Final Result: 1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy Busan Korea

In the final, today, South Korea beat Japan 2-1 (HT: 1-0).

For the classification match for the 3rd-4th place, India beat China 2-1 (HT: 1-1). This was India's first victory in the 1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy from 27-31 July 2010 held in Busan, South Korea.

Final Rankings are as follows:

1) South Korea
2) Japan
3) India
4) China.


Last Updated: 1354 IST, 31st July, 2010.

1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy Busan South Korea

1st Asian Women's Champions Trophy is going on in Busan, South Korea from 27-31st July 2010.

China, Japan, India and Korea are the participating teams. Indian Women's Hockey team hasn't done very well in this tournament though.

Here are the results till now:
Day 1:
Japan beat India 3-2. (Saba Anjum and Surinder Kaur)
Korea beat China 1-0

Day 2:
China beat India 6-1 (Deepika Thakur)
Korea drew with Japan 2-2.

Day 3 (today):
Japan drew with China 2-2
Korea beat India 5-3 (HT 2-1). ( Saba Anjum (24", PC), Rani Ramphal (55", FG) and Subadhra Pradhan ( 67", PC) )

India stands last (4th) in the pool with China 3rd, Japan 2nd and Korea 1st.

Tomorrow, 31st July, 2010, the finals will be between Korea and Japan.
Most likely, there is a classifaction match between India and China for the 3rd-4th place, although I am not sure about this.


Last updated: 30th July, 2010, 1441 IST

Indian Hockey - Finally, will it be Gill again?

There is a starking similarity between Indira Gandhi and KPS Gill.
1) Both were ruthless and shrewd administrators.
2) When kept out of power for a few years, they realized how unpopular they were; till then they believed they were the most popular leaders.
3) Both went out to apologize for their deeds; Gill is doing it in a very stylish manner, though. Indira Gandhi did it publicly for her acts.
4) Both, eventually, realized how they can't exist without the public support.
5) Last but not the least, this country never had any better option than them, in their respective fields and times.

So, here we are: KPS Gill says that he is keen to clean up the Governing Body mess. I wonder, if saying this will be a crime: No one in the recent past, has talked about cleaning up the adminstrative mess. So, if KPS Gill has talked about sorting out the matter by 'talks', no matter how many brownie points he gains, he certainly sounds much better compared to Stokes, Batra and Kalmadi.

Running Hockey administration like State Goverment's Police Department, Gill had lost his popularity soon after he assumed power in 1994. The sacking of 6 star playing and the coach from the Asiad 1998 Gold medal winning team made him a villian throughout the country.
Thereafter, the likes of K Jyothikumaran and their cronies, under continous patronage from Gill, compounded with complete mastery of the political system, they ruled Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and made it a corrupt, opportunistic and sad system; a system which never addressed the basic problems of Hockey and which finally gave up the idea of holding Nationals as well.

Although it came up with the brilliant idea of Premier Hockey League (PHL) but it gave a hard time to their partner, ESPN. How one can murder their own brainchild can be asked by IHF and how one can adapt other's idea and build a fortune around it, can be asked by BCCI.

Gill locked horns with FIH as well and gave a extremely tuft time to Brenda Els Vriesman too - That was where it finally signed on their death certificate. Vriesman went on to say publicly that Gill needs to do much more for the betterment of Hockey. FIH went on to appoint Ric Charlesworth for India's Hockey development. A sting operation exposing the corruption of IHF was only a reason for people like Kalmadi to wipe off Gill and company for the time being.

Already unpopular, Gill-headed-IHF was disbanded and was left in oblivion.

Thereafter, mockery times came in for Hockey adminstration. Although some immediate problems concerning the Indian team - more exposure tours, good coach, hosting World Cup - were addressed by adhoc adminstration (read it, Hockey India) but it ruled like a monarchy. Only to realize immediately, that monarchy was abolished in this country long time back.

