In the Spotlight.... Korea Men

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 take a closer look at the Korean men's national team.

The Basics:
Currently world number six, Korea’s men come into the tournament on 1490 points, just below Spain and ahead of New Zealand in the latest FIH World Ranking list. Their best showing in the competition came back in Sydney in 2000 when they took silver, only denied the top prize by the Netherlands on penalty strokes. They first played in the Olympics when hosting in Seoul in 1988 and have played in four more Games since then. In recent times, Korea finished sixth at the 2010 World Cup and were eighth and last in the 2011 Champion’s Trophy.

The Road to London:
Korea became the last side from the world’s top ten to claim their place at the Games, doing so in dramatic fashion. They edged out Ireland with a Nam Yong Lee goal – awarded on a video referral after initially being ruled out – inside the last ten seconds of their OQT final in Dublin. It secured a 3-2 victory. They had been thrown into the qualifiers by virtue of a fourth place finish at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Players to Watch:
Collective is king for Korea but there is a robust aggression and power in the forward manoeuvres of Lee Nam Yong who regularly takes on the point at the top of their front-line. Nam Hyun Woo has a graceful air, overlapping from either right or left back while the panel is packed with a wealth of experience with the volume of current players with over a century of caps numbering in double figures. Among them, You Hyo Sik has already led the line in two World Cups and two Olympics as a goal-hungry forward, following his father’s footsteps into the national team. Ho Seo Jong is another top-drawer performer, named on the FIH All Star team in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Coach:
Shin Seok Kyo took over after the sixth-place finish at the 2008 Olympics from Cho Sung Jun. His tenure started well, gaining bronze in the 2009 Champions Trophy with victory over the Netherlands – Korea’s best result in nine years. A sixth place World Cup finish in 2010 was a par-showing but the past two years have seen the side keep up the pace and coach Shin has a big job to arrest a run of form which dropped Korea to fourth in Asia and last in the Champions Trophy last December. His tactical nous, though, was in evidence in the Olympic qualifier as his more aggressive setup helped turn the tide against Ireland, dominating the closing phases to ultimately secure their ticket to London.

Strengths:
Very much a team that works as a unit, their ability to apply a couple of different, effective presses was key to their progression to the Games as they squeezed the life out of Ireland in their ultimate qualifier in March. A high work-rate is a given for the Asian side and allows them to put in long stints of high presses to affect turnovers in advanced positions while their speed on the counter matches the method well. Goalkeeper Lee Myung Ho marshals a tight-knit defence packed with guts and likely never to shirk a full-blooded, diving tackle.

Weaknesses:
Blessed with pace up front, they look to be slightly shy on creativity and firepower in the final quarter, relying on corners and a rudimentary, crash ball style from play to eke out the vital scores. Cards for stick tackles can be an Achilles Heel, too.
 
Crystal Ball:
Reaching the heights of 2000 looks likely to be beyond the current vintage as their fifth place finish at the 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in June and eighth at the Champions Trophy last December seem to portray. Nonetheless, they are capable of big results in one-off ties with their wealth of experience of the big stages. They could prove a bogey side throughout the group stages but whether they have enough nous to reach the medal positions looks a bridge too far.

Malaysian women 7-up

 THE THAI TEAM

 NUR AISYAH YAACOB of Malaysia (yellow)

 RAJA NORSHARINA RAJA SHABUDDIN of Malaysia (yellow)

 NURASLINDA SAID of Malaysia (yellow)

MALAYSIA thrashed Singapore 7-0 in their opening Women’s Junior Asia Cup at the Queen Sirikit Stadium in Bangkok.
    The tournament also doubles up as a Junior World Cup qualifier, and three teams will advance from Bangkok.
     Malaysia have five senior players who have played with the senior outfit and they are Norashikin Halim, Norazlin Sumantri, Norizaidah Ibrahim, Raja Norsharina and Nurul Nabihah.
    And Norazlin started the goal-count in the second minute when she converted a penalty corner and then doubled the advantage with a field attempt in the 21st minute.
    The other goals were scored by Norhashikin Halim (27th) Hanis Nadiah (32nd, 35th), Nuraslinda Said (59th) and Raja Norsharina (64th).
     Malaysia are in Group A with China, India, Singapore  and Sri Lanka. Their next match is on Saturday against China.
     Group B consists of South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Pakistan.
      The last Junior Asia Cup was held in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, and Malaysia finished fifth.
     RESULTS: Group A -- India 16 Sri Lanka 0, Malaysia 7 Singapore 0; Group B: Japan 17 Pakistan 0, Thailand 0 Kazakhstan 1.

Germans pick 10 champions from 2008..

After winning the ERGO Masters in Düsseldorf ahead of the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, the German men's head coach Markus Weise announced his team for London yesterday.

     The list contains many big names, as well as ten Olympic Champions from Beijing 2008, who will be challenging the dominating Australian men to retain their titles: both Zeller brothers, both Wess brothers, Max Müller, Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Fürste, Tobias Hauke, Oliver Korn and goalkeeper Max Weinhold.

