India sneak past Korea 1-0 to set up final clash with Pakistan

This piece was published in Sportskeeda
Playing a higher ranked side in front of their home crowd in the semifinals of the Asian Games was always going to be a tough ask and the way proceedings unfolded, it did look that India would have a tough job overcoming the Korean hurdle in Incheon.

The Sardar Singh-led side overcame the first half sloppiness and put up a much more enterprising second half performance to outwit Korea by a solitary goal to reach the final of the Asian Games. India will play the winner of the second semifinal between Pakistan and Malaysia.

The much-hyped match saw both teams exercise caution in the early exchanges. Incisive moves were not the order of the day in the opening quarter as both sides took their own sweet time to size each other up. India finally broke free in the second quarter forcing a penalty corner, but the Korean goalkeeper Lee Myungho brought off a save with his right hand, which resulted in another PC. India could not capitalize. SV Sunil had an opportunity to convert a half chance into a goal, but the alert Korean defence bottled him up nullifying that raid. Gurbaj Singh showed promise essaying a cross, but no Indian player was there to make the most of it as the half-time scoreline read 0-0.

The Koreans slipped into fifth gear in the second half and asked several questions to the Indian defence, and thankfully the Indians managed to find answers to those questions. Comeback man Gurwinder Singh Chandi who had had a sedate tourney so far, had a chance to do the star turn when he only had to tap the ball in, but only managed to bungle.

However, the slip-up did not cost India dearly as Akashdeep Singh once again underlined his liking for scoring goals against Korea finding the opening goal in the 44th minute off a nifty cross. The Indian youngster had scored a brace in India’s 3-0 win over Korea in their last meeting in the 2014 World Cup in The Hague.

Korea summoned desperate measures in the final quarter and gave the Indian defence some anxious moments when they won a penalty corner with two minutes remaining for the final hooter. India foiled that set-piece and held firm to book their final berth.

Indian women's hockey lose semi-final, face Japan for bronze medal

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

The last time Indian women’s hockey team locked horns with Korea in an international fixture was at the 2013 Asia Cup in Ipoh, where they went down by the odd goal in three. And on Monday at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium the Indian eves, riding high on confidence following their 6-1 mauling of Malaysia, were brought down to earth by a Kim Darae goal as early as in the 3rd minute.

Early goals can be quite disturbing for any team, especially in the knockout stage even before India had hardly settled down. To the credit of the Indians, they took the early setback in their stride and mounted efforts to draw level and were rewarded when Namita Toppo rattled the Korean cage off a nifty pass from Vandana Katariya.

The Ritu Rani-led side were very much in the contest as the scoreline read 1-1 at the end of the opening quarter. The Neil Hawgood-coached side must have walked onto the pitch for the second quarter teeming with confidence, but the Koreans playing in front of their home crowd forged ahead in the closing stages of the second quarter when Han Hyelyoung converted a penalty corner in the 29th minute to ensure her side held the aces at the half-time break.

Indians needed to equalize early in the second half to press for a win, but it was not to be the case as Korea enhanced the lead through Park Mihyun in the 42nd minute leaving their opponents with a massive task of scoring at least thrice and book a final berth. India messed up a chance to reduce the deficit when Jaspreet Kaur’s power-packed PC was well saved by the Korean goalkeeper early in the final quarter.
Korea will now face defending champions China, who battled past Japan by a solitary goal in the 57th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Wang Mengyu. India will play Japan in the bronze medal play-off game on Wednesday.

India pull off unconvincing 2-0 win over China, meet Korea in semis

This piece was published in Sportskeeda.com

The Chinese men’s hockey team are known to give the Indians a hard run for their money. We all remember the 2009 Asia Cup in Kuantan, where China stunned India with a 2-2 draw forcing the latter out of the semifinals of the Asia Cup for the first time ever. On Saturday at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium, the Indians were forced to dig deep as the Chinese offered staunch resistance and perhaps raised visions of a surprise win and sneak into the semis as winning was the only way they could make it to the last four stage, while a draw was enough for India to make the cut.