Now that a few court orders have regarding IHF dissaffiliation as illegal and has given them the boost which IHF was looking for all these years, Gill and co. are thinking aloud.

Few days back, star Olympian and much respected Ashok Kumar had said: "Gill has changed."

A few days later, Gill said, he will not contest the elections.

That Gill is talking of reconciliation talk with Hockey India (HI) and wants to sort out the matter for the benefit of Hockey, along with court order favouring him, makes me wonder, with my usual apprehensions which a common man has about politicians, if Gill faction is all set to make a come back to the Hockey adminstration.

What stand FIH takes, is yet to be seen but as of now.

I feel Gill did win a point amongst Vidya Stokes, Narinder Batra and Suresh Kalmadi. However, not many will wonder that his age is too close to that of Ms. Stokes.

Gill surely ruled like Burmese Military junta and Kalmadi like monarchy. So, if this re-incarnated Gill sounds like a mellowed down Indira Gandhi of late 80's, who knows his group may just come back with a thumping majority as Indira Gandhi did in 1980 General Elections!

P.S.: I have not included Pargat Singh in my discussion because I am not aware of his support amongst the 'voters'.

Indian Women's Hockey sex scandal - comedy

Disclaimer: This blog of mine, is more about irony of our society and circumstances. It doesn't wish to take a call on whether or not M K Kaushik is guilty or not.

Allegations and counter allegations gallore.

1) Few days back, Hockey India received photographs of Indian Women's Hockey team videographer in compromising position with some unknown ladies during China Japan tour. (back in Mar-Apr '10)

2) Current national level player Ranjita Devi claims that she has been sexually harrassed by the Women's team coach M K Kaushik.

I am not concerned about point no.1. It is surely nothing more than gossip matter. What one does in their rooms, on tour, should be dictacted by 'code of conduct' for players and officials. Whether Hockey has one or not, I am not sure.

Coming to 2nd point: First things first. Sexual harrassment charges are serious. Whether the person who makes those allegations, is genuine or not, whether they are a star player or not, whether they are capable enough to compete in current Hockey or not, inspite of all these questions, it is a serious allegation. One can't take it lightly. A independent probe is a must.

Although I am not a great fan of KPS Gill and his adminstration times, and if I ignore the past details of his own character, I agree to his point: What are the qualifications of the people who have been formed in the committee who will investigate these details?

I will say it's true. Do they know what law books says? How one should conduct a prosecution and defense case? There is a complete legal system in place for this.

In this context, Zafar Iqbal, a former Olympian, who is a part of this committee, says, "The player's allegations are weak."
Yeah, right!

The point is not whether M K Kaushik is involved in sexual harrassment or not. One may never find out that, if you honestly ask me. It will finally reside on what one individual prefers to believe. Grab these facts:

1) There is no official investigation going on by competent authorities. Hockey India (HI) will collate the version of both sides will be submitted to Sports Authority of India, who will decide what needs to be done, because they are the employers to Kaushik and the videographer.

2) 31 players who have signed the letter by Ranjita say, "We haven't faced it but we are supporting Ranjita."
Ranjita, in her letter, claims that she and many others were sexually harrassed.

3) I have heard and read 4 different points on 4 different channels from Helen Mary. One place she tells about how Kaushik was found sleeping on the same berth in a train. Another place she says he is a wonderful coach but a characterless guy. Third place she says she herself was sexually harrassed by Kaushik. Fourth place she says that she was removed from captaincy because Kaushik and some lady manager got to know that Mary has seen them together having fun. It also tells that senior players don't like Kaushik and they wanted to get rid of him. Fifth newspaper tells how the lady manager was perpeptually drunk and was with Kaushik all the time.
Believe me, her interview is in so many bits and pieces in various newspapers and if you read all of them, you wouldn't know what to gather from it finally. The more I read, the more I am confused.
4) Theories are around that the timing of the event is a surprise because of Hockey India elections days away.
5) Although, it is usually, 'innocent until proven guilty' by law but the general public tends to believe, 'guilty until proven innocent'.

