Impressive Malaysia win Women’s Hockey World League Round 1 tourney

The Malaysian men’s hockey team may have disappointed its fans with a wooden-spoon finish at the 2014 Rabobank World Cup in Hague, but its women counterparts somewhat atoned for that winning the Women’s Hockey World League Round 1 Tournament at the Sengkang Sports and Recreation Centre in Singapore.

The 21^st ranked Malaysian eves swept aside 33^rd ranked Kazakhstan 5-0 to qualify for the Women’s Hockey World League Round 2 Tournament, which will serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. It may be noted that Malaysia had won the Women’s Hockey World League Round 1 Tournament in Kuantan last year.

Malaysia did not allow Kazakhstan to settle down and struck in the 5^th minute through Noor Ali Hasliza. Hardly had the Kazakhs recovered from the early strike, Malaysia  compounded their woes doubling the lead three minutes later through Rashid Nuraini.

The match literally went out of Kazakhstan’s grasp when Noor Ali Hasliza made the scoreline 3-0 in the 29^th minute. There was no let up in intensity from the Malaysians when Rahman Nadia converted a penalty corner close to half-time to ensure Malaysia had only the winning formalities to complete in the second stanza having sewed up a 4-0 lead at the break.

Changing over Kazakhstan tightened their defence although they found it hard to breach the Malaysian citadel. Malaysia did sneak in the fifth goal six minutes from the final hooter through Mohamed Adawiyah even as Kazakhstan strived to narrow the victory margin.

Earlier, Malaysia bulldozed 53^rd ranked Thailand 8-0, while Kazakhstan whipped 48^th ranked Singapore 5-1 in the semifinals.

Thailand sprang an upset of sorts when they put it across higher ranked and hosts Singapore 4-1 in the 3-4 place play-off tie.

As many as seven teams are taking part in the six-day event.

The writer can be contacted at: suhridbarua@gmail.com

Exclusive Interview: Goalkeepers don’t always get their due, says Indian shot stopper PR Sreejesh

This piece was published in Stick2hockey.com

Every tournament sees a player or set of players grab the eyeballs for all the ‘right’ reasons, and for India at the 2014 Rabobank World Cup in Hague, there was one guy, who panned out to be a standout performer by a long, long way.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh left nobody in doubt that he was India’s ‘find’ of the World Cup – coming up with a plethora of saves to ensure India stayed competitive. Save for the first half of India’s 3-2 win over Malaysia and 3-0 win over Korea, Sreejesh was a ‘busy’ man in the Indian cage. “Look, goalkeepers do not always get their due for their performances be it India or for that matter any country. So I’m little surprised at all the praise over my performance,” Sreejesh says in an exclusive interview.

The Kerala lad attributes his robust goalkeeping skills in the World Cup to his stint he had under Dutch goalkeeping coach Martijn Drijver (who had earlier coached star shot stopper Guus Vogels) during the country’s exposure tour of the Netherlands a month ahead of the big-ticket event. “I think the stint with Guus Vogels really helped. He stressed on two things ‘watch the ball’ and ‘stop’ – he advised me not to commit myself and keep things simple – his inputs worked for me,” he reveals.

The 29-year-old Indian goalie feels the Indian team shaped up well at the World Cup, but felt short on the ‘experience’ quotient. “If you look at most teams you will find that there were much more experienced than we were. No doubt, we have a talented side, but in big games experience do matter and we fell short in this area,” he quips.

Sreejesh touched a pertinent point when he accentuated the need to have ‘stability’ in the side. “I can assure you that if we have this current bunch of players till the 2016 Rio Olympics, we will stand a bright chance of making a podium finish. Most of our youngsters will get more mature and gain enough international experience by then, which will help us in a big way,” the soft-spoken lad observes.

The conversation veers towards the development of ‘desi’ coaches and Sreejesh believes there is a massive need to put a process in place, which ensures churning out quality coaches. “We lack good Indian coaches. The likes of Harendra Singh, CR Kumar and Baljit Singh Saini are really good coaches  - I think they should conduct clinics in every state through a planned programme wherein at least four to five in every state can attend this coaching clinics and take their skills to the next level. For Indian hockey to be on the upswing, it’s really important to upgrade our coaches or at least produce quality home-grown coaches,” he remarks.

It may be recalled that Sreejesh was the hero in the inaugural 2011 Asian Champions Trophy, where he effected two brilliant saves in the penalty shootout of the final game against Pakistan, which India won 4-2. He cherished those moments even today. “Any win against Pakistan is hugely satisfying. My performance in that final match helped to establish myself in the national side. It’s like an once-in-a-lifetime thing for me,” he recalls.

He is upbeat about India’s chances at the upcoming Commonwealth Games. “We are improving with each game and I’m confident that we will fare well in Glasgow,” he fires a parting shot.

The writer can be contacted at: suhridbarua@gmail.com

Women’s Hockey World League Round 1: Clinical Malaysia set up final date with Kazakhstan

The Malaysian women’s hockey team continued their clinical ways, clobbering Thailand 8-0 to set up a final date with Kazakhstan in the Women’s Hockey World League Round 1 Tournament being played in Singapore. The 21^st ranked Malaysians rode roughshod over 53^rd ranked Thailand and led 4-0 at half-time and will clash with 33^rd ranked Kazakhstan in Thursday’s final.

Kazakhstan were equally impressive in their 5-1 win over 48^th ranked Singapore, thus putting an end to the hopes of the hosts of progressing further in the tournament.

Kazakhstan will be in for a tough fight against the Malaysians, who had hammered Singapore and Sri Lanka by 10-0 and 14-0 margins. Kazakhstan eves had beaten Myanmar 2-0, Hong Kong 9-0 and Thailand 2-0 in the league phase.

 As many as seven teams are taking part in the six-day event.

The writer can be contacted at: suhridbarua@gmail.com

Ireland men to play hockey Test series against Wales, England

The Ireland’s men’s hockey team will play a two-match Test series against 31^st ranked Wales and 5^th ranked England. The Green Machine – ranked 15^th in the world - will feature in a two Test series against Wales over the weekend (July 28 and 29) and then take on England the following week on July 4 and 5 respectively.  

TThe writer can be contacted at: suhridbarua@gmail.com