Sourav Ganguly appointed vice-chairman of WB Sports Council

The West Bengal government on Wednesday reconstituted the Sports Council by inducting former India captain Sourav Ganguly as one of its its vice-chairmen.

Ganguly will work alongside former footballers Gouranga Banerjee, Compton Dutta, international paddler Poulami Ghatak and GM Dibyendu Barua.

"We are trying to bring everybody from all disciplines to revive the sports in Bengal," sports minister Madan Mitra told reporters while announcing the reconstitution of the Sports Council.

It was also decided to divide the council into two committees -- advisory board and working committee. Both would be headed by Mitra.

The advisory board will have eight vice-chairmen including hockey Olympians Gurbux Singh and Dr Vece Paes, football Olympian Chuni Goswami and Dronacharya awardee Syed Nayeemuddin.

The advisory board will also have former Test cricketer Arun Lal, footballers Shyam Thapa and Subrata Bhattacharya.

Former Indian football captain P K Banerjee and Leslie Claudius will be members in the working committee which will have representation from various sports

Hockey coach Michael Jack Nobbs gets down to business

He is here and all set to get down to business. India’s new national coach of the men’s hockey team, Michael Jack Nobbs, landed here on Sunday evening. He went straight to the Sports Authority of India Southern Centre, where he is said to have had discussions with the other coaches and Hockey India officials. HI director of coaching SS Grewal has also arrived and so has Walter Joseph.

Joseph, who flew in from Australia on Sunday, will detail out the training programme for the team and fly back after a fortnight or so.

Nobbs will get down to the job on Monday morning and address them. He is also expected to speak to the players individually later. As of now, the plan is to divide the players into three groups and subject them to speed and strength tests.

“We will see a lot of hockey in the next few days,” said Grewal, who is the camp coordinator and in-charge. “The coach wants the players to get down to action so that they can be assessed and given roles. We are waiting for exercise physiologist David John to come. When he comes, there will be more tests. We are looking at an eight-month plan to tell us how well the boys can peak during the Olympic qualifiers next year.

“After that, we will see about the formation etc and it should all be done in the next two weeks,” Grewal added. Meanwhile, Dhananjay Mahadik will probably go back from the camp for rehabilitation as he is also injured. Shivendra Singh and Bharat Chikkara will not attend the camp as they too are injured. It is reliably learnt that Shivendra had a shoulder surgery a few days back and will be out of action for a few months.

Michael Nobbs named India hockey coach

The Indian hockey team got a new coach on Wednesday with Australian Olympian Michael Jack Nobbs bagging the coveted post after the exit of coach Jose Brasa. He has been appointed the coach for the national team till 2016, giving him ample time to revive the national sport and bring it to its glory days.

The other front runners for the post were twice Olympic and world champion Jacques Brinkman of Netherlands and Dutchman Roelant Oltmans.

SAI Director General Desh Deepak Verma said, “The new coach will be given a contract till 2016 Olympics because we now have to think about long-term associations."

Although the new coach will be provided a long-term contact, his performance will be evaluated after every international outing.


"But after every international tournament we will assess his performance," the SAI DG said.

Asked about the remuneration of the new foreign coach, Verma said, "It would be slightly expensive than the last foreign coach but I guess we can afford that for Indian hockey.

"In addition his contract will also have provision for incentives if we qualify for the (2012 London) Olympics," he said.


Apart from the SAI DG, the meeting was also attended by HI secretary general Narinder Batra, former skipper and HI Developmenet Committee chairman Pargat Singh, who shortlisted the candidates, HI Executive Director Anupam Ghulati among others.

India beat Argentina to finish with bronze in Champions Challenge hockey tournament

India overcame a two-goal deficit to eke out a 3-2 win over Argentina and finish with the bronze medal in the Champions Challenge hockey tournament here.