With so much reporting, so much conflicting opinions, allegations and no concrete investigation in the offing, a common fan like me can never figure out what to conclude from the whole event.

Now, Kaushik's contract with SAI to work for Indian Women's team was only till Nov. '10, i.e. till Guangzhou, China Asiads. He has resigned from the Indian Women's Hockey Coach position. It reminds me of a movie dialogue where the alleged guy tells his perpitrator, "You will not be able to prove anything." To which the perpetrator responds, "But you will suffer till the time this issue is alive and kicking."

So, he will be away for the time being and thereafter, any way, he will be out.

Whether you believe that there is no flame without fire, one thing is for sure: Kaushik's image is tarnished amongst common people.
Till 2 days back, not many (of the general public) knew, that Kaushik was the coach of Women's team since 1991 (barring a few breaks in between) and Indian Women's Hockey reached it's highs under his coaching. One 2 day coverage, and now almost everyone knows Kaushik.

I would say, it's a ticket to (de)fame for Kaushik.

All said and done, Hockey doesn't have many fans amongst general public; the ones who are, are mostly the only ones in their friend circles. I am one of those loners in my friend circle and I find it extremely embarrassing, when I am asked with a smiling face, 'yeh kya ho raha hai tumhaare Hockey mein?"

I just keep quiet, feeling low, humiliated..... and sad not for the event, but how it is handled by all of us...

Indian Hockey Drama continues, this time it's Joaquim Carvalho

Carvalho has accused HI that they are stopping Dilip Tirkey and Ashish Ballal from performing the role of Selectors in IHF.
I think, HI should say "Yes, Carvalho is right", because Carvalho thinks he is right.

Reports tell that Dilip Tirkey has got his appointment news from media. However, Mr. Joaquim Carvalho has accused Hockey India, of stopping Tirkey from performing the role of selector. Whether he got the offer -don't bother about accepting it- shouldn't be worried about.

The key here is: Believe what Carvalho says.

I am only concerned with Hockey; not Hockey India or IHF or for that matter, who is legitimate.

The sad portion of the whole event is, Carvalho's accusations have hit the headlines.

Here are few better things, a 'Hockey Lover' will love to talk about:

1) Indian Men Hockey team is playing Belgium currently.
2) India's Women Hockey team is all set to play in Busan in the inaugural version of Asian Women's Champions Trophy.
3) Murugappa Cup has started in Chennai, although many stars are not present.
4) IHF is holding 'Nationals' in Bhopal.

I wonder, barring a select few, who cares about Carvalho's political thoughts and accusations. I have a faint feeling, if you ask Carvalho on the sidelines, he too may agree with me.
 
For people who love Hockey, it doesn't matter who holds the tournament, they are always interested in 'on the turf war'. However, for few others lovers, 'war for the turf' is more important.

Domestic Indian Hockey: CM Cup in Bangalore - Semi Finals

Disclaimer: Last match, that I watched in the stadium was in World Cup 2010, New Delhi. That day, of the 3 matches that I watched, one was Spain v Australia. This match made me realize, where World Hockey has reached (and where Indian Hockey is). If I tend to compare (and over compare) a domestic tournament with World Hockey matches, I request the readers to pardon me.

Initially, not very keen but I finally did decide to watch the Chief Minister’s Cup at the KSHA Stadium, Bangalore. It was a day when 2 Semi Finals were supposed to be played.


As I landed up there, I could see the difference in the stadium. It was all beautifully decorated. Huge hoardings, giant screens, many banners, litter free stadium, new looking goalposts and nets, neat score board, new substitution number boards. The newly laid turf made the stadium look admirable.

