New Delhi, March 3
The Netherlands inflicted a 3-1 defeat on New Zealand to register their second straight victory in a Group A match of the 12th Hero Honda FIH World Cup Hockey Championship at the National Stadium here tonight.

Netherlands thus became the second team, after England, to maintain an all-win record. And the Dutch have also three goals as a kind of benchmark for their wins as they had blanked Argentina by 3-0.

Drag-flick expert Taeke Taekema, who registered the first hat-trick of the championship here, got the second goal today to put the Dutch on a 2-1 lead.

Though the Netherlands took the field on a confident note, their image took a knocking when New Zealand captain Phillip Burrows scored in the opening minute. But the Dutch with their quick forays, interceptions and carefully structured moves finally breached the Kiwi defence when Ronald Brouwer powered one in to get the equaliser.

Taekema struck with his trade-mark dragflick to gain the lead which was consolidated by Jeroen Hertzberger seven minutes before the interval.

Though New Zealand did not throw in the towel after trailing by 1-3, they could not capitalise on the three penalty corners they forced, as they were simply not in the league of their rivals when it came to scoring off corners.

Even Taekema was also not in his best as he could strike only once as a couple of times rival custodian Kyle Pontifex effected superb saves off his sweeps. Late in the second session, the Kiwis used the flanks to flummox the Dutch defence, but the quick-footed defence baulked the Kiwis before the moves could end up in menacing tones. The Dutch are now sitting pretty in the Group win-wise and goal-wise as the six goals they have totted up may come in handy when it comes to goal-count for upward movement in later stages of the group play. This was Netherlands' fifth victory against New Zealand in six World Cup encounters, as they had succumbed to the Kiwis only once - a 1-2 defeat at Kuala Lumpur in 1975, where India emerged victorious for their first and last cup triumph.

Interestingly, Netherlands and New Zealand were the only teams to have won their opening matches in Group A, and despite the defeat, the Kiwis have nothing to be ashamed of as they lost to a better, skillful team.

The Dutch, three-time winners of the World Cup, have now emerged as one of the favourites to make a shot at the title.

New Delhi, March 3
Korea scored the match-winner off a penalty corner seconds before the final hooter to down a fighting Argentina 2-1 in a crucial Group A match of the 12th Hero Honda FIH World Cup Hockey Championship at the National Stadium here tonight. Korea did not display the flair and speed they had exhibited while playing a 2-2 draw against England in their opening match, but after being down by a goal, they stirred into action to slot in two goals in the final eight minutes to earn full points and keep themselves in the hunt for a semifinal berth.

Argentina, who were handed out a 0-3 hiding by The Netherlands in their opening match to become the only team not to have scored a goal, corrected that abberation when they took the Koreans by surprise when with a goal from Facundo Callioni 18 minutes into the second half.

Juan Martin Lopez took the ball down the wing, and crossed into the dee which was put into goal by Facundo. The Koreans, till then playing a kind of passive hockey though they had forced two penalty corners in the first half, revved into action and pulled off the equaliser when Sik Hye You made an electrifying rund down the right flank, crossed the ball into the goal area, and Yong Nam Lee struck the ball home in a trice.

And when the match was heading towards a possible draw, Korea made a fierce counter attack which was baulked by Argentina inside the circle, which fetched the Koreans a penalty corner after referral. Woo Hyun Nam packed so much power in his hit off the penalty corner that the Argentine defence was caught napping.

The Koreans were slack initially and Argentina took full advantage to showcase their dribbling act. Yet, it were the Koreans who came near scoring with their sporadic raids which got them two penalty corners, though both went abegging.

Korea also wasted their third penalty corner before coming good with the fourth, when it mattered the most. Argentina also earned three penalty corners but they were quickly dipossed by the speedy Koreans inside the circle. This win was a sweet revenge for Korea for their 3-5 defeat at the hands of the Latin American team in the 1994 World Cup. Argentina had also beaten Korea in the 2008 Champions Trophy and 2005 Champions Challenge by 4-2 and 5-2 margins, respectively.

New Delhi, March 3
Defending champions Germany scored at will to blank Canada 6-0 to notch up their first win of the 12th World Cup Hockey Tournament at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here today. Germany and South Korea had split points in their first pool A match on Monday. For Canada it was their second successive defeat in as many matches as they had gone down fighting to New Zealand 2- in their first game of the World Cup.