Both teams exercised caution and create few scoring chances in the first half. India struggled to dish out their known free-flowing hockey as Chinese were not easily giving them open spaces to mount their raids. Collectively, India failed to jell as a unit and had their first penalty corner in the closing stages of the opening half, but they wasted that opportunity as the half-time scoreline read 0-0.
India desperately needed to open their account as the doughty Chinese can always surprise with a late goal and seal their semis route, but the Indians really went for broke and Vokkaliga Raghunath, who messed up as many as eight short corner opportunities in the game against Oman, converted India’s second penalty corner with a fierce flick beating Chinese Xu Rui all ends up in the 40th minute.

Birendra Lakra chalked up a surprise second goal off a nice assist by Akashdeep Singh at the stroke of the third quarter hooter – clearly they turned things around in the third quarter.

India exerted pressure in the final quarter and forced three PCs but it all went abegging. China also gave the Indian defence some scare earning three penalty corners, but denied from scoring.
To tell the truth, India did pull through with a 2-0 win, but it was a pretty unconvincing win. They will need to tighten all the loose ends in the semifinal clash against hosts Korea on Monday.

Wushu coming of age in India!

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

In a country where cricket and a few other sports hog the limelight, combat sports in India face a host of challenges just to survive as a ‘competitive sport’. Sparse media coverage, lack of cash incentives, inadequate corporate assistance are some factors that stack up against athletes, who pursue this sport with diligence day in day out.

Wushu is one sport that has walked the ‘low-profile’ path over the years, but notwithstanding that the sport is beginning to show signs of coming of age.

The Indian wushu team’s two bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games should be not swept under the carpet. The exploits of Yumnam Sanathoi Devi and Narender Grewal in Incheon must be seen in proper perspective. For a sport that struggles to grab newsprint space, the country’s wushu players have been doing what they can do best – perform and win medals on the international stage.

One wonders how many of us really know about Yumnam Sanathoi Devi – believe it or not she is a twice silver medallist in the World Wushu Championship. The Manipuri girl, who has now shifted to the 52-kg category, had scooped up the silver medal at the 2013 World Wushu Championship in Kuala Lumpur in the 48-kg category – the same category in which she picked up a silver medal at the 2011 World Wushu Championship in Ankara.

The World Wushu Championship are held every two years and the Indian wushu players have fared well no the world stage – they had won six medals (two silver and four bronze) at the 2013 World Wushu Championship and had snaffled four medals (two silver and two bronze) at the 2011 World Wushu Championship.

India missed out on another medal when W. Sandhyarani Devi crashed out of contention in the women’s 60-kg sanda event. Sandhyarani is the 2010 Asian Games bronze medallist – one of the two medals India won in that event – she also won the bronze at the 2013 World Wushu Championship. Inda also bagged two silver and one bronze in an International Wushu Meet in Georgia in June this year. Even at the Asian Junior Wushu Championship held in Manila last month, India won 1 silver and five bronze medals.
Clearly, all these performances indicate that wushu is making the right noises in India. The 22nd edition of the Senior National Wushu Championship was held in Jaipur in February 2014, where close to 800 players took part. Manipur is one state which is formidable in this sport churning out a slew of talents on the national horizon. States like Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand among others are steadily climbing up the ladder and making their presence felt in various domestic wushu tourneys.

Wushu was first introduced in India in 1989 by late Anand Packer with the formation of the Wushu Association of India (WAI) based in Lucknow and it soon followed the induction of senior nationals – the sport made its debut in the 2011 National Games in Ranchi.
The WAI clearly deserves praise for doing their bit to ensure India is producing medals on the big stage – two medals each at the 2010 Asiad and 2014 Asiad coupled with 10 ten medals in the last two World Wushu Championship (2013 and 2011) – must be enough indication that wushu is well on course to make an even bigger impact in the coming years. The 2015 World Wushu Championship will be the next biggest preparation for the country’s wushu players, the venue for which is yet to be decided by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF).

