WOMEN: India 2 Malaysia 1

BANGKOK: India rallied from a goal deficit to beat Malaysia 2-1 in their final league match on Tuesday to make the semifinal of the sixth Junior Women's Asia Cup hockey championship.
     India finished second in group A behind China. In a must-win match for India, the teams played out a goalless first half.
    Norazlin Sumantri scored for Malaysia within a minute of the resumption of second half but Anupa Barla (52nd minute) and skipper Ritu Rani, who converted a penalty corner in the 65th minute, ensured that India reach the next stage.
   India will face the winner of Group B - either Korea or Japan - in the semifinal to be played on July 5.
   Ten minutes after Malaysia took the lead, India started to dominate the proceedings and in the last 25 minutes hardly spared an inch.
   Anupa's strike capped a good pass by vice-captain and fellow forward Poonam Rani, while Ritu Rani successfully converted a penalty corner.
   The Indian team's defenders toiled hard to keep Malaysia at bay. India scored their third win in four matches. They had beaten Sri Lanka and Singapore in earlier games before losing to China.
The Times of India

Over to Revington in August

By Hidir Reduan and Norhafiza Sallehuddin

SOUTH African Paul Revington and former Malaysian international Arul Selvaraj will officially take over coaching the national hockey team in August.

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said Revington, who will replace Tai Beng Hai, is expected to sign the official agreement before Aug 1.
    "Revington will complete his existing contract with the Ireland national team and sort out his papers before coming here. An official agreement signing ceremony will be held as soon as he arrives," said Tengkui Abdullah in Kuantan yesterday.
    "Revington has verbally agreed to coach the national team and will be the person in charge of the national team in the Champions Challenge 1 in Argentina later this year."
    Tengku Abdullah explained that Revington came to Malaysia last month to discuss the prospect of coaching the national team and an understanding was reached between MHC and the coach. 

Myanmar age trick?

By Ajitpal Singh

THE MALAYSIAN football team flew back to Kuala Lumpur yesterday from the Asian Under-22 Qualifiers in Yangon amid an air of suspicion regarding the age of some Myanmar players.
    It is believed the hosts had fielded overage players, which has been a common practice in previous tournaments, to finish second in Group G and qualify for next year's tournament proper.
    Based on Myanmar's team list, at least eight players are believed to be overage including Yangon United striker Kaung Si Thu, who scored a brace in the 2-1 win over Malaysia on Tuesday. Their ages were stated in their clubs' websites.
   According to the Yangon United's official website (www.ygnutd.com), Kaung turned 25 on Jan 22 while other local portals revealed that seven others were aged 23.
   Coach Ong Kim Swee, upon arrival in KL, said that he would lodge a complaint, accompanied with the evidence, to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) for further action.
   He said those registered for the qualifier, as stipulated in the tournament's regulations, must be 21 and below.
  An official of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said that it has not received any official protest from Malaysia regarding the allegation.
   AFC regularly does comprehensive screening of competing teams, especially for age-group tournaments.
   FAM will only make an official statement today after consulting Kim Swee.
   "We cannot give a statement as the team only arrived today (yesterday). We will seek clarification from Kim Swee before making a stand," said FAM secretary-general Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad.
   It is learnt that FAM will investigate the matter thoroughly before the next course of action as it does not want to create any unnecessary controversy.
   According to a report in the Myanmar Times (www.mmtimes.com), headlined "Age manipulation harmful, say coaches', in February, it alleged that its national football federation has an unofficial policy of age manipulation.
    It also claimed that the team bound for next year's Sea Games Under-23 competition have five overage players.

Japan Girls: Poised for Cinderella surprise

'In the Spotlight' is a series that will profile each of the 24 participating teams at the London Olympic Games. It will provide a glimpse of what to expect as each squad begins its London quest. Between now and the Olympic opening ceremony a new team will be featured every 2-3 days. Today, we feature the Japanese women's national team.

The Basics:
The Japanese women weigh in at ninth in the FIH World Ranking, and are the third-highest ranked team from Asia, behind China and Korea. At the Games, they will play in Group B where they will meet both their Asian rivals in addition to the Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium. Japan has a modest Olympic history, playing in only the two last games where they finished 10th in Beijing and eighth in Athens. But since their last Olympic appearance, the Japanese women have had two of their strongest showings on the international stage. The first was winning the Champions Challenge 1 in June 2011 in Dublin earning the right to move up to the Champions Trophy where their second success was a strong fifth-place finish. As a fun fact, Japan recently jumped on the nickname train, and are called ‘Sakura’ which means Cherry Blossom.

