24 janvier 2008
India beat Tamil Nadu XI in practice hockey match
Two first-half goals by Shivendra Singh set up a comfortable 6-0 win for the Indian hockey team against a Tamil Nadu XI in a practice match at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, here Wednesday.
Veteran Dilip Tirkey, Rajpal Singh, Roshan Minz and Tushar Khandkar were the other scorers in a one-sided contest. The Indian team, scheduled to meet Belgium in a five-Test series beginning later this week, had an excellent workout with coach Joaquim Carvalho experimenting with various combinations. "There is not much I can say for our performance today as I focused on giving all the 21 players opportunity. I also tried out a few combinations by switching players around and overall, I was quite satisfied with the day's showing," Carvalho said.
Interestingly, the coach played penalty corner specialist V. Ramachandra Raghunath in the left wing and later moved him to the centre-forward position from where he set up the sixth goal with a fluent run down the middle. "Raghunath is a strong and powerful young man and he also has the speed to match. Perhaps, you will see him more in the role of a forward in future," the coach said.
The first of the five Tests will be held here Friday.
Communiqué de IANS (Indo-Asian News Service) - 23 janvier 2008
Belgian hockey on the upswing
Belgian hockey is on the upswing, the country having qualified for the Olympic Games after a lapse of 32 years and their newly-appointed coach Adam Commens believes his team is capable of delivering impressive results.
In Chennai for a five-Test series against India beginning later this week, the Belgians are in the midst of intensive preparations for the Beijing Games in August as they hope to finish higher than the 10th place at the 1976 edition in Montreal. "The Manchester performance was a huge boost for hockey in Belgium and particularly our team. They now believe that they are capable of performing at a higher level," Commens told IANS here Tuesday.
Commens, who represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2002 World Cup apart from four Champions Trophy tournaments, replaced Giles Bonnet after Belgium's disastrous showing at the Champions Challenge in Boom, Antwerp, last year when they finished last among six teams. "The morale was low when I took over as the team had failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup also. After all, the players would have trained and played for a number of years and if you don't qualify for either the Olympics or the World Cup, then they would obviously feel disheartened," explained Commens.
The newly appointed coach had a difficult task as his first assignment was the European Championship from where the top three teams were to qualify for the Olympics. "Fortunately, we hit off very well from the start and I did a bit of restructuring, especially in the deep defence so that we concede fewer goals. I made a couple of changes and it helped. Frankly, however, the win against Germany in the play-off was a surprise even though I knew that we had the potential," Commens recalled.
As part of the preparations for the Olympics, Belgium, bronze-medallists at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, have short-listed 20 players including veteran defender Thierry Renaer who has played 313 internationals for his country and 17-year old Felix Denayer of whom Commens spoke highly. "Renaer had actually retired, but I persuaded him to make a comeback. He agreed to return after we qualified for the Olympics. His presence lends experience to our defence. We also have Denayer who has tremendous potential as a centre-half and I am hopeful that he will play a key role at the Games," the coach said.
Looking ahead to the Test series, Commens said the conditions in Chennai are similar to what is expected in Beijing and since Belgium are not slated to play many tournaments in the run-up to the Games, the Indian sojourn was a key element in their preparations.
Belgium were surprise qualifiers as they shocked World champions Germany 4-3 in a bronze medal play-off at the 2007 European Championship in Manchester, along with champions The Netherlands and Spain.
The Test matches would be played at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here Jan 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31.
Communiqué de IANS (Indo-Asian News Service) - 22 janvier 2008