Indian hockey eves drub Malaysia 6-1 to set up semifinal clash with Korea

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No team would ideally prefer permutations and combinations to come their aid in progressing to the knockout phase and the Indian women’s hockey team probably did not want to go through all that as they came out all guns blazing to trounce Malaysia 5-1 in a match where a draw was enough for them to reach the semifinals, while their opponents were in dire need of a win to make the last four stage.

The Ritu Rani-led side were in no mood to play for a draw at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium and meant business from the outset. Vastly talented striker Rani Rampal, who haven’t troubled the scorers in the first two games, opened the account for India as early as in the 4th minute and hardly had the Malaysians regrouped to mount a fightback, drag-flick expert Jaspreet Kaur drilled home a penalty corner to put her side in the comfort zone in the 9th minute.

With their tails up with a two-goal cushion in the first quarter, India further upped the ante as Namita Toppo enhanced the lead with a deft touch early in the second quarter (39th minute) before Rani Rampal scored her second for the day three minutes later (41st minute) as they continued to assert their dominance and led 4-0 at half-time.

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Thus, India have finished second in Pool A behind defending champions China and will now play hosts Korea in the semifinals on Monday, while China face Japan in the other semifinal.

Pakistan overcome late Indian surge to win 2-1

This piece was published in Sportskeeda
 
Number 13 is considered unlucky and for India it seemed like the 13th Asian Games meeting with their arch-rivals Pakistan spelt the doom for them as they went down by the odd goal in a Pool B fixture at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium in Inchoen, Korea. India-Pakistan hockey matches invariably churn out adrenaline-pumping action and it wasn’t any different on Thursday. Quite obviously, supporters of both teams were bubbling over with excitement as this was the first game between them in 2014. Over the years, fans have been imploring for more India-Pakistan hockey matches as they are sure shot crowd-pullers, but thanks to frosty diplomatic ties the scenario is such that India plays their arch-rivals only at neutral venues in multi-nation events.

It was the Greenshirts, who pressed the offensive button from the starting hooter and forced a penalty corner in the sixth minute, but the Indian defence minus injured Rupinder Pal Singh, just about managed to thwart that opportunity. India paid the same coin by creating their first penalty corner, but it was Pakistan’s turn to nullify that set-piece. India showed more purpose in the second quarter after the goalless first quarter as Ramandeep came close to scoring. India frittered away another short corner opportunity, but it seemed that the Blueshirts had control of the proceedings even as both teams took the half-time break with a 0-0 scoreline.
Pakistan reply back stronger

India were pushed on the backfoot when Pakistan took the lead in the third quarter through Umar Muhammad Bhutta. Umar, who score a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in the first game, triggered celebrations in the Green Shirts’ bench with a strike in the 38th minute, thus putting the fightback onus on Sardar Singh’s men.
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India needed to summon desperate measures going into the final quarter trailing 0-1 and Nikkin Thimmaiah breathed a sigh of relief restoring parity in the 53rd minute to raise visions of a honorable draw, but Pakistan were in no mood to play for a draw as they regained the lead a minute later through Waqas Muhammad.

Pushed to the wall, India needed to produce something out of the ordinary, but Pakistan held their nerves to close out a 2-1 win and now look poised to top Pool B and in all probability avoid hosts Korea in the semifinals. India will now have to beat China in their last league tie on Saturday and will in all likelihood face hosts Korea in the semifinal.