Their hopes to qualify for Champions Trophy dashed after the semifinal defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan, the Indian team was trailing 0-2 inside the first half an hour before V Raghunath (35th minute), Gurbaz Singh (54th) and Dhananjay Mahadik (69th) sounded the board to complete the win.

The bronze medal game started with both the teams taking their time and gauging each other before going on the offensive.

Argentina had lion's share of ball control and the hosts managed a series of penalty-corner but Indian custodian P Sreejesh was reassuring under the bar. On the second one, Pedro Ibarra collected the rebound but sent his shot in the clouds and finally Facundo Callioni opened the account in the 22nd minute with a shot from a difficult angle.

India tried to shift play into the Argentinean half but Callioni hit the target again soon with a spectacular diving deflection. Stung by the quick goals, the Indians pulled up their socks and started to dominate but they could not get close enough to generate a decent chance. In the final second of play, they earned a penalty-corner and Raghunath converted it, reducing their deficit going into the break and winning the momentum back.

The Indians maintained the tempo and put pressure for the first 10 minutes of second-half on their rival but Ibarra, Fernando Zylberberg and Ignacio Bergner, backed by Juan Tomas Espinosa in the goal, looked rock solid.

Argentina had an opportunity to stretch the lead but Thomas Argento's spectacular reverse missed the mark by a whisker. Meanwhile, India found the equaliser in the 54th minute through Gurbaj after some excellent work along the backline by Tushar Khandker.

Having erased the deficit, the Indians were on a role and monopolised the ball for long sequence of skillful plays. Shivendra Singh had a good chance after collecting a long pass but it was finally a penalty-corner by Dhananjay that earned them the lead.

Argentina had a last chance on a penalty-corner, but Ibarra could not cash in on and India won the bronze, much higher than their sixth entry ranking in this competition.

Argentina book last hockey World Cup berth

Argentina earned the last spot available for next year's Hero Honda FIH Hockey World Cup to be staged here from February 28 to March 13, when they beat Belgium 4-3 in the final of the last qualifying tournament in Quilmes.

The hosts put up an attacking brand of game and rallied from behind to edge past Belgium in the keenly-contested summit clash of BDO Hockey World Cup Qualifier yesterday.

With the victory of the Latin American country, all the 12 participating nations of the megaevent are now confirmed.

Besides host India and Argentina, other countries to have qualified for the World Cup are Canada, Korea, South Africa, Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Pakistan, and New Zealand.

Pakistan qualify for 2010 hockey World Cup in India

Pakistan booked a place at next year's World Cup in India by winning a qualifying tournament in France at the weekend.

Former Olympic champions Pakistan beat Japan 3-1 in the final in Lille on Sunday to secure of one of three qualifying slots in the 12-nation tournament, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said on its website (www.fihockey.org).

The other two places will go to the winner of the second qualifying tournament currently in progress in New Zealand, and the final qualifier starting in Argentina next week.

England, Olympic and world champions Germany, Netherlands and Spain qualified from Europe and join Pan American champions Canada, African champions South Africa, Oceania Cup champions Australia and Asia Cup champions South Korea at the event.

India qualify as hosts of the Feb. 28 to March 13 event in New Delhi.

Baljit to get treatment in USA, sports ministry to foot bill

Nursing an injured eye, Baljit Singh will undergo treatment in the United States to regain his full vision after the sports ministry agreed to foot the bill for the trip.

Hockey India secretary Mohammad Aslam Khan said the ministry has agreed to bear the expenses, thus clearing the decks for the custodian's treatment in the US.

"We have decided to send him to US for treatment and the sport ministry is bearing all the expenses for his treatment," Aslam said.

"We are now in discussion with the ministry to make all the arrangements for his travel. As soon as the formalities
are over, he will leave for the US," he added.

Even though reports claimed Baljit is likely to be treated at the Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, Aslam said nothing has been finalised yet.

"Doctors here (at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences) are working out whom and where to consult in USA," Aslam said.

