No place for history, past glory..

HISTORY and past glory will be thrown out of the window  as the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) gets underway to day.
    This is because newly appointed national chief coach Paul  Revington and his assistant Arul Selvaraj would be on the  lookout for new blood to play for the country in the Champions Challenge I and Asian Champions Trophy in November  and December respectively.
    There are some experienced hands in the national team  that need to be replaced fast, as they have shown little  motivation or promise in the Dublin Olympic Qualifiers.
   And with plenty of young legs, especially players from the  Project 2013, who have shown more desire and promise,  there could be some surprises in the selection when the MHL  ends on Oct 10.
    In the Premier Division, which will see six quality sides  instead of the nine diluted teams last season, double cham pions KL Hockey Club and Tenaga Nasional start as  favourites while Sapura, Maybank, UniKL and Nur Insafi- MBI have openly declared that their focus is making the semi- finals.
    And there would be seven teams in Division One fighting it  out for their own league and overall titles, as there is no  quarter-finals in the TNB Cup this season.
     Today, fans are in for quality time as defending champions  KL Hockey Club play league runners-up Sapura in the  Charity Shield.
    Sapura have promising youngsters and steady old hands  while KLHC’s line-up comprises the who’s who of Malaysian  hockey.
     Former national coach Stephen van Huizen, who now is a  coaching consultant for Sapura conceded that KLHC will be  the team to beat: “KLHC are the favourites as they are not  only the defending double champions but have the services of  all the key national players as well as ex national players who  have played together for a few years.
   “They have built a good understanding over the years, and  are armed with deadly penalty corner set pieces. Its an  opening match that will severely test my side.”
     KLHC have a sound penalty corner battery in Razie Rahim,  Ahmad Kazairul and Baljit Singh.
    “Besides having good set pieces, in Tengku Ahmad Tajud din, Chua Boon Huat, Azlan Misron and Kelvinder Singh,  KLHC also has strength on the bench,” said Stephen.
    Sapura have former skipper S. Kuhan, the Mohan brothers  Jiwa and Jivan and Megat Azrafiq for experience.
    They also have Korea’s Jason Lee Mung Seon and Pak istan’s Muhammad Imran to boost their challenge.
     KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said their mission is to win  every match as there are only five opponents.
    “We always play to win, and with home-and-away, we can’t  let the other team grow in confidence by losing points, As this  would make the return leg much more difficult,” said  Dharmaraj.
     TODAY: Premier Division -- Tenaga v Maybank (National  Stadium II, 4pm), UniKL v MBI-Nur Insafi (National Stadium  II, 6pm), KLHC v Sapura (National Stadium II, 8pm).
    Division One: Armed Forces v UniTen (National Stadium I,  5pm), Bukit Jalil Sports School v Thunderbolts (Ministry of  Education, 5pm), Politeknik-KPT v Johor HA (Taman Daya,  5pm).
    Tomorrow: Premier Division -- Tenaga v MBI-Nur Insafi  (National Stadium II, 4pm), Maybank v KLHC (National  Stadium II, 6pm), Sapura v UniKL (National Stadium II,  8pm).
    Division One: UiTM v Armed Forces (Ministry of Education,  5pm), Thunderbolts v UniTen (National Stadium I, 5pm).

Over to Revington, Arul...