Brave Indian hockey eves go down 1-2 to 5th ranked China

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China’s women’s hockey team have invariably asserted their supremacy over India in Asian Games. Five wins in six encounters going into Wednesday’s tie sums up their dominance over the years with the lone Indian win coming at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. Let’s not forget that China – ranked 5th in the world – have won the Asiad gold thrice on the trot, diluting the stranglehold Korea used to have at this continental event (Korean have won it four times).
So given this scenario, the Indian women had a tough ask of halting the Chinese in their tracks. Of course, if the Ritu Rani-led side needed inspiration from any quarter, it was very much there – rewind to the 2013 Asia Cup in Ipoh, where India got the better of China 3-2 in a shootout after both teams were locked 2-2 in normal time to bag the bronze – that was some effort from the girls beating the reigning Asian champions – in the same event India gave the Chinese a tough fight before going down 0-1 in the league stage. And on Wednesday, the Indian eves brought their resilience to the fore, keeping the Chinese at bay in the opening quarter but it did not last long Liang

And on Wednesday, the Indian eves brought their resilience to the fore, keeping the Chinese at bay in the opening quarter, but it did not last long as Liang Meiyu gave their side the lead off a penalty corner exercise after goalie pulled off a decent save in the 19th minute. India ensured Chinese joy was short-lived as Jaspreet Kaur soon made the most of a penalty stroke as both teams went into half-time locked 1-1. China sprayed the ball around in the Indian ‘D’, but they were thwarted each time. Li Dongxiao essayed a good run but was foiled by the Indian defenders.
India muffed up a chance to make it 2-1 off a short corner when Rani’s shot was well-saved by the Chinese shot stopper. Indian defence survived some anxious moments in the final quarter – goalie Savie blocked a Chinese PC opportunity. Four minutes before the final hooter, India could have had the last laugh, but Jaspreet Kaur’s PC flick sailed over the bar. China made India pay for that PC lapse as Zhao Yudiao scored a field goal one minute from the final hooter to ensure their sixth Asian Games win over India.
Clearly, the Indian eves have every right to feel hard done by the final outcome after even coming close to not just drawing, but also pulling off a surprise win. India never looked like a world number 13 side playing the 5th ranked side – something they can be proud of even as they experience the ‘so near yet so far’ syndrome.

Never-ending rivalry of India-Pakistan hockey matches

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

Crowd support for a team in any sporting event can sometimes pan out to be a ‘big factor’ in deciding the final outcome. And when arch-rivals India and Pakistan lock horns on the hockey pitch, spectators of both countries go an ‘extra mile' in rooting for their respective teams. Indeed, India-Pakistan hockey rivalry never fails to capture the public imagination. It really does not matter what is the name of the tournament – it could be the Olympics, World Cup, FIH Champions Trophy, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asia Cup, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup or even the bilateral Test series – the rivalry remains cut-throat as ever.

Ever since India starting playing Pakistan on the international stage, expectations from the supporters of both countries have always remained sky-high. A win will be greeted with hero worship and unbridled adulation. Encomiums will be showered munificently on the players making them feel as if they are ‘special’. A defeat will cast a pall of gloom with the team being vilified to no end. Let alone flaying the team, the players will be castigated and the coaches will be given a mouthful across various mediums. Fate of some players and coaches are also sealed in such high-voltage encounters. What’s worse is that the rivalry would often translate into on-pitch unbecoming behaviour with players of both sides resorting to harsh tackles or fouls and also not losing out on a chance to give each other a mouthful caring a little about what colour of the card the umpire flashes. At times, spectators would get ugly at times, abusing the under-performing players.

As former India hockey captain Ashok Kumar – son of legendary Dhyan Chand – once said, the rivalry is strictly confined to on-pitch action. “Indian and Pakistan players are good friends off the pitch and not on it. It’s just that the intensity of an India-Pakistan game is much higher than any other game. People are extra pumped up for the occasion, ready to put their best foot forward.”

Clearly, there is a great deal of bonhomie among the Indian and Pakistan players and a clash is just a no-holds-barred contest and nothing more. Talking about fierce rivalry about these two teams, it is imperative to mention that Pakistan have always enjoyed their dominance over India – the Greenshirts have won most times over India and at the continental level, they hold the sway. India and Pakistan have met in the first six Asian Games hockey final and out of a total seven final meetings, the former have won only once losing the other six.
Even at the Asia Cup, it is Pakistan who have called the shots. India have met in four Asia Cup finals and again have won only once with Pakistan winning the first three Asia Cup finals on the trot.