"We are determined to see Baljit back into the field and the federation is behind him," Aslam added.

Baljit was left with a damaged right eye after a golf ball, with which he was practicing, sneaked through his visor to rupture his globe during the practice in Pune.

The custodian was rushed to the capital that day and he underwent an emergency surgery even though doctors are still not ready to assure that he would regain full vision.

Sports minister MS Gill had visited him in the hospital and assured him of help.

Army strike gold

Army XI's endurance paid off as the Bangalore side pipped local giants Air India to retain the Bombay Gold Cup title. In a match that saw both teams miss almost half a dozen chances each, Mahadik's 62nd-minute drag flick was enough to settle the issue.

The effect of playing back-to-back matches in severe heat and humidity was evident.
Air India suffered the most, having played the tie-breaker against Punjab and Sindh Bank (PSB) on Tuesday. Matching Army's pace was always going to be difficult for the airmen but they managed to do that in the first half.

The home side played the waiting game for most part of the first half, allowing Army to enter their half and then catching them on the break.

It was in the second half that Army dominated the Mumbai champions and stepped up a notch or two.

"We had a game plan in mind and stuck to that. Thankfully, it paid dividends," Mahadik said.

Joga Singh, who was the star in Air India's semifinal win on Tuesday, looked completely off colour. The airmen sorely missed the services of a drag flicker, failing to convert any of the five penalty corners that came their way. "We had to try variations throughout since we didn't have a proper drag flicker. If we would have, then the scoreline might have been different," their coach Gavin Fereira said.

Army, on the other hand, took complete advantage of their fitness, pacing the match in the sultry conditions to perfection.

Mahadik was the centre of their moves on more than one occasion as he has been throughout the tournament. They kept on knocking on the Air India door.

Air India had chances too and were twice denied by the umpire. Joga claimed a deflection that went past Army goalkeeper PT Rao in the fourth minute but umpire Raghu Prasad signalled a long corner, much to his disappointment.

Later in the second half, Dhanraj Pillay's hit from a penalty corner was also disallowed.

Earlier in the day, Indian Oil beat PSB 4-2 to clinch the third spot.

Ignace Tirkey weds woman hockey player

In a marriage between two hockey players, former India captain Ignace Tirkey tied the knot with women's team member Masira Surin at a church here on Monday.

Father M Gulab Lugun of the Lachragarh Roman Catholic Church solemnised the marriage, which was attended by Ignace's brother Prabodh, also a hockey player, and friends from sporting arena.

Both the bride and the groom, who are parts of national men's and women's hockey team respectively, were dressed in traditional attire during the ceremony.

Corruption ruined the game: Dhanraj Pillay

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I stated that 2008 has been one of the worst years for the national sport. We didn’t qualify for Olympics. It was the greatest disappointment.
The reasons for our failure are not limited to on-field performances alone. Instead, they spill over to administrative flaws. Lack of talented players in the team could be attributed to our dismal show. That in turn could be attributed to nepotism and partiality plaguing the selection committee.

Soon after this, images of the Indian Hockey Federation’s (IHF) secretary Jyothi Kumaran accepting bribes to secure spots for certain members in the squad were flashed across all television channels. That this incident marked the Black Day of Indian hockey.

This further exposed the overwhelming corruption in the IHF with KPS Gill at the helm of affairs. Gill’s 15 years of dictatorship finally came to an end. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) took over the IHF and formed an ad-hoc committee headed by Aslam Sher Khan with former players Ashok Kumar, Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal and myself to handle the sport. Ric Charlesworth resigned and the appointment of MK Kaushik as coach was wrought with controversy and we finally narrowed down on Harender Singh as men’s coach and AK Bansal as junior team’s coach.

The only silver lining has been the performance of the junior team, which retained the Junior Asia Cup by defeating South Korea. They also won the four-match series 1-0 against Junior World Champions Argentina.