PAUL Revington and Arul Selvaraj were officially announced as the seniors coach and assistant coach by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) yesterday.
  And Paul, who has been in Malaysia for the last two weeks, has heard from hockey lovers as well as sceptics about the state of the game and is determined to change it for the better.
  "I have signed a four-year contract (with a two year conditional extention) and the scenario here is the same with elsewhere. The journey is to take Malaysia into the World Cup and Olympic, and I will work with my assistant towards that goals," said the South African.
  The sceptics have also strengthened his desire with their negative comments: "I have been told by many, who I believe are no longer associated with the game, that the public perception is also not very good on hockey.
  "We will have to wok on that as well, by producing results," said Revington.
  The South African, 39, last coached the Irish during the Dublin Olympic Qualifiers where he took his team to silver.
  Malaysia won bronze in Dublin, and that is when the MHC decided that they need another foreign coach. Revington would be the fourth foreign coach after Germans Paul Lissek, Volker Knapp and Australian Terry Walsh.
  "I will watch the Malaysia Hockey League (starting on Saturday) to select 25 to 30 palayers for a few days of training before releasing the players to their state teams for the Razak Cup.
  "The first international assignment would be the Champions Challenge I in Argentina (Nov 24- December 2) and that's where I would like to change the mindset from thinking that we are ranked 13th in the world to thinking that we can win the tournament and move into the Champions Trophy bracket regardless of the opponent's rankings," said Revington.
  And next is the all-important Asia Cup in Ipoh next year, which is a World Cup Qualifier.
  "That would be the ultimate short-term aim, as every country wants to play at the pinnacle of hockey," said Revington.
  As for Arul, he has completed his circle and returned home to help the nation, as he left for experience after assisting Paul Lissek.
  "I assisted Revington in coaching South Africa and then Ireland and am back to help my country with the experience I gained working overseas," said Arul.
  Arul will assist UniKL while juniors coach K. Dharmaraj will coach KL Hockey Club in the MHL.
  "I wanted them to coach the clubs, as it would be a waste if the local coaches are not allowed to help clubs in tournaments. This would give them a better insight on the players and help the country as well," said Revington.

Schedule for Men’s Champions Trophy

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The FIH announced today the match schedule for the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2012 to be played in Melbourne, Australia from December 1-9.

It will be the 34th edition of the event and one that will see the host nation, Australia, look to defend its 2011 Champions Trophy title. 
    It will also be the first time that the cross-over quarterfinal format is used at a men’s Champions Trophy. The format has been used in previous FIH events, but never at the annual top men’s tournament. This is now the FIH’s preferred Competition Format for all of its global eight-team events.

   The teams have been split into two preliminary round groups of four teams each. Group A will feature Germany, England, New Zealand and India while Group B will include host Australia, the Netherlands Belgium and Pakistan.

Sleeping Asia robbed blind..

Bring back Dyanchand’s hockey — by Khaliqur Rahman

Unequal competitiveness promotes unhealthy, unfair and self-defeating ambition to win bronze, silver or gold
    After independence, power gradually gripped the nation, both internationally and intra-nationally. Within India, callousness entered through the back door and slowly gripped power. Outside India, it was cleverness that handled power beautifully to see that India did not rise to its potential at normal speed. Our power holders in India played into their hands. The hockey administration toed the same line.
   Hockey was beautiful in the days of Dyanchand until perhaps the late 1950s. Not because we used to win but because hockey was played with a certain level of craft and skill that was beautiful. The bully at the centre, also at the 25-line, had an element of chance founded on the capability of ball control. The penalty bully did give some chance to the defenders, if they were better at bullies. The dribbles, the dodges, the moves always had a certain charm about them. Asian hockey (Indian and Pakistani) was at the top. The west did not like it. They knew that their superior physical prowess could do nothing against the Asian artistry in dribbling and dodging and mind-boggling moves. They were simply rattled. So what did they do? They decided to change the very fabric of the game. Gradually, they succeeded in changing the playing conditions, rules and regulations and the very nature and spirit of hockey, which the Asians were unquestionably good at. Perhaps, they were unsurpassable.
     The 25-line was moved to the 35-line. The dribbling space thus was reduced. The offside rule now applied at 35. The bully was removed. One more skill was done away with. If that was not enough, they introduced Astroturf. The shape of the blade of the stick was changed. Astroturf required very strong leg and calf muscles, and the smaller blade suited robust hitting rather than skillful dribbling. Changes in the short corner and penalty rules and replacing pushes with strokes encouraged a robust power game and crippled Asian hockey, which found it hard to adapt according to the new demands of the game because of physical disadvantages and various organisational and economic factors.
    Now when India has a wooden spoon and Pakistan 7th position in the Olympiad 2012, it is time we took some strong measures. We should go back to promote our Asian style of hockey. We should play on hard surface or grass, bringing back the aesthetics of the game and stop playing power hockey on artificial surfaces. Dribbling, old-fashioned dodges and moves will automatically fall in place and the game will regain its charm and romance. The size of the blade must be restored to its earlier shape.
   These measures will reduce the expenses considerably on having to provide Astroturf at the grassroots level. This will also take care of the needless and perhaps overambitious efforts to raise the fitness level of our youth to be able to grapple with the brute force and pace of the western teams. This will drastically cut down the expenses on physical training programmes. Physical training should be there only to facilitate acquiring the fitness level suited to our own attainable capabilities. We should play to our strength and not to theirs. We should play Indian hockey just as they play American Football or Australian Rugby. Wimbledon still has grass courts and it has persisted with an indefatigable will to preserve the grace of lawn tennis.
    After all, the purpose of games and sports is to attain physical health through recreation so that balanced human personalities are developed. Competition is acceptable only amongst like contenders. Unequal competitiveness promotes unhealthy, unfair and self-defeating ambition to win bronze, silver or gold. No wonder some sportspersons take banned medicines and fail doping tests.
    It might be argued that we have travelled a considerable distance in developing power hockey and it would be naïve at this stage to even think of giving up the challenge. If discretion is the better part of valour, it is better to give up the false challenge now than to continue to fail for years and years to come. We should look to the generation next, that is, the ten-year-old aspirants. They should be trained to treat and nurse hockey of the old Indian style.
    India has acquired a significant place in the world economy. We are now able to dictate terms. India and Pakistan should organise their own World Cups and Champions Trophies. Let the west come and play on our grounds, in our style and see who wins!
   The aim of sports and games is, I repeat, recreation, not crazy unequal competitiveness. Sports and games must be there to create and recreate and develop a sound body for a healthy mind and a healthy soul to take over and progress towards peace and happiness.
    The writer is a retired professor of English and a freelance writer. He can be reached at rahmankhalique@gmail.com and his twitter handle is @khaliqurrahman