India-Pakistan hockey matches are always watched with rapt attention and over the years both teams have engaged in some games that can be termed ‘memorable’, ‘controversial’, eye-catching’. We all remember the 1982 New Delhi Asiad final where India were humiliated by Pakistan in a 1-7 defeat in their own backyard. Only a year back, Pakistan had defeated India by the same margin in the Champions Trophy in Karachi. India also have chalked up some famous wins over Pakistan – the 5-4 win in the 1982 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, where Rajinder Singh scored a fine hat-trick will remain etched in our memories. How one can forget India beating Pakistan 7-4 at the 2003 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen.

If Pakistan dominated India in eighties and nineties, India have turned over a new leaf in recent times. Barring a second-string Indian team’s 4-5 loss to Pakistan in the 2013 Asian Champions Trophy (the last India-Pakistan encounter), the Indians have beaten Pakistan thrice in four other recent clashes. At the 2013 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India beat them 3-1 in the league phase before again pipping them 4-2 in the 5-6 place play-off tie. At the 2012 Asian Champions Trophy, India downed Pakistan 2-1 in the league stage before losing narrowly 4-5 to the same opponents in the final marred by poor umpiring resulting in strong protests from the former. At the 2010 Asiad, India also beat Pakistan 3-2 in the league stage, although it’s a different matter altogether that Pakistan went on to win the gold while India had to settle for the bronze.

India-Pakistan hockey matches have given us joy, but at the same time courted controversy. Say what you want, India-Pakistan games are always going to be crowd-pullers no matter what! The vociferous support of both teams will never ever die down.

Indian wrestlers poised to break 28-year Asian Games gold drought

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

Confidence is a ‘big’ thing in sports. And it is this facet the Indian wrestlers will bank on at the Incheon Asian Games. If recent form is anything to go by, the Indian grapplers are in prime form and look poised to pose a serious threat to grapplers from Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Iran among others.
The country’s stupendous haul of 13 medals (six gold, five silver and two bronze) at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games made them the nation with the second highest haul behind Canada, who won one medal less than India (won 12 medals) but were the table-toppers having won seven gold medals.

There is a strong feeling that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is sticking to a well chalked-out programme to ensure optimum results on the world stage and also pave the way for the country becoming a wrestling powerhouse, which they are of course, well on course to attain in the future. The WFI choose to rest main grapplers for the World Championships in Tashkent so that they can focus on the Asian Games – not just that even the country’s three top coaches did not accompany the national team to Tashkent as a second-string side was sent to the World Championship so that the grapplers are kept fresh after the rigours of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Quite obviously, taking part in two big-tickets like Asian Games and Glasgow Commonwealth Games in one month would have taken a toll on the grapplers and the WFI took a prudent move to set their sights on Incheon.

The Indian wrestling contingent will be looking to improve on their three bronze medals they won in the 2010 Asiad. In fact, the biggest talking point is about India breaking the 28-year wait of Asiad wrestling gold (Kartar Singh last won it in 1986). Not many will disagree that the team minus Sushil Kumar, who opted to skip the World Championship and Asian Games so that he can focus on the 2016 Rio Olympics, have the ammunition to win the yellow metal. “Our wrestlers are training hard in Sonepat.Yogeshwar Dutt is our biggest gold medal prospect but I’m equally upbeat about all our grapplers, who have the tenacity to come through on the big stage,’ says Indian wrestling head coach Vinod Kumar.

The national coach has no doubts that the team will overcome the absence of Sushil Kumar. “Sushil is a type of wrestler who cannot be replaced. But then, there are others who are capable of doing the job. We hope to bag at least four or five medals in Incheon.

