New Delhi: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has given the two warring factions, Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) a month's time to sort out their differences over power sharing and form a unified body. After two days of discussions with HI officials and former IHF president and now its adviser KPS Gill and his team, FIH president Leandro Negre said that within a month both the...
01:03 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Ecstatic after guiding India to Olympic men's hockey event, coach Michael Nobbs Sunday said his team would look to play with the same "intensity" during the London Games in July. "We have done every single thing possible before the tournament and I am happy we delivered. We were confident but still the job needed to be done. We have played all the matches right from beginning to finish...
12:51 AM, Feb 27, 2012
Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Sunday congratulated the Indian men's hockey team for qualifying for London Olympics and announced cash rewards for the players. India thrashed France 8-1 in the qualification tournament in New Delhi to book an Olympics berth after missing out the 2008 Beijing edition. The Chief Minister said that the bonanza of cash rewards would include Rs five lakh per goal scored by each player...
12:16 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Former players Sunday lavished praise on the Indian men's hockey team for qualifying in London Olympics after a gap of four years and said that the achievement would bring back the interest of the game in the country. India Sunday thrashed France 8-1 in the final of the qualification tournament to book a berth in this year's London Olympics after missing out on the Beijing Games in 2008...
12:01 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Indian hockey returned to its roots, the Olympics, on a super Sunday in an emotionally charged up atmosphere at the most appropriate venue for a historic moment " the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The eight-time former Olympic champions beat France 8-1 to replace the tears of 2008 with joyful smiles of 2012. Sandeep Singh once again turned out to be the King with five goals that took...
09:10 PM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Canada edged past Poland 4-3 in a pulsating encounter to secure the bronze medal in the men's hockey Olympic Qualification tournament, here on Sunday. The third-fourth place classification match between Canada and Poland turned out to be a lively contest as both the teams came out with attacking hockey in a bid to outsmart each other. But in the end the 14th ranked Canadians managed to hold on...
08:26 PM, Feb 26, 2012
India coach Michael Nobbs said though there is pressure on him, he and his boys are ready for the final battle. ...
12:45 PM, Feb 26, 2012
Indian hockey is on the threshold of making a return to the Olympics after facing the ignominy of missing qualification in 2008. But it's not going to be easy even though France " their final opponents " are ranked 18th in the world. The tournament has narrowed down to just one game now. The winner goes through to play at the Olympics, while the loser returns home empty-handed. India may...
11:46 AM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Even before Indias big boys had set off in search of an Olympic return, coach Michael Nobbs brain waves had started mapping his opponents. Singapore proved a far cry, Italy a rookie, Canada talented and Poland hostile. But in Frances case, Nobbs words have proved prophetic. They are the dark horses, he had said. And here they are " the Frenchmen " standing in Indias path of redemption....
08:30 AM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Conceding a goal within five minutes into the match played a huge role in India's defeat in all important London Olympic qualification final against South Africa, coach CR Kumar said. India were down by one goal as early as in the fourth minute of the game, and it proved costly as the home team played catch-up hockey from there to eventually lose the title clash 1-3. "We conceded...
11:53 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Former captain Rajpal Singh, who was overlooked for the ongoing men's hockey Olympic qualifiers, feels India have let in some soft goals but should comfortably win Sunday's final against France. The 28-year-old is confident that India, eight-time Olympic champions, will qualify for London after missing the Games for the first time in 80 years at the 2008 Beijing edition. "There is no doubt in my mind that we...
11:32 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Indian women hockey team's Olympic dream came crashing down on Saturday as they lost the final 3-1 to a formidable South African (SA) team that will now advance to the London Olympics to be played later this year. India always appeared second best in a match dominated by South Africa, which reflected in the two penalty corners (PC) they earned as opposed to five by the visitors. Shelley...
09:54 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Italy narrowly edged out Ukraine 2-1 to finish third in the women's hockey Olympic qualifier at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here on Saturday. Italy have performed admirably in the tournament. They were one goal away from qualifying for the final, losing to India 0-1 courtesy a late goal. Ukraine stunned India on the opening day with a draw (1-1) and then beat Canada (5-2) to earn a...
09:24 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Canada beat Poland 3-0 to grab fifth position leaving their opponents without a single win in the women's hockey Olympic qualifier at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here on Saturday. Poland, the lowest-ranked team in the competition, finished the round-robin with five straight losses, while Canada, originally ranked fourth, struggled and could only collect points from a draw against Italy on the opening day and a win against...
06:54 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: In a bid to ensure good turnout at the men's final of the London Olympics hockey Qualifiers here, Hockey India is offering discounted tickets to students, players of various academies and government employees. "Hockey India is pleased to announce special discounted Entry Tickets for students from schools and colleges, players of various Hockey Academies and employees of State/Central Government for Sunday 26th February 2012 at the ongoing 'Hero...
03:42 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: The lift that Indian hockey needs may arrive this weekend in the form of both the men and women teams qualifying for the Olympics. But when the summit is in sight, the last climb is the hardest. That's where India are going to be tested, and tested hard. A week ago when it all began, the men started as favourites and the women second best. With two days...
11:38 AM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: India coach Michael Nobbs said he wants his team to be the "best in the world in the time to come." Nobbs said his team wants to dominate against all teams each and everytime they take the field. "It is hard to be your best everytime you are in the field and we want to be at the top of every team we play both physically and psychologically....
11:10 PM, Feb 24, 2012
New Delhi: Unbeaten India dashed Poland's hopes of reaching the final of the Olympic qualifiers with their fifth straight victory to set up a summit clash with France. The hosts beat the Poles 4-2 in their final league encounter. The match that was played at a breathtaking pace saw end-to-end stuff as both the teams went for a kill. However, Poland needed just a draw to leave France behind on...
09:29 PM, Feb 24, 2012
New Delhi: Indian eves coach C R Kumar said he was satisfied with the effort and vowed that his team will go full throttle against the South Africans in the final of the Olympic qualifiers on Saturday. "We made many penetrations in the first half but unfortunately we couldn't score. Italy knew they just needed a draw and they played accordingly. They seldom attacked our goal. So we got very...
09:21 PM, Feb 24, 2012
Jagbir Singh analyses India's 1-0 win over Italy in the Olympic qualifiers, which enabled them to enter the finals. ...
08:40 PM, Feb 24, 2012