German dominance was so complete that in the second half, they rested most of their senior players and blooded their young crop to give them the much needed big match exposure. Germany not only got eight penalty corners, three of which produced goals, two by Jan-Marco Montag and the third by Martin Haner. It is a different story that in the second half, Montag had to go out after being shown a yellow card for intentionally obstructing Ranjeev Deol of Canada.

Florian Fuchs, a promising youngster, had the satisfaction of scoring a brace late in the second half. The second and sixth for Germany was a stunning goal as he took possession of the ball in the extreme left flank of the Canadian striking circle and pelted a bullet like angled shot into the board.

Earlier, he intercepted a goalmouth steamer from Martin Zwicker, another youngster, before finding the target with a shot that sailed into the net. Canadians did try to make a match of the game in the second half with some good moves but the German defence, including skipper M. Muller, were unbeatable.

Since the game was one-sided there was only video referral that went in favour of Germany after substitute umpire had blown for a free hit for Canada.

Germany, however, could not make use of the resultant penalty corner. With four points from two games, Germany is now back in the hunt for top position in the pool.

Chandigarh, March 3
With terror threats looming large over the Indian Premier League’s third season Kings XI Punjab today clarified that all of their players had consented to be part of the mega event, which begins on March 12. Contrary to the statement of some of the players that IPL was not ‘worth dying for’ most cricket players from abroad have arrived, or are on their way.

One of the foreign players in Kings XI Punjab Ravi Bopara had made the statement recently raising concern over security of the players during the IPL matches to be held at various places in the country.

However at a press conference in Chandigarh today, Kings XI CEO Anil Srivatsa refuted the allegations as baseless. He said Bopara along with other players like Irfan Pathan and Brett Lee had arrived in the city in advance to practice for the first match to be held on March 13.

Speaking on the occasion , Srivatsa said that there was no threat to any of the cricket players and added that elaborate security has been made throughout the country where the matches are to be held.

In 1982 when India played host to the fifth World Cup Hockey Tournament on the lushful green grassy playfields of Bombay Hockey Association Stadium, it had a lot, other than Indian hospitality, to offer to both players and officials.

Intriguingly, India has not only lost its supremacy in the sport but also in equipment, and technical conduct of major hockey events. Now 29 years later when the World Cup has returned to the country, the Indian touch to the event has almost gone. But the most important component that can win any nation any major sporting event these days is the sponsorship it can offer. And India has plenty of sponsors. Only visible Indian touch to the 12th World Cup has been its money with Hero group, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and a few others as its major sponsors. Hero has been the title sponsor.

In 1981-82, since there were hardly any TV stations in this part of the world, there was no live coverage. This time, however, a TV channel from the Middle East, Ten Sports, has won the right to telecast live all matches of the world cup. India’s national channel, Doordarshan, that is required to provide the earth station or ground signal, is beaming only India’s games of the World Cup.

Grassy playfields of Mumbai have been replaced here by Poligras synthetic playfields that have come from Australia. Leather balls used in Mumbai have long been replaced by Dimple balls that too have Australian origin.

India and Pakistan, who were till early 90s were known as the home for hockey sticks made from mulberry and bamboo wood, have also lost to the technology-savvy Europeans and Australians. Hockey sticks used by most of the participants here may have some South Asian components but these have been branded and marketed by companies based out of the sub-continent.

Gradual diminish is also reflected in the structure of the technical committee given the mandate to oversee the conduct of the tournament. Number of Indian Judges, umpires and other support staff, too, has been significantly reduced. Except for a Judge and two umpires, India has no other representation in this committee.

All said and done, the most important touch that even the International Hockey Federation, cannot at this time afford, to disappear is the crowd. Hockey is still a major crowd puller both in India and Pakistan. Eighty per cent of total TV viewer ship of any hockey event anywhere in the world comes from these two countries. It is this viewer ship that has been motivating major business houses like Hero, Sahara, SAIL and others to sponsor both hockey and cricket events worldwide.

Tailpiece: Confusion and chaos that prevails here, too, has been India’s major touch to this mega event.