Misc. news about Indian hockey

A forum to discuss Indian hockey and the disarray it is in despite the promising new professional PHL series.

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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by prasen9 »

Now if Batra can set up an objective umpire evaluation scheme such as they have in cricket, etc. to root out the bad umpires and keep the good ones, that will be great.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by ssp »

Some good news for women's hockey:
http://stick2hockey.com/Article/Propose ... 15562.html

This is the kind of league I've been hoping for. The HIL was too artificial and I just knew it wouldn't last. Let's hope this concept is permanent and can be expanded to senior women's and men's teams. That's the only way to ensure promising players are not lost but nurtured and made into top quality internationals. Who knows, we may become a bit more professional in selections too. ;)
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by rajitghosh »

Today one more legend passed away. Balbir Singh, who was definitely India's 2nd greatest player after Dhyan Chand passed away at the age of 96. He won Olympic golds in 48, 52 and 56 and was manager of the team that won the 1975 World Cup. He scored 2 goals in the 48 final and 9 out of 13 goals scored by India in the 52 Olympics. He was the captain in 1956. He played alongside other legends such as KD Singh Babu, Leslie Claudius, Ranganathan Francis and Pritpal Singh. He also played alongside the Indo-Pak legend AIS Dara as part of the undivided Punjab Police. (Dara played a major part in India's 36 win and represented Pakistan in 48). He had 3 hattricks in Olympic hockey.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by sameerph »

Our hockey team played their first international match today in Germany and thrashed Germany 6-1. :D I do not know if Germany was playing their full strength team but even if it was at half strength this is a very good result indeed.

1 more match against Germany and than 2 matches against GBR in Belgium.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by ssp »

I mistakenly thought this was a Pro League fixture, but obviously, it wasn't. Unsure of the strength of the Germans, but they have a couple f matches v Netherlands next week and were probably fielding a strong team. Amazing result. Biggest win against the Germans since the 1930s?

Our women are also in Germany. The lost 5-0 and 1-0 respectively in the first 2 tests.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by sameerph »

Second match ended in 1-1 draw. Germany with a much improved display it seems. Still much better results than what we usually get from our matches against Germans. Still will resereve my judgement because i do know if Germans were playing their full strenth or near full strength team.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by arjun2761 »

I saw a post somewhere saying that the Germans were playing their Pro Hockey League squad even in the first game. So while they may have rested their very best/experienced players (I don't know if they did that), this was still a top national team that they were putting out.

Our women lost the third test 0-2, so hopefully they can comeback and win the final match after losing the first 3.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by prasen9 »

Our PC specialist is Jarmanpreet Singh, who scored in both matches. Obviously because of his love for German, he is expected to play well there.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by ssp »

The 2nd match can be seen on YouTube or the FIH TV channel

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https://watch.hockey/

It's a good result as Germany had their full strength team. these are unofficial tests and have no bearing on FIH ranking points.

Unfortunately, our women seem to have regressed. I watched a couple of their games v. Argentina and we keep losing possession maddeningly. So many silly errors all over the pitch and throughout the entire game. The results in Argentina were decent, but they weren't fielding their strongest teams. Against Germany, we have failed to score in 3 matches.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by PKBasu »

Great set of results against Germany. To have beaten Germany 6-1 on their home soil, and then drawn the second match 1-1 is a an excellent set of results. Not since the 1950s have we thrashed Germany by that sort of margin. This is exciting stuff, and the 4th-ranked Indian side are beginning to look like serious medal prospects at last should the Olympics be held this year. In Asia, we will be more formidable.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by PKBasu »

The current world men's rankings are Belgium, Australia, Holland, India, Argentina, Germany, England, New Zealand. So the next couple of matches against Belgium and England will be crucial as well, even if no ranking points are available.

Malaysia are the next-highest Asian team, ranked as low as 11th. Japan (15th), Korea (16th) and Pakistan (17th) languish in the lower reaches.
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by PKBasu »

Our women are ranked 9th, just ahead of China (10th), Korea (11th), Belgium (12th) and Japan (13th). So for the women to lose to 3rd-ranked Germany isn't such a surprise. Holland and Argentina are the top-2 women's sides. Pakistan are 62nd (!), behind even Papua New Guinea!!
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by ssp »

Women lost 4th match v. Germany as well. At least they scored today! And weren't thrashed in the last 3 matches :p
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by ssp »

Very good tour. Finished with a 3-2 win over GB today. Drew 1-1 with them 2 days ago. In both matches, we scored very late on. Complete reversal from the usual story
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Re: Misc. news about Indian hockey

Post by prasen9 »

My impression is that our teams have gotten fitter and more experienced (from say 5 years ago and even maybe 3 years ago). With fitness comes the ability to compete at a high level the full length of the match and the experience creates mental toughness. But, I do not watch hockey or follow it that closely as some of you. I would love for someone who watches and reads more to comment if my impression is unfounded or it is true. Wrt experience, I am talking of team experience. In that, the players have internalized that there is nothing to panic about the last 2-3 minutes and it is the same hockey they play as in the first 2-3 minutes. Of course, the intensity is much more because the opposite team is trying hard especially if they are losing or even in a draw, but the team seems to have internalized that we need to keep our cool. Maybe the seniors have passed this onto the juniors. Or maybe the juniors are just carefree and do not have mental blocks that cause collapsing at the end.
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