Taekema record guides Dutch to victory

Results Centre
Saturday 28 November
13:05 GER : ENG 3:2 (1:1)
15:05 AUS : KOR 4:0 (2:0)
17:05 ESP : NED 2:3 (0:2)
The Netherlands narrowly escaped with all 3 points after avoiding a fiery second half comeback from Spain. The Dutch emerged as 3-2 winners in a game that burst into life in the second half following a Dutch dominated first period. This game will be remembered as the game that Taeke TAEKEMA overtook Sohail ABBAS on the Champions Trophy all time goal scorers list.

The first half was controlled by the Dutch, both in terms of possession and also on the scoreboard. In the 14th minute Taeke TAEKEMA gave his side the lead and also claimed his position at the top of the mantle of all time goal scorers in the Champions Trophy with 41 goals. Two minutes later it was captain Teun DE NOOIJER who extended the Dutch lead, sliding in to guide a classy reverse stick strike from Roderick WEUSTOF into the net.

The first goal of the second half followed a similar trend to that of the first half, with TAEKEMA collecting his 42nd Champions Trophy goal from another Penalty Corner. The game looked almost dead as Holland took the 3-0 ascendancy over Olympic silver medalists Spain. It was then that the Spanish sparked into life and began to play the way that everyone knows they can. In the 58th minute Spain captain Pol AMAT scored a spectacular reverse stick effort to make the score 3-1. Xavier RIBAS reduced the deficit further just minutes later with a firm drag flick just inside the post, ensuring that the last nine minutes of the game would be tense for both sides. However, it was the Dutch who held on for a deserved victory and will be looking forward to taking on host nation Australia tomorrow.

Champions Trophy fixtures

#	Time	Teams	:		Score
Saturday 28 November
01	13:05	Germany	:	England	-:- (-:-)
02	15:05	Australia	:	Korea	-:- (-:-)
03	17:05	Spain	:	Netherlands	-:- (-:-)
Sunday 29 November
04	13:05	Korea	:	Germany	-:- (-:-)
05	15:05	Netherlands	:	Australia	-:- (-:-)
06	17:05	England	:	Spain	-:- (-:-)
Monday 30 November
Rest Day
Tuesday 01 December
07	15:05	Spain	:	Germany	-:- (-:-)
08	17:05	Netherlands	:	Korea	-:- (-:-)
09	19:05	Australia	:	England	-:- (-:-)
Wednesday 02 December
Rest	Day
Thursday 03 December
10	15:05	Korea	:	Spain	-:- (-:-)
11	17:05	England	:	Netherlands	-:- (-:-)
12	19:05	Germany	:	Australia	-:- (-:-)
Friday 04 December
Rest Day
Saturday 05 December
13	11:05	England	:	Korea	-:- (-:-)
14	13:05	Australia	:	Spain	-:- (-:-)
15	15:05	Netherlands	:	Germany	-:- (-:-)
Sunday 06 December
16	10:05	5th Place	v	6th Place	-:- (-:-)
17	12:35	3rd Place	v	4th Place	-:- (-:-)
18	15:05	1st Place	v	2nd Place	-:- (-:-)

Mas women in Australia Qualifier group

After nine teams already qualified automatically for the BDO FIH World Cup women 2010, 18 formations still have a chance to qualify through one of the three World Cup Qualifiers.

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced the pools and locations for these tournaments.

AtaHolding World Cup Qualifier women, San Diego CA, USA, Friday 26 March- Saturday 3 April 2010
USA, Korea, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico

BDO World Cup Qualifier women, Kazan, Russia, Saturday 17-Sunday 25 April 2010
Japan, Azerbaijan, Italy, Russia, Belarus, Wales

BDO World Cup Qualifier women, Santiago, Chile, Saturday 24 April-Sunday 2 May 2010
Australia, Ireland, Chile, Malaysia, Scotland, Trinidad & Tobago

The qualification system for the BDO FIH World Cup women 2010 is similar to the one used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Hero Honda FIH World Cup men 2010. Nine teams are directly qualified through the Continental Championships, while the remaining three vacancies will be filled from three separate qualification tournaments.

The format for the three World Cup Qualifiers is as it was for the Olympic Qualifiers: a six teams’ single round robin competition with a final to decide which team will qualify.

