CHAMPIONS CHALLENGA DAY 1

FROM -- http://hookhockey.blogspot.com/

Group A: Japan 2 (Katsuyoshi Nagasawa, Kenji Kitazato) Poland 3 (Marcin Strykowski, Tomasz Gorny 2)
Both of Ireland’s group A opponents felt their way slowly into the competition, sticking rigidly to a half-court press game which ultimately bore no fruit and little goal-mouth action.

By contrast, the second half developed into a dramatic shoot-out from the moment Marcin Strykowski tapped home two minutes after the interval.

Katsuyoshi Nagasawa’s drag-flick equalised before Tomasz Gorny restored the lead, firing home a zippy move. Kenji Kitizato made it 2-2 with a tap-in but Gorny popped up late on to roof in style to cause a minor surprise based on world rankings.

Group B: Malaysia 3 (Kevinder Singh, Muhammad Amin Rahim 2) Austria 2 (Michael Korper 2)
Malaysia began their tournament in dream fashion as Kevinder Singh sniped through the Austrian defence in just the fourth minute to take a 1-0 lead which they held until the break.

The European side levelled in the 44th minute through Michael Korper's low drag-flick but Muhammad Amin Rahim returned the favour within two minutes to restore Malaysia's advantage before getting the crucial third with a carbon copy strike.

The Austrians narrowed the gap in the 60th minute, Korper nailing the fourth corner strike in quick succession but an equaliser evaded them to give Malaysia the early advantage in the group.

France 5 (Arnaud Becuwe 2, Thomas Gourdin, Nicolas Martin-Brisac, Freddie Soyez) Russia 3 (Alexey Sergeev 2, Alexey Mayorov)
France won out in a goalfest to take their place at the top of group B alongside Malaysia as they got the better of Russia this afternoon. Thomas Gourdin opened the floodgates from close range to open his sides before Nicolas Martin-Brisac made it 2-0 from a botched corner to tap in.

Russia got back into the contest in the 19th minute when Alexey Sergeev dragged home and his side were level early in the second half thanks to Alexey Mayorov.

But parity was short-lived as Soyez dispatched a corner for 3-2 while Arnaud Becuwe appeared to make it safe at 4-2 with another corner-strike. Russia, though, were not done - Mayorov executed a penalty stroke with two minutes to go but Becuwe completed the scoring on the final whistle to end a memorable match 5-3.

Standings (points/goal diff): 1. France 3pts (+2), 2. Malaysia 3pts (+1), 3. Austria 0pts (-1) 4. Russia 0pts (-2)

Malaysia book semis spot

MALAYSIA produced a stunning performance, under chilly and rainy
conditions in Dublin, to beat France 4-2 in a Group B match to advance to
the semi-finals of the Champions Challenge II yesterday.
  Malaysia, who edged Austria 3-2 on Monday, have earned six points, and
will complete their group fixture against minnows Russia tomorrow.
  The Malaysians dominated proceedings against France and took the lead
through Ismail Abu's field goal in the 15th minute.
  However, a defensive mix-up allowed France to level when Lucas
Sevestre's rising reverse stick attempt went past Malaysia goalkeeper S.
Kumar in the 22nd minute.
  But Amin Rahim's trademark penalty corner flick regained Malaysia's
lead, his third in the tournament, just two minutes before the half time
hooter.
  Malaysian went into the offensive at the start of the second half and
earned their third penalty corner in the the 37th minute.
  Azlan Misron deflected home a powerful drag flick by Amin for a 3-1
lead.
  Malaysia's aggressiveness paid off in the 40th minute when a midfield
build up led to a chance for Muhd Razie Rahim to slide in to finish off a
great cross.
  France earned their second goal through Arnaud Becuwe's field attempt
in the 68th minute
  Team manager George Koshy said his charges played a superb game to tame
France.
  "Everyone in the team contributed to this important victory. They
played their hearts out and it will surely give them the self-belief of
doing well in the tournament," said George when contacted in Dublin
yesterday.
  Malaysia will face Russia, who drew 4-4 with Austria yesterday, in
their last group match tomorrow.
  RESULT - Group B: Austria 4 Russia 4; Malaysia 4 France 2.

Nervy Malaysia survive a scare in Dublin

MALAYSIA scraped past Austria 3-2 in the Champions Challenge II in
Dublin, Ireland yesterday to be in the hunt for a semi-final berth from
Group B.
  Kelvinder Singh started the count with a fourth minute field goal,
while Amin Rahim scored two penalty corner goals in the 46th and 49th
minutes.
  The Austrians equalised at 1-1, after which Malaysia took a 3-1 lead
before allowing in a late goal. But Malaysia held on to win three
valuable points against their 22nd ranked opponents.
  The next battle is against 17th ranked France and a win will
consolidate their semis ticket. Their last hurdle is against Russia on
Thursday.
  At one stage, Malaysia were playing with nine players as Baljit Singh
and Jivan Mohan were sent to the sin-bin for a stick check, and
obstruction respectively.
  "The scoreline is not that good, but the players did just enough to
earn three points, and I am sure they will do much better against France
tomorrow (today)," said coach Tai Beng Hai.
  Malaysia played cautiously, even after taking a 3-1 lead, and the coach
said it was because they were caught many times for being too close
during autoplay.
  "Even when our players were not obstructing, or playing the ball but
just making a retreat after an infringement, we were penalised for being
in the way.
  "The rule was enforced too strictly, in my opinion, and we got caught
many times and my players became overly cautious after that," said Beng
Hai.
  "We will need to keep their winning momentum against France, and
qualify for the semi-finals on a clean slate.
  "The team will be more composed after overcoming their first match
jitters, and we should come out tops."
  RESULT - Group B: Malaysia 3 Austria 2.
  FIXTURES: TUESDAY - Group B: Austria v Russia, France v Malaysia; Group
A: Poland v Chile, Ireland v Japan.
  WEDNESDAY - REST DAY.
  THURSDAY - Group B: Malaysia v Russia, Austria v France; Group A: Japan
v Chile, Poland v Ireland.
  FRIDAY - REST DAY.
  SATURDAY - Semi-finals.
  SUNDAY - Final.