Behind one goal, there was a huge stage set up, with orchestra instruments, for live performances. Each side of the turf, there was a giant screen placed for the viewers to watch the LIVE proceedings. As I walked around, I kept clicking pictures. As I came around the South end goalpost, I was held back by something interesting – a microphone, strategically placed next to the goalpost, possibly to track the board bangs or to hear what the players talk during the play. I took all my time to take the pic of the microphone.

Massive speakers were put around the stadium. It played peppy numbers, at times from Bollywood, other times from Sandalwood. There were moments when it was difficult to hear anything else but the music.

Doordarshan, which is covering the event LIVE, had cameras put up all around the stadium. Near the entrance itself, there was a camera, on a very long arm, which hovered and reached out to cover all the area.

One wonders so many efforts were put in to lay out a beautiful stadium but nothing at all was done outside the stadium, in the city. The media coverage has also been poor, to say the least. Apart from photographers by organizers, I was the only one who was clicking pictures.

As the players started coming in to the stadium, the excitement started building. The first game was between IOCL v BPCL. The IOCL players have it in their gait that they are champions. They warmed up for good 15m and did all drills. Prabhjot Singh, Jaswinder, Sardara Singh- he didn’t play though, Devesh Chauhan, Vikram Kanth, Inderjeet Chaddha, were the ones whom I could recognize. BPCL on the other hand, leave aside a few, didn’t bother much about warm ups. This sight, in itself, told a lot about what’s gonna happen in the game.

The crowd increased by the minute and as the match went under way just before 1800 hrs; the West side of the stadium – the roofed stand – was filling up briskly. Goals galore, minutes into the game and in the first half, it was a treat to watch the match. A score of 3-2 with IOCL leading promised an exciting 2nd half. However, unfortunately, 2nd half presented a lackluster and a disappointing show. BPCL players looked tired and were walking on the turf often. They could defend well and didn’t bother the score keepers at all. It was quite an ordinary show. The match ended 3-2.

One sad thing is that no one pays attention on certain basic etiquettes at the domestic levels. Any decision you don’t like, you surround the umpire and jeopardize the game for a few minutes – that is in our reflexes now. Another interesting event was when a contemporary national team player was shown the Green Card. He possibly forgot that he has to walk out at this stage. The umpire has to tell him what a Green Card means and show him where the benches were.

As the match got over, Air India team was stretching on the side fence to play their game against Army Red. Air India, usually, a star studded team lacked the star players today – possibly because many players would have been in the National Camp. But Dhanray Pillay, Sameer Dad, Vikram Pillay, Sandeep Micheal, Adrian D’Souza were the ones I thought would be worth watching.

Army Red, a local team who got its own turf recently, has always been a promising team on the domestic circuit. Although, it’s not star packed as IOCL or Air India, but they are a power to reckon with.

To make the stadium look lively in this break, numerous fire crackers were burst all this while that made the sky look beautiful. Few visitors watching the proceedings, from outside the stadium at the boundary wall, were a heartening sight.

As the teams were introduced to the Karnataka Sports Minister, Goolihatti Shekhar, the public announcers talked about the teams. When they took pride in telling the audience that Army Red is a local team and Ignace Tirkey makes the city proud, the humbled smile of Tirkey’s face was one to watch out for.

The match went underway and was a thorough downer. Players from both sides lacked fitness and didn’t bother to cover the turf, many a times. Although goals were scored but there wasn’t much class in the match. I was supposed to leave at the half time. But, I was told that 2nd half was a thriller in which Army Red took the match into the Tie Breaker and then beat Air India.

As I walked off, the West stand was nearly 90% full and the Eastern stands were occupied by the Army men in their dresses. I wondered if a tournament at the time when FIFA Football is on, will attract any people to the stadium – I was proved wrong at least on this day, the only day I went to the tournament. Although this was a satisfying sight, I walked off from the stadium disappointed because I felt domestic Hockey in India lacks quality. One whack into the goal post followed by a deflection is still the most preferred way to score - You don’t see that in international Hockey, high quality matches, anymore. Man to man marking, fitness, full usage of the pitch, non-solo approach are the premises we still don't believe in.

