Asia Cup Hokey 2009 to Feature 7 Teams Following Sri Lanka’s Withdrawal

Asia Cup hockey 2009 has turned into a 7-team tournament after Sri Lanka pulled out from the tournament. Though Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) offered Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand to fill in the gap created by Sri Lanka’s withdrawal, neither of the countries responded, leaving AHF with no other options but to stage the tournament with 7 teams. Sri Lanka initially replaced Oman who had pulled out earlier, and now that Sri Lanka also followed Oman’s footstep, the organizers are in a tough condition with the tournament format. It is really very tough to make 2 groups with 7 teams, but AHF has decided not to change the tournament format. So, now Group B where Sri Lanka was drawn would feature only three teams including defending champion India, Pakistan and China, while Group A will feature host Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh.

Related article:

bernama

USA Defeated Latvia 4-2 at the IIHF World Hockey Championship

USA ice hockey team clinched a come-from-back victory over Latvia in a Group C preliminary round match on Saturday in the ongoing IIHF World Hockey Championship. Tournament favorite USA faced stiff competition from Latvia. In fact, USA had to come from back twice during the match with Jack Johnson scoring two equalizing goals. USA coach Ron Wilson is pretty much happy to see his team facing stiff competition from Latvia. He said that it was necessary to face some challenge from Latvia and go through a bit of hardship during the match in what tested the character of USA team. In other matches, Finland defeated Norway 5-0, Czech Republic beat Denmark 5-0 and Sweden thrashed Austria 7-1.

Related article:

CBC

Tengku Abdullah: Malaysia must be on Top Physically in Asia Cup 2009

Tengku Abdullah, president of Malaysia Hockey Federation, has said that fitness will be a key factor for Malaysia in the upcoming Asia Cup 2009 hockey tournament to be held in Kuantan, Malaysia from 9 May to 16 May. Malaysia has recently become runners up in Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup at home, losing to India in the final. Now, Malaysian players are gearing up to do better in Asia Cup in front of the home fans.

However, Tengku Abdullah said that Malaysian players must be fit enough physically, if they are to achieve something phenomenal in the tournament. He has also added that the Malaysian players need to improve on their fitness level in order to compete with some of the European and Asian powerhouses. He hopes that the fitness level of the Malaysian hockey players will be somewhere between 100 to 150 percent. Asian Cup 2009 includes India, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Oman. Alongside India, Pakistan, South Korea, Malaysia is also considered to be one of the favorites of the tournament. Now, let us see if Malaysia can live up to the expectation of home fans in Asia Cup 2009 hockey tournament.

Related article:

bernama

Pakistan Recalled Four Senior Players for Asia Cup Hockey 2009

Pakistan did not fare well in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament in Malaysia where they became fourth among the five teams and suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Malaysia. Now, ahead of Asia Cup 2009 starting from 9 May in Malaysia, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has recalled four senior players including penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, striker Rehan Butt and goalkeeper Salman Akbar. Sohail has already joined Pakistan’s Asia Cup camp on 21 April. Three other players will also join the national camp for Asia Cup hockey very soon. With these four senior players back into the squad, Pakistan is expected to appear with their full strength in Asia Cup 2009 hockey tournament, putting their recent disappointing performance behind.

Related article:

dailytimes

Indian Hockey: Back in the Right Track?

India had a glorious past in the history of field hockey as India has eight Olympic titles alongside one world cup title to their credit. However, India’s performance in the world hockey has not been very impressive over the last 2 or 3 decades. The worst came last year when India failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics Games for the first time in its history- that resulted into the suspension of the corrupted elected body of Indian hockey federation by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Indian hockey is current run by an ad-hoc committee under the guidance of IOA.

Well, India’s recent performance on the field is pretty much impressive as they became runners up in the Punjab Gold Cup earlier this year and then defeated New Zealand 2-0 in a 4-match test series held in New Zealand. Recently, India won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament in Malaysia. Overall, Indian hockey team has been in good form of recent and it looks they are improving gradually. Now, the question remains if Indian hockey is in the right track ahead of next year’s World Cup Hockey tournament which is due to be held in India. Moreover, India will also host Commonwealth Games next year.

India has showed good prospect since the turn of the New Year, but India must ensure they can make the best out of the next year’s world cup and Commonwealth Games at home. Using the two tournaments, people who are now running the game must try to attract the younger generation towards hockey in order to develop the game in the long run in India. Moreover, the performance of India team in the two home tournaments will be very vital for the revival of Indian hockey. So, Indian Olympic Association (IOA), who are currently at the helm of Indian hockey, should take some initiative on this regard so that India could show impressive performance in both the tournaments.

Indian Hockey Defender Dilip Tirkey to Retire in 2010

Indian Hockey international Dilip Tirkey has said that he would retire from international hockey next year after representing India in 2010 World Cup Hockey and 2010 Commonwealth Games, both of the tournaments will take place in India. Dilip Tirkey has become the most capped hockey player in international arena with 404 matches during the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament. Tirkey has dedicated his achievement to Indian team and Indian hockey.

Dilip Tirkey now wants to represent India for another one year with an eye keeping on next year’s world cup and Commonwealth Games tournaments. After that, he will hang his boots for the last time. 31-year-old Dilip Tirkey has become most reliable defender of Indian men’s hockey team. Dilip Tirkey will now want to go into retirement on a winning note.

Related article:

PTI News

Pakistan Hockey Coach Hopeful about Asia Cup 2009 Success

You already know that Pakistan men’s hockey team displayed some of its poorest shows in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey 2009 tournament held in Ipoh, Malaysia. Pakistan lost four of its five matches in the five-team tournament where Pakistan finished at no. 4, the worst performance of Pakistan in the tournament’s history.

However, Pakistan hockey team coach Shahid Ali Khan has said that his team would bounce back in the upcoming Asia Cup 2009 which is due to kick off from 9 May in Kuantan, Malaysia. Mr. Khan believes that Pakistan would come back in Malaysia stronger and well-prepared for Asia Cup where eight Asian teams including Sultan Azlan Shah Cup champion India is expected to be hot favorite.

Pakistan will have four of its senior players including penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas back in the squad who were absent in the Azlan Shah Cup tournament. So, Pakistan coach is very much hopeful about Pakistan’s success in the upcoming Asia Cup 2009 where the champion team will qualify for next year’s world cup hockey which will take place in India.

Related article:

Sindh Today