2009 is going to be a very important year for hockey. There are qualifications for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2010 World Cup. We hope that our efforts at clearing the mess that has plagued hockey work well in our favour.

Diwakar's hat-trick helps India colts beat Argentina

A hat-trick by birthday boy and captain Diwakar Ram helped India juniors beat world champions Argentina 3-2 in the opening hockey Test at the Ciudad Club de Buenos Aires on Monday.

India suffered some early scares with Argentina exhibiting electric forays before they settled down and then Diwakar converted two penalty corners to lead 2-0 at the break.

India forward Jay Karan was set up by midfielder Vikas Sharma inside the striking circle before he was obstructed by Nahuel Salis. The resultant penalty corner was converted by Diwakar with a low dragflick past goalkeeper Ezequiel Olivero in the ninth minute.

Argentina tried to find the equaliser and earned their first penalty corner. However, even though custodian Mrinal Chaubey warded off the attempt from Augustin Cabrera, the umpire ruled it illegal, resulting in a penalty stroke.

Chaubey rose to the occasion as he foiled Santiago Montelli's strike with precision.

India continued their domination with more firepower from the flanks. They had their rivals caught on the wrong foot with strikers Danish Mujtaba and Amir Khan engineering crafty moves.

Another orchestrated attack got India its second penalty corner in the 19th minute and Diwakar made no mistake.

India maintained the same tempo upon resumption even though coach A.K. Bansal made rapid substitutions.

Argentina conceded another penalty corner in the 55th minute which the Indian skipper converted clinically in the roof of the net.

A few missed traps in the defence spurred Argentina to seize their opportunities as they scored two goals in quick succession in the 64th and 67th minutes through Alan Andino and Agustin Mazzilli.

India, however, held out until the final minutes as Argentina went all out in the hunt for the equaliser and won 3-2.

No plans to shift 2010 World Cup from India

Spaniard Leandro Negre replaced Els van Breda Vriesman as the new president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), beating her in the elections held during the governing body’s Congress in Los Angeles on November 30. Negre, who was the president of the European Hockey Federation, will hold the office for a term of four years. He spoke to Joe Williams about the Indian hockey and cleared the air about the threat of shifting the 2010 World Cup from India

What is in store for the game in general and India in particular?
My long term goals will be a combination between what the FIH is doing well at this moment and the projects I presented in my election campaign. The ultimate goal is to make the sport of hockey stronger than it is now.

Seven coaches were shortlisted by the former FIH chief. Can India look forward to a new horizon in our national sport?
India has played a key part in the history of hockey. The FIH hopes that this country will play a key role in the future again.

What will be FIH’s role in helping India get back to the helm?
India is one of the key hockey nations. The FIH started the project ‘Promoting Indian Hockey’ in late 2006 and under my leadership this project will definitely not end.

When are you visiting India?
At this stage, the plans for visiting India are not fixed yet. But I am sure that during the first part of 2009 a visit by the FIH will be made.

The FIH expanded its cooperation with You Tube. Your comments?
You Tube is a great tool to attract young people to our sport.

Will recent terror strikes have any impact on 2010 World Cup allotted to New Delhi?
At this stage there is no reason not to host the 2010 men’s World Cup in India. The FIH signed the memorandum of understanding for our showcase event in August this year and I don’t see any reason for me to change this. However, the FIH will monitor the situation in India to make sure that the event will be organized at the highest possible level.

The Indian Olympic Association has provisionally recognized the Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC) as the sole governing body for the game in India. What has happened to the proposal of renaming the IHC to Hockey India?
The proposal to rename the IHC to Hockey India has been accepted by the FIH Congress.

Source http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1211552

Strong support shown for "6+5" at meeting with French sports minister

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter held very productive meetings regarding "6+5" with French sports minister Bernard Laporte and a delegation representing FIFPro at the Home of FIFA in Zurich this week.

