levels. USFHA Technical Director Terry Walsh held the inaugural Level III coaching course where 18 high-level international and NCAA coaches were in attendance, including 20th-year Terrapin head coach Missy Meharg and Tjerk van Herwaarden, who completed his third season in College Park.

Indian Coach Made the List of 29 Players Public

Sandeep Singh has been called up for the Indian national team. He has been picked in the list of 29 players selected for the training camp ahead of the three-nation Hockey tournament. The tournament will start from January 22 including Pakistan and Belgium. Indian will later declare 22 or 24 names for the final squad of the competition. All the teams will face each other twice and then two teams with highest points will play in the final.

The Hindu reported:

Indian chief coach, Joaquim Carvalho, who released the list of probables, said on Friday that the 29 players picked for the camp have to prove themselves to gain a berth in the final team for the three-nation tourney.

Carvalho said the final team will have either 22 or 24 players.

Pakistan and Belgium, who have already qualified for the Beijing Olympics in August, are the other teams for the January 22-30 tournament.

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