The variation of 3 attackers versus 3 (2+goalkeeper) defenders – the idea developed by Ric Charlesworth for short corners – relaxed my mind a bit that we have, indeed, adapted something from International Hockey arena.

It was also lovely to see a lot of people related to Karnataka Hockey come together on the same platform. Those I could recognize were AB Subbaiah, Ashish Ballal, MP Ganesh, RK Shetty, Charles C, BP Govinda,Jagbir Singh.

Last but not the least, it was a sheer pleasure watching a match with Jude Felix Hockey Academy members and got to meet Manoj Mahala, a Hockey buff, whom I got to know through facebook.

Here is the link to the photographs, I clicked: http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabh.bachchan.bigb/CMCupKSHACupBangalore

Azlan Shah Cup 2010 - My analysis

After seeing Hockey World Cup 2010 and the level International Hockey has attained, it feels a little boring to know there is a tournament - Sultan Azlan Shah Cup going on in Ipoh, Malaysia - where teams like Australia, Korea, Pakistan and India haven't fielded their full bench strength.


But life has to go on and World Cup got over more than 2 months back.

Some people may say that Azlan Shah Cup has more or less been a B-grade tournament where the best teams of the World - if at all they show up - field their development teams.

If India would have lost, critics would have claimed, 'Oh! It's just another nail in the coffin.' Had they won by beating Korea, it would have been, "Come on, this is expected. What’s so great about it?"

Well, I am neither a critic nor a person who has a huge baggage of expectations from the team.

For me, if it’s a decently contested game, where India earns a victory or looses by putting up a valiant effort is a moment of celebration and treat.

All said and done, due to heavy rains, the final couldn't be conducted and the Azlan Shah Cup 2010 was shared between India and Korea.

I am very positive that millions of fans of Indian Hockey wouldn't have been happy with this. We all wanted to the cup totally to ourselves and not shared with the Koreans! :)

Apart from the good show put up by the Indian team in this tournament - leave aside Development team topic for a moment - there are couple of points I wish to remark are:

1) Malaysia is a country which has Equatorial climate; one where there is a 4 'o clock rain every day. Shouldn't Azlan Shah Cup organizers apprehended this situation before and must have marked another day to complete the finals?

2) I read, from http://stick2hockey.com LIVE Commentary section, that Indian team management lodged an official complaint with the tournament director that since they ranked first in the pool, they should have been given the cup. Unfortunately, I find this short-sightedness of Indian management. I am sad to remark that this sounds very opportunistic on our part and also we must have thought about much before the tournament started rather when Rain Gods are greeting and giving mass hugs at the stadium.

Coming back to the performance of the Indian team, one has to praise the winning streak of India. First a draw with China, followed by victories over Pakistan, Korea and Australia was good news for all the fans. Losing to Malaysia was certainly not gonna well with a lot of people. India experimented quite a bit in that match – the coaches had planned this - and Malaysia beat Malaysia convincingly 5-2.

With Korea, Australia and Malaysia tied at the top, it finally came to the last match, where if India’s lose or draw would have been the biggest disappointment. Finally, India beat Egypt to claim the 1st spot in the pool thereby setting up a final with Korea. So, all in all, it has been a decent performance for the Indian team.


Few other points:

1) It has been reported that Jose Brasa was told by the Indian Government (read SAI officials) not to be present at the compulsory Press meet after every match that India plays. A professional person, he adhered to what was told by his bosses. So, one never got to know, what Brasa was thinking all through the tournament. Looks like Hockey India's media phobia is gonna be a chronic one.

2) None of the matches being broadcasted LIVE was another disappointment on this tour of India.

All said and done, I am happy to hear that India holds the Azlan Shah Cup 2010 (shared with Korea) but I also believe there is a need of tours to the 1st 5 countries of the World. It's jubilation time and every victory has its own importance so let's relax for a while and enjoy!