Mumbai: Conceding goals in every match remained the lone weakness that he could detect in the Indian squad's ongoing campaign in the London Olympic qualifiers in Delhi, according to former hockey captain Rajpal Singh. "The team's performance has been good so far. Hope we take the momentum into the final and qualify (for the July-August Olympics)," said the man who led India in the last World Cup, Commonwealth Games and...
06:00 PM, Feb 23, 2012
New Delhi: The final league games of the Olympic qualifiers for hockey on Friday hold the key to who plays whom and for what position " more precisely, which two teams will clash in the final for the solitary Olympic berth up for grabs. Indian men have been head and shoulders above their five opponents, which is signified by their unbeaten four-match run that includes a mammoth 32 goals. Though...
05:12 PM, Feb 23, 2012
India: After four consecutive wins, 32 goals and 12 points, only a whimsical disaster can deny Indian men's hockey team a place in the final of the Olympic qualifiers and all that's left to be mulled is who could they possibly lay hands on to wash away the nightmare of 2008. Some naysayer mathematicians may still be crunching numbers to suggest India are not through to the final yet, but...
09:49 AM, Feb 23, 2012
Former hockey captain Jagbir Singh analyses India's performance on a day when the men beat Canada, while the women went down to South Africa. ...
09:16 AM, Feb 23, 2012
New Delhi: India hockey coach Michael Nobbs was quite satisfied with his team's 3-2 victory over Canada in the London Olympics qualifiers but said the his boys need to work more on their finishing. "We played pretty well considering the opposition. Statistically, we penetrated into rival defence about 30 to 40 times in comparision to Canada who just had two shots at the goal and earned two penalty corners. So,...
10:57 PM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: Sandeep Singh once again turned out to be the hero for India as his double strike earned India a hard-fought 3-2 win over Canada that virtually put the hosts into the final of the Olympic qualifiers here at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Wednesday. India led 1-0 at half-time through a goal by Shivender Singh. The lead was doubled by Sandeep's penalty-corner conversion after the break....
09:40 PM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: Indian women suffered a demoralising 2-5 loss against South Africa on Wednesday that sent the visitors through to the final of the Olympic qualifiers here, while turning the hosts' last league encounter against Italy into a virtual semi-final. The partisan crowd at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium expected to see India seal a final berth, but Dirkie Chamberlain's triple strike and two goals by Sulette Damons put the...
07:46 PM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: The International Hockey Federation (IHF) is set to launch World League that will also be the new qualification process for the World Cup and Olympic Games, with the final of the inaugural season to be played in India. Speaking at a press conference during the Olympic qualifiers being played here, the IHF President Leandro Negre and CEO Kelly Fairweather gave details of the tournament that will begin after...
06:51 PM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: The Indian men's hockey team faces its sternest test against Canada on Wednesday but the incentive of getting close to the final of the Olympic qualifiers should spur on Michael Nobbs' boys to go for the kill. And like their male colleagues, the Indian women also play a tough match against South Africa, where a win will more or less take them through to the finals. Nobbs' team...
11:27 AM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: India coach Michael Nobbs termed his team's comprehensive 6-2 win over France on Tuesday as "clinical and almost perfect," and said the hosts will look to play slightly different hockey against Canada on Wednesday. "It was almost perfect and a clinical performance, we showed a lot of intensity and I am happy. It is roughly the score I was looking for before the match. Of course we could...
12:20 AM, Feb 22, 2012
New Delhi: Penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh continued to torment India's opponents in the Olympic hockey qualifiers by scoring a hat-trick that helped the hosts beat France 6-2 here at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Tuesday. Contrary to expectations, India's third victory in as many matches turned out to be another one-sided affair even though France were expected to put up stiff resistance. But the pace of the...
09:38 PM, Feb 21, 2012
New Delhi: India women's hockey team coach CR Kumar was satisfied with the 3-0 victory over Poland in the Olympic hockey qualifiers on Tuesday, but said the low rate of penalty corners conversions remain a concern for the hosts. India reached the top of the pool, ahead of South Africa after their 3-0 mauling of a lowly Poland, ranked 28th in the world. "We are getting better with each match...
09:04 PM, Feb 21, 2012
New Delhi: Indian women improved their chances of qualifying for the London Olympics as they registered their second win of the hockey qualifiers on Tuesday by beating a lowly Poland 3-0. Though India failed to convert the two penalty corners they got, the forwards looked in full flow, handing Poland their third straight loss of the tournament. Ritu Rani opened India's account in the 14th minute, with Rani Rampal and...
07:25 PM, Feb 21, 2012
Seventy-two goals in 12 matches spread across two days, it's raining goals in the Indian capital, but not many seem bothered. The Olympic qualifiers for hockey going on at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium aren't attracting as many eyeballs as was expected. The nation is sweating it out to put the 2008 setback behind it, but not even half the stadium was full in the two matches Indian men...
03:59 PM, Feb 21, 2012
Former hockey Olympian Jagbir Singh was impressed with India's 8-1 win over Italy, though he feels the defence is still a cause for worry. ...
06:49 PM, Feb 20, 2012
New Delhi: India and France will fight it out in the men's hockey Olympic qualifiers on Tuesday to go clear on top after the two teams enjoyed a rest day on Monday having won both their matches comfortably so far. Essentially, India's quest for an Olympic comeback begins now. The hosts have played two of the weakest teams in the tournament so far, as suggested by the scoreline of 15-1...
06:15 PM, Feb 20, 2012
New Delhi: Playing with excellent touch and rhythm, ace Indian drag-flicker Sandeep Singh is keen to add at least a dozen more goals to his career tally by the end of ongoing hockey Olympic qualifying tournament. Sandeep started the pre-Olympic campaign with 118 international goals to his credit and has already scored four goals in India's two victories so far. "This is a personal goal I have set for myself....
11:21 PM, Feb 19, 2012
New Delhi: Indian men continued to storm towards an Olympic qualification as they registered their second consecutive big win of the hockey qualifiers with three goals from star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, which helped India rout Italy 8-1 here at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Saturday. India converted four of the five penalty corners (PC) they got, with Sandeep beating the Italian goalkeeper Fabrizio Federici thrice and VR Raghunath...
09:54 PM, Feb 19, 2012
New Delhi: Indian women's hockey coach CR Kumar feels "there is still room for improvement," even though his team beat Canada comprehensively 4-1 in their second Olympic qualifier here on Sunday. "It was a good performance from the girls. 4-1 is a good score-line for the team. I was particularly happy with the professionalism of the girls." "We played more passes and there was good penetration in their attacking third....
09:11 PM, Feb 19, 2012
New Delhi: Poland created the first upset in the men's competition of the hockey Olympic qualification tournament by defeating higher-ranked Canada 3-2 while France registered their second successive win in the tournament, spanking a lowly Singapore 9-0 here on Sunday. The 14th ranked Canadians, looking for their second win in the event after their 9-0 mauling of Italy on Saturday, were in for a rude shock when Poland, ranked 19th,...
07:48 PM, Feb 19, 2012