A revamp from Revington

IRELAND players ready for battle.

From http://hookhockey.blogspot.com/

(In Pool B, based on two warm-up matches with the Irish this week Malaysia should prove a big draw for neutral supporters. A 2-1 loss and a 2-2 draw belied some of the technical ability at hand and their penchant for a dramatically two-tempo game.
Their initially languid style tends to explode into life when the mood takes them with stick-skills which are a joy to behold. Seasoned internationals such as Boon Huat Chua and Kumar Subramaniam, but also includes eight players under the age of 23, two of which are teenagers).

AFTER six months in charge, Irish men’s coach Paul Revington is relishing the chance to finally get his charges into competitive action next week as hosts of the inaugural Champion’s Challenge II event.

Since officially taking the reins in January, Revington has been at the helm for Glendwyr and Celtic Cup successes but now gets his first opportunity to test his new side’s mettle on a fully-fledged ranking event.

His squad has changed dramatically from the one Dave Passmore took to New Zealand for the Olympic qualifiers 15 months ago - the last ranking event Ireland participated in.

With five senior retirements and two players looking into the possibility of playing for Great Britain seven of the changes are enforced ones while Phelie Maguire effectively ruled himself out due to his sojourn in Palestine.

Karl Burns, as such, is the only major name from the OQT panel to miss out in what is a new-look back four. Conor Harte and Joe Brennan’s ability to pick 70-metre passes has seen them elevated to their first major tournament while the immaculate Johnny Jackson should continue his progression, most likely at left-back.

Andy McConnell and Geoff McCabe are the newcomers in midfield, joining the experienced quartet of Shaw, Butler, Hobbs and Jermyn while up front young Leinster stars Alan Sothern (left) and Mitch Darling join the more established firepower of Mikey Watt, Eugene Magee and Timmy Cockram.

Japan are expected to be the front-runners in Ireland’s Pool A, although Poland – captained by Tomasz Dutkiewicz, their drag-flicking kingpin – could well be in the mix. Their side, many of whom are indoor experts, will aim to transfer their superb close stick skills to the outdoor form of the game. Chile complete the group, with 137-game veteran Felipe Montegu the man to watch.

Hockey India Chasing Shadows?

By S. Thyagarajan

Chennai: It is clear now that the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) is yet to receive any official communication from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) or any authorised unit about the creation and functioning of Hockey India.
Although there was a discussion among the top brass during the junior World Cup final at Johor Bahru, officials in the AHF are in the dark about the happenings here; apart from receiving details of the meeting held at Aamby Valley by units representing men and women State associations.
The consensus during the meeting, which included the FIH president Leandro Negre and vice-president, Tony von Andorza, was to wait and watch without reacting to the developments. The AHF’s viewpoint at that juncture was to treat the whole issue as India’s ‘internal matter’.
This being the scenario, the AHF secretary general, Tan Sri Alagendra, has expressed surprise over a fax message sent by Madhavan, secretary, Competitions Committee in the AHF, which the latter had as an email from advisor Anupam Ghulati.
The e-mail says “This is to inform you that Hockey India is the new national body for Men & Women hockey in India. You are requested to send all communications in future to us only.”
This e-mail has been forwarded to Mr. Alagendra and M. Ueda, chairman, Competitions Committee, by Mr. Madhavan with a terse note “Please see e-mail from Hockey India.”
Mr. Alagendra notes that “apart from this I have not received any official notification.”
He is understandably surprised why the e-mail was sent to the Competitions Committee and that too by an individual claiming to be an advisor and not by the secretary-general if HOCKEY INDIA has the sanction to function as the official unit to represent the nation in the FIH.
While the much publicised visit to India by Mr. Negre did not come through — the FIH sources claim there was no programme of his travel from Johar Baru to New Delhi — officials travelled to Melbourne to call on the secretary, Peter Cohen, reportedly indisposed.
Yet to happen
The meeting sought by IOA president, Suresh Kalmadi, with J.B. Roy and Armit Bose on the eve of the hockey units’ meeting in Aamby Valley is yet to take place despite the fact that the two had accepted the invitation and intimated the IOA chief to indicate the date and time for a discussion.
The duo, however, had a long meeting with the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, M.S. Gill, and detailed him on the meeting of the hockey units from across the country and the sentiments expressed during the meeting at Aamby Valley on June 15.
Is not everything getting curiouser and curiouser?

The Hindu