 |
|
| SPORTS TRIBUNE |
|
Toughest turf
South
Asian games |
|
|
|
Stick stars Santi Freixa (Spain):
One of the most lethal strikers in world hockey today, Santi played a
stellar role in his team’s maiden Champions Trophy triumph at Lahore
in 2004. A year later, his heroics won Spain the European title at
Leipzig. Born in Terrassa, the town near Barcelona that hosted the
Champions Trophy this year, 23-year-old Santi belongs to a family of
hockey players. Spain are banking on him to win their first World Cup
(they were the losing finalists in 1971 and 1998). Matthias Witthaus
(Germany): This 23-year-old midfielder has established himself in recent
years as an integral part of the German squad. He was in good nick
during the 2006 Champions Trophy, in which Germany finished runners-up.
The host country’s chances of retaining the World Cup depend a lot on
the form and fitness of players like Witthaus, who is equally good at
setting up or scoring goals. Grant Schubert (Australia): The
26-year-old figures prominently in Australia’s star-studded line-up.
He is a prime exponent of attacking hockey, dreaded for his lightning
runs and accurate finishing. Since his induction into the side, the
Aussies have won the 2004 Olympic gold, the 2005 Champions Trophy and
the Melbourne Commonwealth Games title. Named the World Hockey Young
Player of the Year in 2003, he is now a veteran in the team that is
looking for its first World Cup title since 1986. Sohail Abbas
(Pakistan): The renowned drag-flicker’s return has boosted Pakistan’s
morale, even though the team’s recent performances have been rather
patchy. Sohail showed glimpses of his class in the Champions Trophy at
Terrassa, where his team finished a poor fifth. During the four-nation
tournament in Hamburg last week, the 29-year-old scored thrice against
the Netherlands but couldn’t stop Pakistan from losing 4-6.
Notwithstanding his team’s inconsistency, the record-breaking goal
scorer is still a force to reckon with. Taeke Taekema (Netherlands):
The Dutch penalty-corner specialist is a past master at making life hell
for rival defenders. His formidable presence is one of the major reasons
why the Netherlands are regarded as the hot favourites this time. A
worthy successor to the great Floris-Jan Bovelander, Taekema has the
power and the accuracy that make his drag-flicks virtually unstoppable.
No wonder the Dutch have won both the Champions Trophy and the Azlan
Shah Cup this year. Tejbir Singh (India): Making a superb comeback
after being sidelined due to an unsavoury doping controversy, Tejbir has
arguably been the most dynamic Indian forward this year, doing quite
well in the series against Pakistan and the Azlan Shah Cup. His ability
to score goals against top teams would be put to the test in the group
stage of the World Cup, where India are clubbed with powerhouses Germany
and the Netherlands. With 24-year-old Tejbir being accompanied by Rajpal
Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh and Tushar Khandekar upfront, India’s forward
line looks good, although the finishing needs much improvement.
|
|
Toughest turf India have a very tough first match against hosts and defending champions Germany. Even a draw would be a victory of sorts for us. The Indian defence line, marshalled by skipper Dilip Tirkey in the company of the fast-improving Kanwalpreet Singh, looks impressive. Also, India have two good goalkeepers in Adrian D’Souza and Bharat Chetri. VS Vinay, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey and Viren Rasquinha form the backbone of the midfield and they are capable of blunting quality opposition attacks. The forward line will be spearheaded by Gagan Ajit Singh with the support of Tejbir Singh, Tushar Khandekar and Hari Prasad. Young Shivendra Singh who gave a good account of himself in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in June this year, will surely get an opportunity to show his real worth in a bigger and tougher competition like the World Cup. Similarly, Hari Prasad and Khandekar would have to prove their mettle again. Seasoned utility player Arjun Halappa will be there to fill any slot depending upon the performance of a particular forward and the situation
Baskaran will be well-supported by his deputy Harendra Singh, physio Ravi Kanakamedale, Australian trainer Derek Knox and manager S.P Dass. India are certainly not among the favourites. Australia, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands are expected to reach the semis. The Spanish team has improved by leaps and bounds in the past decade. They also won their maiden Champions Trophy in 2004. Their Dutch coach Maurits Hendriks has brought their game on a par with that of Australia, Netherlands and Germany. The Aussies, like the Germans and the Dutch, will be hard to beat. Coach Barry Dancer has plenty of talented boys and good bench strength. They have a very seasoned team but it will be interesting to see if they can perform the way they did at Athens two years ago, when they won the Olympic gold medal. Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas is back in action and he is the trump card of the team. It will be a big test for Shahnawaz, who has replaced coach Asif Bajwa after the team’s dismal performance at the Terrassa Champions Trophy. Teams like Argentina, New Zealand, South Korea and South Africa can upset the apple cart of many a team and no one can afford to overlook them. India would have to outplay Germany or the Netherlands in the group fixtures if they are to reach the semis, which on paper seem to be a herculean task. — As told to Neeraj Bagga
|
|
South
Asian games