On Tuesday 17 June, the FIFA President welcomed Mr Laporte to a meeting that was also attended by President of the French FA Jean-Pierre Escalettes and President of the French League Frédéric Thiriez. Commenting on this meeting the next day in a programme on French television channel Canal+, the French sports minister said: "I told Mr Blatter that I think the 6+5 proposal is a good idea. I think it is in the interest of all of us, of education and of our young players, and that it applies not only to football, but also to rugby, volleyball and indeed all sports. It is our responsibility to debate this issue and examine it fully."

On Wednesday, Mr Blatter hosted a delegation from FIFPro, led by FIFPro Europe President Philippe Piat and by FIFPro Secretary General Theo Van Seggelen, who also stressed their support for the objectives of "6+5".

"I am encouraged by the support that we have received in the past few days and this gives me even greater motivation to continue working on '6+5', with further meetings to be held next week," said the FIFA President, who will receive a delegation from the IOC, including its Chairman of International Relations Mario Pescante and representatives from the international federations of five team sports (basketball, handball, ice hockey, rugby and volleyball) at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Wednesday, 25 June.

Franzen's late rally gives Red Wings first win

Johan Franzen scored two third-period goals to give defending champions the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and a first win of the season.

Franzen tied the score 11:16 into the third period, then delivered the game-winner with 1:17 to play when his shot trickled into the net past Senators goalie Martin Gerber.

"It was a lucky one," Franzen told reporters "It got deflected off the defenseman's stick. I was shooting for the first (near) post and it got deflected to the other post. That was a tough play for him (Gerber)."

Detroit (1-1-0), who dropped their opener to Toronto on Thursday, never led until Franzen's winner.

"Hopefully, I will carry this with me and get the confidence back," said Franzen, who did not score in Thursday's season-opening loss by the 2008 Stanley Cup champions.

Ottawa grabbed a 1-0 advantage on Alexandre Picard's power-play goal 6:22 into the first period and went ahead 2-1 on Nick Foligno's unassisted goal late in the second.

Valtteri Filppula provided Detroit's other goal 11:01 into the first.

Red Wings netminder Chris Osgood stopped 20 shots for the victory as his team peppered his counterpart Gerber with 41 shots, 38 of which he saved.

Germany won Olympic men's hockey gold

Players of Germany celebrate victory during the men's hockey gold medal match Germany vs Spain of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at Olympic Green Hockey Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 23, 2008. Germany beat Spain 1-0 and got the gold medal. (Xinhua/Li Yong)


World No. 2 Germany won the gold medal of the Olympic men's hockey tournament here on Saturday, defeating Spain 1-0.

It was the Germany's first gold since the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Germany did not take a 1-0 lead until the 16th minute when Christopher Zeller converted a penalty corner.

Though Spain tried hard to crack down the German defence, they were finally denied a goal. Germany held on 1-0 to the very end.

Spain, the silver medallists at Atlanta Games in 1996, repeated their medal tonight. Ranked fourth in the world, they came in the final as astonishers, ousting world champions Australia 3-2 in the semifinals Thursday.

Netherlands claim gold in Olympic women's hockey

Tang Chunling (R) of China vies for the ball during women's gold medal match between China and the Netherlands at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games hockey event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. The Netherlands won the match and grabbed the gold medal. (Xinhua/Li Yong)


World champions the Netherlands snatched the Olympic women's hockey gold with a 2-0 win over China here on Friday.

It is their first Olympic hockey title since the Los Angeles Games 24 years ago.

Hosts China also picked up their first ever medal at the Olympic Games.

The first half saw a 0-0 tie, in which the Dutch's four penalty corners were all saved by Chinese goalie Zhang Yimeng.

A penalty corner converted by Van As Naomj in the 51st minute broke the tie and gave the Netherlands 1-0 lead. Maartje Goderie added another in the 62nd and sealed their 2-0 win.

World No. 2 Argentina took the bronze with a 3-1 win over defending champions Germany.