Weise said: "The fact that we can fill several positions doubly, with almost equivalent players, says a lot about the high quality, which we have in this squad. It is bitter to have to tell athletes who have done everything right that their big dream of the Olympic Games will not be fulfilled. We as the staff have not taken it lightly, and have gone back and forth a lot. At the end, when a decision between two players who are equally strong has to be taken, it is a decision by gut feeling. I am certain that we will have a very strong team in London that can challenge any of the world's top teams."

The team has a one week camp scheduled for early July, including two test matches with neighbours the Netherlands, before travelling to London after ten days of regeneration. Germany open their Olympic campaign on 30 July with their match against Belgium.

Olympic Squad: Max Weinhold (GK), Oskar Deecke, Florian Fuchs, Moritz Fürste, Martin Häner, Tobias Hauke, Oliver Korn, Maximilian Müller, Jan-Philipp Rabente, Thilo Stralkowski, Christopher Wesley, Benjamin Wess, Timo Wess, Matthias Witthaus, Christopher Zeller, Philipp Zeller

P Accreditations: Nicolas Jacobi (GK), Linus Butt

Source: German Hockey Association

Only in good old England...

By Graham Smith

Bailiffs calling: Bristol University student Georgie Twigg, 21, spread the teaching of her final academic year over two so she could focus on a tough training schedule for the GB hockey team
    A young Olympic hopeful who took time out from her law degree to train for a place at the London 2012 games has been threatened by balliffs over council tax payments.
    Bristol University student Georgie Twigg, 21, spread the teaching of her final academic year over two so she could focus on a tough training schedule for the GB hockey team.
    But this loyalty to her country makes Miss Twigg the only part-time student in a house of six, in Clifton, Bristol - leaving her liable for a hefty council tax bill on a property in band E, totalling £1,500.
    Full-time students are exempt from paying council tax while they study, but as Miss Twigg only attends university for one day a week, she no longer qualifies for this bracket.
  Miss Twigg spends the other four days of her week training with her GB hockey team in Maidenhead, Berkshire - living in a property that she pays full council tax on.
    She received a court summons after returning from Argentina in February, where her GB hockey team won a silver medal at the Champions Trophy for the first time.
    Miss Twigg, who carried the Olympic torch through Clifton, Bristol, earlier this month, contacted Bristol City Council to ask to be treated as a student as she does not have the money to pay the bill - but her plea fell on deaf ears.
    The summons stated that because she was completing her final year in two years instead of one, she was classed as a part-time student and was no longer exempt from paying council tax, as full-time students are.
    Miss Twigg's parents wrote to the council, including to leader Simon Cook and chief executive Jan Ormondroyd to ask that she be made exempt due to her exceptional circumstances.
    But the council told the family there was nothing it could do and demanded the money.
    At the start of this month, just as she was about to take her final law exams, Miss Twigg received a notice of 'intended bailiff action'.
      Her father Robert Twigg, 57, said: 'We feel that Georgie has been penalised for trying to complete her studies while at the same time qualifying for the Olympic team.
     'It can't be right that this charge wouldn't have been put on her if she had opted out of such a fantastic opportunity.
     'Bristol City Council has been completely unsupportive and unreasonable - no-one seems to want to stick their head above the parapet and realise that these are exceptional circumstances - it just seems so wrong.'
     A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: ....'We have offered as reasonable terms as we can for the repayment of the debt incurred. It goes without saying that we wish her all the best at the Olympics.'

Daily Mail

Project 2013's Europe Tour...

THE Project 2013 squad will get an early boost when they  travel to Europe and play a series of matches against  European Junior World Cup Qualifier teams.
    Malaysia has already qualified for the Junior World Cup, to  be held in November next year in New Delhi, after they  became champions in the Malacca Junior Asia Cup.
   “I will be taking at least 20 players who will be eligible to  play in the Junior World Cup next year, and leave out those  who helped in the Junior Asia Cup but will be overage for New  Delhi,” said Project 2013 coach K. Dharmaraj.
   Traveling at the end of July, the first stop will be Valencia,  Spain, where they will play two matches against Spain  Juniors, two against France Juniors, two against Belgium  Juniors, and one against a Netherlands Division One side.
    After that, they depart for Poland where two matches will  be played against the Polish juniors and then the seniors.
    “The timing is just right as we will play teams who will be  preparing for the European Juniors Nations Championship  (a World Cup Qualifier starting on July 26) and so we are  assured of playing quality matches,” said Dharmaraj.
     However, after they return and play in the Sultan of Johor  Cup, Dharmaraj will include the six players who will be  overage for the World Cup.
   “I need the six players to keep the Sultan of Johor Cup  trophy in Malaysia. As the defending champions, we must  have the best players available for the second edition.
    “We still have ample time to prepare the Junior World Cup  players, and in the 2013 Sultan of Johor Cup which is  expected to be held one month before the Junior World Cup,  I will get a chance to field the World Cup proper team,” said  Dharmaraj.
    On tour attachments for his charges: “Faizal (Saari) has  already secured a spot with Athletico Madrid and will play in  the European Hockey League. And 16 other players also have  been selected to join European Clubs, but it all depends on  when the MHC (Malaysia Hockey Confederation) decide to  hold the MHL (Malaysia Hockey League).
   “The calendar for the MHL this year is still not out yet, and  if it clashes with the EHL, then we will not be able to send  juniors to Europe attachments, as they already have con tracts with clubs in Malaysia,” said Dharmaraj.