The following teams are directly qualified for the BDO FIH World Cup women, to be played in Rosario, Argentina from 30 August-12 September 2010:

• Argentina (Host and Champion of the 3rd Women’s Pan American Cup)
• South Africa (Champion of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009)
• New Zealand (Champion of the 6th Women’s Oceania Cup)
• Netherlands (Champion of the 9th Women’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)
• Germany (Silver medalist of the 9th Women’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)
• England (Bronze medalist of the 9th Women’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)
• Spain (Fourth ranked team of the 9th Women’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)
• China (Champion of the 7th Women’s Asia Cup)
• India (Silver medalist of the 7th Women’s Asia Cup)

Former greats back in action

Comeback kings: (from left) Technical advisor Datuk R. Yogeswaran with Mirnawan, Logan Raj and Ow Soon Kooi (team manager)

By Jonathan Fernandez
FORMER internationals Mirnawan Nawawi and Logan Raj will return to the competitive game when they play for Kepong Baru in the Kuala Lumpur Hockey League. Mirnawan, 38, stepped down from the international scene in 2002 after having acquired 327 caps.
He last played in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) for Telekom Malaysia in 2005. Logan quit the national team after the Korat Sea Games in 2007. The 28-year-old played for Sapura in the MHL until last year before announcing his retirement from competitive hockey.
Logan’s younger brother, Mano, has also been recruited. And that’s not all. Also returning to “active duty” is former national captain and Olympian Ow Soon Kooi as team manager. Kepong Baru have also roped in former national coach and manager, Datuk R. Yogeswaran as technical adviser.
“Kepong Baru are a young side and that’s why we decided to join them — to help realise their potential. Logan and I want to put back what the game had given us,” said Mirnawan, also known as “The Boss”.
There is also an “import” in the team — Chris Kelly who used to play in the Perth League. Kelly, 38, also represented Western Australia in age-group tournaments.
The main sponsor for Kepong Baru, nicknamed Kay Bees, is Olympic Sports Hotel while the others are Mist Club and AstroTurf. The Kuala Lumpur Div 1 starts next week and it promises to be more fiery than before. Although several teams have withdrawn, the mainstays have confirmed participation.
At least five teams are title contenders from among the 11 teams. The frontrunners this year are the usual campaigners — MISC (defending champions), Sentul (last year’s losing finalists), Sunday 2030, New Straits Times and Bukit Jalil Sports School.
The other teams in the fray are MSSKL, KL Irrigation, Old Collegian, TPCA and UPM Staff. Sentul will play the opening Div One match against the young MSSKL side next Tuesday. Div One is expected to be completed by end January. The top two teams will play in the final.
THE TEAMS: Sentul, MSSKSSKL, Sunday 2030, MISC, Bukit Jalil, NSTP, KL Irrigation, Kepong Baru, Old Collegian, TPCA, UPM Staff.

Malay Mail

MHF and AHF are Internet illiterate

THE Malaysian (MHF) and Asian Hockey Federations (AHF) are professionals in launching programmes, with pomp-and-pageantry, after which, they don’t give two hoots about maintenance.
There are too many projects, blueprints and whatnots that were launched by AHF and MHF over the years with no follow-ups to chronicle in this column, so the topic will be confined to websites.
The MHF website www.malaysiahockey.com.my was launched in the run-up to the Johor-Singapore Junior World Cup in June, but has been in a slumber state since.
There is no update at all, not even on the Junior World Cup, and it died after reporting that Malaysia beat England 1-0 in the first match.
Accountability, it seems, is missing from the MHF dic tionary as they waste money in creating a website which they never had any intention of updating.
It is a pity, as all they needed to do was pick up stories from the Malaysian media and paste it, even that seems to be a tedious chore for those who were paid to register the domain.
Now, news on Malaysian hockey is placed on individual blogs in the country and around the world, while the MHF don’t even bother to inform the public on the dozens of tournaments and friendly matches that the national players at different age groups have competed in this year.
There is not even an effort to promote the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) which will begin on December 4, even though plans are afoot to telecast some of the matches live on television.
And it looks like the MHF need to pay royalty to the AHF for stealing their ‘launch and forget’ blockbuster script.
The AHF launched its www.ahfhockey.com during the Azlan Shah Cup in April and one would have thought that it would at least last for the duration of the tournament.
AHF president Sultan Azlan Shah made the announce ment, and launched the website during the tournament, but it never even lived to see the final results or stories posted.
The Asian body has hosted the Asia Cup in Kuantan, the Women’s Asia Cup in Thailand and the Under-18 Asia Cup in Myanmar since, but if one is looking for results for these tournaments, forget the AHF website, as it has been silent since its launch.
The Myanmar boys qualifier for the Youth Olympics in Singapore next year was a nightmare for journalists looking for results, as the AHF officials kept the scores a big secret close to their chests, and even the Myanmar Hockey Fed eration joined in as an unholy trinity as their website never bothered to offer information on the tournament, except to mention that thy will be hosting the tournament and that the stadium is ready.
The Internet provides a means for the Malaysian and Asian Hockey Federations to reach the masses. And there are millions of schoolchildren in this region to tap, introduce and interest in the sport, like it is being professionally done in Europe.
Hockey training programmes and tactical videos are avail able online there, but in Asia, we have yet to even reach the reporting stage on the information highway, and are still stuck firmly on the launch-pad.