The Road to London:
Japan convincingly won the third and final women’s qualification tournament on home soil in Kakamigahara with a 5-1 victory in the final game against Azerbaijan. The Japanese women were under intense pressure and media scrutiny during the event and weathered the storm with grace. The only blip on the radar during the six-games was a 0-0 draw against Chile.

Players to Watch:
At 41 years of age, Akemi Kato will be not only the oldest player in the women’s hockey tournament, but also among the oldest athletes at the Games. But don’t be fooled, Kato is able to keep up with Japan’s speedy squad while brining the experience of nearly 400 caps to the table. Kaori Fujio and Rika Komazawa provide a nice one-two punch on offense. Fujio has exception scoring skills from the field, while Komazawa is strong on the penalty corner. Fujio, Komazawa, Kato and Sachimi Iwao have played for Japan in all three of their Olympic appearances.

Coach:
Zenjiro Yasuda has guided the Japanese through their last few successful years. With each passing event, the team is stronger as evidenced through their rise in both the standings and the FIH event schedule. The veteran coach always speaks humbly of his squad before matches and puts little stock in pre-game standings or hype.

Strengths:
Japan has amazing speed and a high fitness level that allows them to push their opponents to brink. Their discipline and reserve both on and off the field is impressive to behold, meaning they are likely one of the teams least likely to be affected by the massive media hype around the games. The team has even been known to bow to its opponent after each match, regardless of the outcome. Japan has also a solid three or four players that can be counted on to score, making it tough to cover them on defense.

Weaknesses:
When the Japanese women’s team is on, they are precise, quick, and nearly unstoppable – the teams at the last FIH Champions Trophy in Argentina learned this lesson the hard way. But when Japan is off, they simply don’t function, as evidenced by the scoreless tie against Chile at the qualifier. Japan has to make sure its offense is in top form and avoid a rollercoaster performance – it’s one thing to pull out of a funk at a qualification tournament, but entirely another to perk up in the middle of the Olympics.

Crystal Ball:
The Japanese women’s program is on an upswing, but is likely a good Olympic cycle away from threatening to take a place on the podium. That being said, the Japanese are poised to pull off at least one major upset and should thrive in the Asian-heavy Pool A, giving them their best possible chance to go for a Cinderella surprise appearance in the semi-finals.

Dutch leave out Taekema..

THE Dutch men’s team announcement for the Olympics was one of the most highly-anticipated with many questions looming over the fate of its star players. And today’s final decision did not disappoint in terms of drama with big name stars Taeke Taekema and Jeroen Hertzberger left off the roster.

Taekema has played 239 games for the Dutch, while Hertzberger has been on the squad for every major international event since 2007. Just last week Hertzberger said in an interview that he expected to be named to the Olympic squad. Taekema's fate was a little less certain after he was left off the team ealier in the year for a handful of test series.

Also not making the cut were Quirijn Caspers and Seve van Ass, son of head coach Paul van Ass. But it was good news for veteran standout Teun de Nooijer, who made his debut back on the team in last week’s test match against Great Britain after almost eight weeks of being sidelined with injuries. He made the cut and will join the Dutch team in London.

For de Nooijer and the other 15 players making the cut, it is time to focus on the Games that lie ahead and try not to focus on the team omissions, but rather the squad’s potential less than a month from today.

Dutch 2012 Olympic TeamSander Baart (OZ), Billy Bakker (Amsterdam), Marcel Balkestein (OZ), Floris Evers (Amsterdam), Rogier Hofman (Bloemendaal), Robert van der Horst (Rotterdam), Wouter Jolie (Bloemendaal), Robbert Kemperman (Rot-Weis Köln), Teun de Nooijer (Bloemendaal), Jaap Stockmann [GK] (Bloemendaal), Valentin Verga (Amsterdam), Klaas Vermeulen (Amsterdam), Bob de Voogd (OZ), Mink van der Weerden (OZ), Roderick Weusthof (Rotterdam), Sander de Wijn (Kampong).

Reserves: Tim Jenniskens (NED), Pirmin Blaak [GK] (Rotterdam).