The Daily Times

Another chimera hunt...

chi·me·ra/kīˈmi(ə)rə/

Noun:

(in Greek mythology) A fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. Any mythical animal with parts taken from various animals.

By S. Thyagarajan

Another exercise of chasing a chimera is on. The dismay over the deplorable show by the hockey team in the Olympics is being deflected for the umpteenth time to a committee that is expected to solve the tangle of governance.
    The Indian Olympic Association, which authored this mess in 2008, now comes up with a three-member commission to determine who among the claimants — Hockey India or Indian Hockey Federation — will administer the sport. Painful exercise
   To go back to the genesis of the crisis is a painful exercise. If K.P.S. Gill and his associates were guilty of failure in India not retaining its Olympic spot and deserved to be replaced, the scenario now is no less different.
   The IOA, then under the command of Suresh Kalmadi, invoked the vague clause “disrepute to the game,” and disaffiliated the IHF. It constituted an ad hoc body, and then created Hockey India, fully aware of its legal and constitutional infirmities. The IOA hoped it would brazen it out with the opposition that cried foul of ignoring the canons of democracy. The Delhi High Court ruled against the disaffiliation.
   It is difficult to imagine that the IOA, which has a slew of problems to solve, will disband Hockey India for the inglorious London campaign. Such recourse will receive spontaneous approbation. Hockey India’s record of administration is nothing to speak of with any degree of eloquence.
   Tragically perhaps the International Hockey Federation, misled and misinformed, acted in haste.
   Unable to retract, it ventured into a cover-up mode, raising various issues with the IHF over the failure of the merger from 2000 but continued dealing with the same office-bearers till 2008. How the three-member commission will untangle the imbroglio is a million-dollar question. All previous efforts, including that by the Sports Ministry, met with a dead-end after generating hopes of an accord.
    What probably prompts the FIH to direct the IOA for a final decision could be related to India’s commitment to hosting the World Series League. If the FIH believes that a solution will be on the table on August 31, it is hovering in illusions.
   A quick-fix remedy to a problem that has eaten away the vitals of Indian hockey for four years is unlikely to be found on one day (August 21).
   The three-member commission may have no option but to recommend another ad hoc panel. If pushed to that edge, the IOA-team should keep the officials from both factions out of such a panel. The IOA can even think of forming an advisory committee enlisting members from outside its ambit, inviting senior lawyers and industrialists who share a love for hockey, to end this endemic national malaise. IOA’s urgency underlines a hint of desperation. Is it not time for the factions to realise the damage they have done to the national sport? They will earn the gratitude of all if a formula, embracing the frame-work of democracy, is framed and implemented quickly to extinguish the flames of acrimony, mistrust and egoism.
  
The Hindu