The 18-member wrestling contingent is expecting big things from Amit Kumar (freestyle 57-kg), Bajrang Kumar (freestlye 61-kg), Pawan Kumar (freestyle 86-kg), Satywart Kadian (freestyle 97-kg) besides Yogeshwar. Amit is riding high on confidence after picking up the gold at Glasgow CWG, and the ditto for Bajrang and Satywart both of whom bagged a silver besides Pawan who grabbed a bronze. Greco-roman wrestlers like Ravinder Singh (2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist) and Sandeep Yadav (2013 World Championship bronze medallist) are bullish about contributing to the medal hope.

Its not just that the medal hopes are hinged on men wrestlers. Our women grapplers are coming off a superb show in Glasgow as the likes of Vinesh Phogat (48-kg) and Babita Kumari (55-kg) will be angling for a podium finish after winning gold medals in the CWG. Geetika Jhakkar will also be seeking to have a good run after her silver in Glasgow, while Jyoti will strive for a medal after finishing fourth in the 75-kg category at Glasgow.

India cut Oman to size in 7-0 win

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After a not so ‘happening’ performance in their Asian Games opener against 40th ranked Sri Lanka, India raised their game by several notches to pull off a 7-0 win over Oman. India’s profligacy came to the fore as they wasted a plethora of penalty corner, but can still feel happy about their second win on the trot, which was pretty much on expected lines. The 22nd ranked Oman – who were drubbed 0-9 by India in the 2006 Doha Asiad – kept the Indian forward line at bay in the early stages as the scoreline read 0-0 at the end of the opening quarter.

It was a case of missed opportunities as there was no shortage of attacking moves from the Indians, who forged ahead in the 18th minute when Rupinder Pal Singh drilled in a fierce drag-flick beating the Omani goalie all ends up. Rupinder struck again one minute later off a short corner and seemed to have twisted his ankle while carrying out the set-piece and was taken off the pitch as India hung on to the 2-0 lead at half-time.

The Sardar Singh-led side netted the third goal early in the third quarter when Akashdeep Singh capitalized on India’s eight penalty corner before Vokkaliga Raghunath converted a penalty stroke in the 39th minute as India held a 4-0 lead going into the final quarter.
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India upped their ante in the final quarter as Ramandeep Singh added the fifth goal in the 54th minute off a PC routine – his third of the tournament. Danish Mujtaba scored the sixth six minutes later and it was left to Vokkaliga Raghunath to unleash a power-packed drag-flick to turn the contest the modest win into a rout. It was the Coorg lad’s third of the tourney as India walked off the pitch on a satisfactory note after brushing aside the first game cobwebs.

India will hope for injured Rupinder to be fit as a fiddle for their crunch game against arch-rivals Pakistan on Thursday.

Asian Games: Indian hockey eves humble lowly Thailand 3-0

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The last time the Indian women’s hockey team rubbed shoulders with minnows Thailand at the 2010 Asian Games, it was a stroll in the park for them – they chalked up a massive 13-0 win. But on Monday, there were no easy pickings for the Ritu Rani-led Blueskirts, who muffed up several chances en route to a 3-0 win over Thailand at the Seonhak Stadium in Incheon.
The 53rd ranked Thailand eves were expected to receiving a pounding from the talented Indian forwardline, but the profligacy of the latter meant that they could avoid the proverbial ‘goal-bashing’. India mounted raids from the outset, but were denied any scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes of play. It was left to Poonam Rani – one of the goal-scorers in India’s 13-0 win over Thailand in the 2010 Asiad – to open the account in the 14th minute off a penalty corner. The Thai girls defied the Indians for the rest of the first half and trooped off the pitch with great deal of respect trailing by a solitary goal. The Indians found it hard to breach the Thai citadel and forged ahead only in the 39th minute through Vandana Katariya as they went on to hold a 2-0 lead at the end of the third quarter. The final quarter warranted India churn out a few goals to keep their goal average high, but it was only in the 53rd minute that Deepika made the scoreline 3-0 off a short corner. That was the last time India troubled the scorers as Thailand came off the pitch with a respectable defeat.
India next play formidable China on Wednesday.