24 hours to London hockey fixtures...

The London Olympic Organizing Committee, together with the International Hockey Federation will announce the competition schedule for the 2012 Olympic hockey tournaments tomorrow. The schedule will be released on both the London 2012 page and the official FIH website tomorrow morning.

  The teams and preliminary round groups were finalised two weeks ago after the South African men became the 24th and final team the qualify for the games. The preliminary round groups are:

WOMEN: Pool A: Netherlands, Belgium, China, Korea, Great Britain, Japan.

Women: Pool B: New Zealand, Australia, Argentina , South Africa, Germany , United States.

MEN -- Group A: Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Pakistan,
Argentina, South Africa.

Group B: Germany, Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, India,
Belgium.

Condom makes Sanjay’s stick better..

By Rajni Shaleen Chopra

Condoms scale down production, but that is when it comes to humans. A Jalandhar-based manufacturer is now the largest producer of hockey sticks in the country — courtesy condoms.
   Sanjay Kohli, managing director of R K Sports, hit upon this idea a few years ago. The reason was his growing frustration with the hook of the stick, which strikes the ball. The slender, curvaceous hook is actually seven pieces of mulberry wood bound and glued through a tedious process before you get the perfect curve. For the manufacturers of hockey sticks, keeping the hook together is the biggest challenge.
    The problem started first at the factory end. The conventional way was to stick a plastic net on the hook to keep it together. On many sticks, the net would not dry properly or grip the hook, making the precious mulberry wood go to waste. “A good percentage of sticks got damaged this way and had to be shoved into the furnace. The next challenge was the playfield, where the hook split after a few hard strokes,” said Kohli.
   Thinking what will hold the hook together and also grip it right, Kohli hit upon a gem of an idea. Now, during the manufacturing process, condoms are smoothened over the stick. After the sticking net has moulded itself perfectly on the hook, it is time to slide the condom off. The result, after some smoothing and polishing, is a shiny, glossy hook to which the handle is attached. And what you have is a perfect hockey stick, ready to strike ball.
   Today, his employees might well say “What an idea Sirji”, because condoms have helped Kohli increase his production — and his annual turnover — four-fold.
   All this didn’t come without hiccups. Kohli started buying loads of condoms from the neighbourhood store. It went well for a few days, till the shopkeeper smelt a rat and asked Kohli’s worker what was going on — had a brothel opened in the area? Kohli invited the shopkeeper over to the factory and explained what was being done with the condoms. It all ended in cheer and laughter and it is Kohli who is now laughing all the way to the bank.
    When Kohli stated using condoms on hockey stick hooks a few years ago, he made 45 to 75 sticks a day, depending on the success of holding the hook together. Production is now up to about 225 sticks a day. “The condoms have improved the quality of our sticks and hence, the rising demand,” Kohli said. The annual turnover is now up to an impressive Rs 5.25 crore — from the 70-75 lakh a year he made earlier.
   Punjab is the largest producer of hockey sticks and Kohli has a clear edge over his competitors with his new technique. The condoms have helped him save significantly on mulberry wood, which is in scarce supply in the country.
   Indian Express

India batting for sixer or better in London

INDIA coach Michael Nobbs is looking for a top-six finish in the London Olympics, and the Azlan Shah Cup starting on Thursday will be a perfect test for his charges.
     The Australian, who brought down a mixed team, arrived yesterday and traveled to Ipoh with his charges via the ETS from Kuala Lumpur.
   “I am building a side to finish among the top-six in London, and the Azlan Shah Cup will provide us another test on a blue pitch against five other Olympians,” said Knobbs at the old Kuala Lumpur railway station yesterday.
    India played in a Four-Nation Invitational at the Olympic hockey venue in London early in the month, and lost 2-1 to Britain in the bronze match, while Germany beat Australia 5-2 for the gold medal.
   In the earlier matches, India lost 3-0 to Australia, 2-1 to Germany, and 4-2 to Britain.
    “And after the Azlan Shah Cup, we will be playing 10 more matches in Europe before the final selection is made,” said Knobbs.
    India’s ace penalty corner flicker Sandeep Singh, who twice became the top-scorer in the Azlan Shah Cup, hopes the pitch is much better than the one at the Olympic venue in London.
   “Hopefully the pitch is not as bumpy as the one in London. I had problems executing drag flicks (during penalty corners) and this affected the outcome of our,” said Sandeep.
    For Rupinder Pal Singh, the joint top scorer last year with six goals, the presence of Sandeep somewhat eases the load off his shoulders.
   “Obviously Sandeep will have the first bite but it also gives us more options during penalty corners,” said Rupinder Pal who was seen watching several penalty corner variations on a lap-top with Nobbs while waiting for their ETS to Ipoh.
     “We need to be consistent as the matches in Ipoh will provide the coach with valuable input that will ultimately decide who travels to London,” said Rupinder Pal.
   As for Malaysia, coach Tai Beng Hai will name his final 18 today in Ipoh. There are 26 trainees, with eight of them juniors who won gold at the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca.
     FIXTURES -- Thursday: Pakistan v Argentina (4pm), New Zealand v India (6pm), Korea v Malaysia (8pm).
    FRIDAY: New Zealand v Argentina (4pm), Britain  v Malaysia (6pm), Korea  v India (8pm).
    SUNDAY: New Zealand v Pakistan (4pm), Korea v Argentina (6pm), Britain v India (8pm).
    MAY 28: Korea v Pakistan (4pm), Britain v Argentina (6pm), India v Malaysia (8pm).
     MAY 30:  Argentina  v  India (4pm), Britain v New Zealand (6pm), Pakistan  v Malaysia (8pm).
     MAY 31: Britain v Korea (4pm), Pakistan v India (6pm), New Zealand  v  Malaysia (8pm).
     JUNE 2: Korea v New Zealand (4pm), Britain v Pakistan (6pm), Argentina v Malaysia (8pm).