India, as expected, garnered the maximum number of medals at the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo. Though India won 234 medals overall, including 118 gold and 69 silver, it was no surprise — being the regional sporting superpower — that they completely overwhelmed the opposition. But India sent under-strength teams in hockey, football and shooting, which affected their medal tally. Nevertheless India improved upon their performance from the last edition of the games held in Islamabad four years ago, where they won 101 gold medals. There were several bright spots for India, especially Pinki Pramanik, who won gold medals in the women’s 400m, 800m and 4x400 m relay events. With the Doha Asian Games a few months away, the 19-year-old, dubbed the next P. T. Usha, will be looked upon to deliver the goods once again. She is one of the five Indians to make to the Asian team for the World Athletics Championship in Athens later this month. Before the South Asian Games, she had successive wins at the Asian Grand Prix meets at Bangalore and Pune. She has certainly come a long way from the time when she was arrested for being in possession of a firearm in 2004. Another prospective Asiad gold-medal winner, Anju Bobby George, not surprisingly won the gold in women’s long jump, but her leap of 6.42m was well below her best of 6.83m, achieved at the Athens Olympics in 2004. But it is hoped this performance will be a wake-up call for her to get back into the groove for the Asian Games. Susanthika Jayasinghe — considered to be the P. T. Usha of Sri Lanka and the best athlete, male or female, to have ever come out of the island nation — was also back to her winning ways, racing ahead of her opponents in 100 m and 200 m. As she was not up against the best runners, it is too early to predict whether she has regained the form that propelled her to a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships a few years ago. India won 15 gold medals in athletics at the games, just one more than the Lankans. If Indian athletes are struggling to keep the Lankans at bay, what are they going to do against the best of Asia at Doha? They need to pull up their socks fast. Another Indian to shine at the games and show promise for the future was swimmer Lekha Kamath, who won six gold medals. Overall, with 32 gold medals, it was a stupendous showing by the swimming contingent — they set 11 new games records and finished outside the medal bracket in only one event. Lekha was performing for the first time on the international stage and with such a rich haul in her first major outing, her confidence will be on cloud nine. However, the Asiad will be an uphill task for her as she will be up against the mighty Chinese and others. In shooting, India won 35 medals, including 19 gold. Some shooting stalwarts were not there and Pakistan took took advantage of this and won in a few categories but India were overall winners by a comfortable margin. In table tennis and badminton, India won all gold medals on offer. Similarly, in judo, of the 12 gold, just one gold eluded the contingent. The archers, too, swept the board by winning all four gold. Similarly, the men’s and women’s kabaddi team finished at the top. But India cut a sorry figure in football and hockey, where second-best teams were not just good enough to outplay the opposition. Young talent is just not coming up in football and if this state continues — India are below Maldives in FIFA rankings — even harder times are ahead. In boxing, Pakistan outpunched India by winning seven gold, three more than their arch-rivals. Afghanistan, debutants at the games, bagged three gold medals each in taekwondo and karate, while India could win just one gold. If these games are regarded as a pointer to the future, the picture might look rosy, but formidable challenges lie ahead, the Doha Asian Games in December being the most immediate. Even if India are able to win at the Asiad one-fourth of the gold medals they bagged at Colombo, it will be a huge achievement.
|
sm
Hair at it again Australian cricket umpire Darrell Hair has again shown his prejudice against subcontinental teams, already adversely affected by some of his harsh decisions especially when they were faring well. However in the fourth and final Test between England and Pakistan, he transgressed all limits. His (and West Indies umpire Billy Doctrove’s) decision was merely based on an examination of the ball’s condition without having seen anyone tampering with it. All commentators, British as well as Pakistani, were unanimous in their opinion that neither was there any indication of anyone having intentionally tampered with the ball nor had any of the cameras revealed any such thing. Hence, the severe punishment meted out to Pakistan was not only unjustified but also unjustifiable. The seam could have got distorted by any other cause — defective manufacturing, strong impact with the bat or while rubbing against the trousers, which is legally admissible. Therefore, piqued Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq had to stage a walkout to safeguard his team’s and country’s honour despite the fact that they were well on the road to victory. Ironically, England were declared winners. In the interest of the gentleman’s game, Hair should not be made an umpire whenever a subcontinental country is playing. D.K. Aggarwala, Ugly finale The World Cup final between France and Italy was marred by unwarranted violence. None of the teams exhibited skills of international standards. Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt against Marco Materazzi was an unfortunate event. Nirmal Kumar, |
There
might be no David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo in hockey, but the game
has its illustrious veterans as well as young guns whose pyrotechnics
can set the Astro-turf on fire. Here are six players who are likely to
make their presence felt during the World Cup.
India’s chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran has trained the boys hard to enable them to face the rigours of the World Cup. Sandeep Singh’s absence would no doubt be felt, as he is the best drag-flicker in the country, but it would be a morale-booster for the team if his substitute — Jugraj Singh, Raghunath or Vikramjit Singh — rises to the occasion. 
