Hockey India League ko Hero mil gya..

NEW DELHI: The organizers of the Hockey India League (HIL) signed on Tuesday a three-year deal with the Hero MotoCorp which will be the title sponsor of the five-team competition. The deal is believed to be worth crores.
    Though Hockey India declined to reveal the amount, a senior official of the federation said the league will clinch more deals with other co-sponsors in the coming days.
   "We cannot reveal much about the deal with Hero, but we can tell you that we are in talks to bring on board telecom partners, airline partner and other partners in the coming four-five days," HI secretary general Narinder Batra told TOI.
   He also revealed that HIL has so far raised over Rs 100 crore as sponsorship money and franchise fees.
   With this sponsorship, the tournament will be called the Hero Hockey India League. "Hockey holds a special place in our hearts and we are pleased to partner with HIL. I am sure that the initiative taken by Hockey India to start this league will go a long way in developing the game and bring back the glory days," Pawan Munjal, managing director and chief executive officer of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, said in a statement released by HI.
   Hero was the title sponsor of the 2012 Olympics qualifier hockey tournament which was held in Delhi. It was also the title sponsor of the men's hockey World Cup held in New Delhi in 2010.
   The inaugural HIL will be held from January 14 to February 10. Five teams - Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Mumbai Magicians and Ranchi Rhinos will compete in the inaugural season at five venues - Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi.

Times of India

Back to work..

After a long break from hockey, I am back to work today....

HAPPY 2013 GUYS!

The almost there boyz...

By Jugjet Singh
 
MALAYSIAN Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had a strong feeling that the Dublin Olympic Qualifier would be the turning point of Malaysian hockey.
  That is why he took a 30-strong delegate to Ireland to watch and return with the gold medal which would have taken his charges into the London Olympics.
  Alas, his men gave away the gold to South Korea, silver to Ireland and returned home with the bronze instead.
  After much soul searching Tengku Abdullah decided that his charges need the touch of a foreign coach and his council stamped their backing on South African Paul Revington.
  Revington was one step better than the previous coach Tai Beng Hai, as he had guided Ireland to a silver in Dublin.
  In came Revington and his assistant Arul Selvaraj, and off they went to Argentina for their first experience with the national players. The Champions Challenge I got off to a rousing start, when Malaysia beat all and sundry, even South Korea to top Group A.
  And then the downhill slide started and South Korea whacked Malaysia 6-3 in the semi-finals and Revington's men finished fourth and failed, yet again, to play in the higher Champions Trophy bracket.
  South Korea were then humiliated 5-0 by Argentina in the final and the South American moved into the Champions Trophy next year leaving behind Asian sides Malaysia, Korea and Japan in the Challenge category.
  India and Pakistan also had a super run in the initial stages of the Champions Trophy in Melbourne, but were reduced to the bronze playoff by Australia and Netherlands.
  Pakistan claimed the bronze and India fourth in Champions Trophy, which is a super result considering India finished last in the London Olympics.
  And on the local front, the MHC saw a poor turnout of fans for all their tournaments with even the Malaysia Hockey League being shunned and the seats empty even during knock-out stages.
  The Junior Hockey League, Razak Cup and even the Aazlan Shah Cup saw poor turn-outs at stadiums and this is a worrying trend which the MHC must try to arrest soon.
  The next big assignment for Revington is the Asia Cup in Ipoh next year which offers a ticket to the World Cup, but it is easier said than done, as India, Pakistan and Korea would be the teams to beat again for the gold.
  The easier path would be the World League, where Malaysia will play Round Two in Russia, and if they enter the final round of eight teams, they are almost assured of a place in the World Cup.
  Tengku Abdullah never gave up on the team after Dublin, and its time the team give him a reason to smile by at least playing in the final of the Asia Cup.
  All the other achievements, including winning the FIH Executive Board elections on a landslide of votes and hiring a top-notch coach, would cone to nought if the team fails to play in the World Cup from the two routes that the FIH have provided them with.
  At the Asian front, Malaysia ended as bronze medallists in the second edition of the Asian Champions Trophy in Oman.
  It was the last assignment this season for the senior side, and they held Pakistan 3-3, beat India 5-3 but their prelimanary round 2-1 defeat to China derailed hopes of playing in the final.
  However, Malaysia exacted revenge when they beat China 3-1 in the bronze playoff. Pakistan beat India 5-4 for the gold medal.
  Malaysia scored 20 goals in Doha, and 22 goals in the Champions Challenge I in Argentina, which indicates we have good strikers, but the defense still needs work to make an impact next year.
  On the juniors front, coach K. Dharmaraj's players were brought crashing down to earth when they ended last in the Sultan of Johor Cup tournament after winning the inaugural edition last year.
  The juniors then went to India to play in the Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup in Bhopal and lost all three matches. It was their first step towards making an impact in the Junior World Cup next November in New Delhi.
  As for the MHC, their administration side needs to buck up, as news about local tournaments, and results of overseas matches are very slow to trickle from their side.
  States are also complaining that the parent body does not keep them abreast of developments, as those manning the daily aspects of the MHC are very slow to act and even slower to send out e-mails on tournaments and results.

New look Malaysia..senior and juniors

NATIONAL hockey coach Paul Revington benched eight players who played in the Champions Challenge I in Argentina for his next assignment in Doha.
  The senior side will play in the Asian Champions Trophy on Dec 20-27 with four players form the Project 2013, while the rest are from the training pool.
  In Doha, Malaysia will play against India, Pakistan, China, Japan and Oman.
  The eight experienced players left behind are Chua Boon Huat, Jivan Mohan, Ismail Abu, Izwan Firdaus, Amin Rahim, Shukri Mitalib, Marhan Jalil and Baljit Singh.
  The four from Project 2013 who will strenghten the squad are Syamim Yusof and Izad Hakimi, who will be making their international debut, while the other two are Fitri Saari and Faiz Helmi.
  The team will see two pairs of brothers donning national colours at the same tournament, Izad and Roslan while the other is Fitri and Faisal.
  And had Jivan been retained, he would have teamed up with Jiwa Mohan to make it three set of brothers.
  As for the juniors, who there would also be eight changes to the team which will play in the Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup in Bhopal on Dec 19-25.
  "It's a new look team as we build towards the Junior World Cup and I believe the level of competition will prove useful," said juniors team manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
  "We hope the players will adapt well to the conditions and play to their abilities despite facing more senior players in the tournament."
  The new players included by Dharma who did not see action in Johor are Hazrul Faiz, Haziq Shamsul, Nor Aqmal Ghaffar, Dangerous Lee, Meor Azuan, Ibnu Fathillah, Sobirin Illias and Fitri Ismail.
  Those retained are Shahril Saabah, Zulhairi Hashim, Firhan Ashaari, Shazril Irwan, Hafiz Zainol, Azri Hassan, Kavin Karthik, Rashid Baharom, Shazrul Imran and Hafizuddin Othman.
  MALAYSIA SENIORS: S. Kumar, Roslan Jamaluddin, Azlan Misron, Hafifi Hafiz, Jiwa Mohan, Faiz Helmi, Izad Hakimi, Sallehin Ghani,  Faizal Saari, Syamim Yusof, Fitri Saari, Sharun Nabil, Azammi Adabi, Noor Faeez Ibrahim, Norhizzat Sumantri, Razie Rahim, Nabil Fiqri, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.