ends/

Titah Sultan Azlan Shah: Be serious Malaysia..

SULTAN Azlan Shah has, for the first time, sent out a stern message to the Malaysian hockey team not to take his tournament in Ipoh from May 24-June 3 lightly.
    The former Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president and current Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) president said this after holding a special meeting with tournament stake-holders on Saturday.
    “My message to the Malaysian team is not to treat my tournament as a practice session. Give more respect to it. The Malaysian team must be serious,” said Azlan Shah.
   He made that comment after a closed door meeting with stand-in-team manager George Koshy, Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) senior vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, AHF secretary general Tan Sri P. Alagendra and National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong.
    The meting, among others, discussed the composition of the team for the Azlan Shah Cup.
    When asked if he would like to see a bigger pool of juniors in the Malaysian senior team: “Yes we did discuss about that, but I can’t tell you how many juniors (from the Junior Asia Cup squad) should be included, but suffice to say that the juniors should be given a chance to play against the best in the world,” said Azlan Shah.
    The Invitational tournament will feature six Olympic teams in Britain, New Zealand, South Korea, Argentina, Pakistan and India.
     Seniors coach Tai Beng Hai has included eight juniors, who won the Junior Asia Cup gold, into his training squad and they played a friendly against New Zealand yesterday.
    “I can’t name the final squad yet because Razie Rahim (main senior penalty corner flicker) picked up an injury in training and I need a few days to find out how serious it is.
    “I will be naming the squad only after I fond out if Razie can play or not,” said Beng Hai.
    The eight juniors who might just get a chance of a lifetime to play in the Azlan Shah Cup are Faizal Saari, Fitri Saari,  Firhan Ashaari, Faiz Helmi, Nor Izzat Sumantri, Mohamed Ramadhan, Noor Faeez Ibrahim and Amir Farid.
   Malaysia, who ended at last in the seven-team tournament last year, yesterday New Zealand won 4-2 in the warm-up friendly.
     “We might name the team on Tuesday, as there are some injury problems and also we need to give more time to the juniors to assimilate before we can name the final squad,” said team manager Stephen van Huizen.

Gold is what MHC wants..

MALAYSIAN Hockey Confederation (MHC) senior vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad yesterday set a sky-high target of playing in the final for the Azlan Shah Cup which will be held in Ipoh from May 24-June 3.
  His reasoning was: "The senior team need to redeem their pride after failing to qualify for the Olympics. This message was also conveyed to the team by president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah."
  Malaysia will be up against six Olympic teams in hosts Britain, Argentina, New Zealand, South Korea, India and Pakistan.
  And the prospect of playing in the final, which Malaysia did last in 2007 when under coach Sarjit Singh but lost 3-1 to Australia, is like scaling Mount Everest without breathing gear.
  However, Azmi was adamant that the team should strive to play in the final, as not only do they have home ground advantage, they have nothing to lose in this tournament.
  "There is no pressure on them at all, this is not a qualifier, and so I believe if you ask me personally, the target should be nothing but the final," said Nur Azmi.
  Yesterday Sultan Azlan Shah received mock cheques from sponsors for the tournament totaling RM1.32 million.
   Among the 21 sponsors were Astro (RM300,000), Perak State Government (RM200,000) and National Sports Council (RM100,000).
   As for the players, eight Junior Asia Cup gold medallists yesterday joined the seniors in training for the Azlan Shah Cup. And of the eight, the sure bets to be selected by coach Tai Beng Hai are Faizal Saari, Fitri Saari and Firhan Ashaari.
  The other five juniors are Faiz Helmi, Nor Izzat Sumantri, Mohamed Ramadhan, Noor Faeez Ibrahim and Amir Farid.
   "The five who had trained with the national team before are most likely to be selected as they know they style of play, other than that, it is up to the coach on who he wants to select," said stand-in-manager George Koshy.
  The team will be named after they play a friendly against New Zealand today.
  Meanwhile, Pakistan has recalled former skipper and penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas to lead their team after their parent body barred eight established players from coming to Malaysia.
  The eight Shakeel Abbasi, Rehan Butt, Zeeshan Ashraf, Waseem Ahmed, Imran Warsi, Tariq Aziz, Adnan Maqsood and Mudassar Ali Khan, have been issued show cause notices by the PHF for taking part in the WHS in India in March/April despite having been warned of dire consequences by the federation for playing in an International Hockey Federation (FIH) unsanctioned tournament.