Hockey World League (HWL)

Bhubaneswar, June6: Preparations are in full swing ahead of the much anticipated Hockey Men’s World Cup, to be played from November 28 to 16 December at the iconic Kalinga Stadium here.

The Odisha government and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have been chalking out massive plans to give a facelift to the host city and several measures are being taken to improve the infrastructure, transportation and ambience for the biggest competition.

After the successful organisation of the Hockey World League (HWL) Final in 2017, the city will be hosting the prestigious World Cup.

“We are taking several measures to ensure that the World Cup is a grand success. The city of Bhubaneswar is going through a massive overhaul which will make it a favourable destination for all hockey enthusiasts from across the globe,” said Sports secretary Vishal Dev.

“Through the collaboration between Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Odisha Tourism and multiple other state departments, we are working towards elevating the holistic experience for the visiting fans and the people of Odisha. We want the fans to walk away having witnessed top quality hockey action intertwined with the rich cultural heritage that Odisha offers”, he added.

BMC is making sure that fans from across the world can enjoy the world-class hospitality that Odisha has to offer.

With less than six months to go for the 16-team competition, the local civic body will be executing three main projects which will help in building the core infrastructure and beautify the city.

Around 100 e-toilets will also be set-up in the city during the tournament to make sure that the sanitation situation is taken care of and tourists from all parts of the world can enjoy a clean and green environment, said an official.

Besides, a better drainage system will also be put in place to deal with the monsoons.

The civic body has commissioned artists from all over the state to paint the city with their creative exemplifications on hockey, with a number of walls throughout the city being their canvas.

A major chunk of the problem during big tournaments lies in the transportation facilities in the host cities. Therefore, the BMC is making sure that the number of city buses and non-motorised alternatives are in place to accommodate a large number of tourists who will be coming to witness the tournament.

As many as 200 new buses in two phases will be deployed in the city by the Capital Region Urban Transport, and the 110 old buses will also be used, making sure that a comprehensive 319 buses will be serving the public during the tournament, said the official.

AThe renovation work of the Kalinga Hockey Stadium has also entered its final phase with the capacity being increased to 15000 by extending the stands and building two new galleries.

New Delhi, Jan 3: After ending the year with a bronze medal at the Hockey World League (HWL) Final in Bhubaneswar, the Indian mens team will report for a 10-day national camp, starting at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, from Thursday.

With a busy hockey calendar in 2018 that features Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April followed by the Hockey Champions Trophy at Breda in July, the Asian Games at Jakarta in August, Asian Champions Trophy in October and the much-awaited World Cup at Bhubaneswar in November, Hockey India has announced 33 players for this year’s first national camp.

Goalkeeper Krishan B. Pathak, part of the winning team of 2016 junior men’s World Cup, finds himself in the group along with Akash Anil Chikte and Suraj Karkera who had promising outing at the Asia Cup and contributed to India’s success at the HWL Final. They will be joined by seasoned compatriot P.R. Sreejesh who is vying to find top form after nearly eight months of injury break.

Nilam Sanjeep Xess, the young defender from Bargarh, Odisha who led the Indian team to Under-18 Asia Cup win in 2016, has been elevated to the senior core group.

He will train alongside stalwart Sardar Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar, Gurinder Singh in the back line.

The line-up of midfielders remains unchanged with Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, S.K. Uthappa, Sumit, Kothajit Singh, Satbir Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Simranjeet Singh, Harjeet Singh in the group.

Young forward Sumit Kumar, who featured in the junior team in 2016, has been included for the camp with seniors’ S.V. Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Armaan Qureshi, Affan Yousuf and Talwinder Singh.

India will begin the season with the Four Nations Invitational Tournament in Tauranga and Hamilton, New Zealand which will see Belgium, Japan and the hosts in fray.

“The camp will be short and we need to deal with the players who just played domestic matches which means we need to be careful in training considering we play eight matches in New Zealand,” chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said in a statement.

“Like always, the evaluation of the previous tournament needs to come from the players so that’s the first thing we do when we meet for this camp.

“I would like to understand what their experience was of the tournament and what they think needs to improve. For me, the HWL Final gave an insight into what is necessary to improve when we play higher ranked teams and I certainly believe we can do better in our 1 vs 1 defending.

“In the next tour this will be one of the key areas we would like to improve,” the 43-year-old Dutchman added.

Bhubaneswar, Dec5: India remained winless as they ended their Pool B campaign of the Hockey World League (HWL) Final with a 0-2 loss to European powerhouse Germany here on Monday.

Martin Haner (17th minute) and Mats Grambusch (20th) scored for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champions, who claimed their second win in three matches.

It was India’s second loss in three matches. Earlier they drew 1-1 with current world champions Australia before losing 2-3 to England.

Since it is an eight-nation tournament, irrespective of poor results, India will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals.

But they will have to raise their game. In the previous two games, the Sjoered Marijne-coached side had played well in patches. But the game against Germany was India’s worst performance in the tournament.

Germany’s tactical game didn’t allow the Indians to play their free-flowing attacking hockey. Their midfielders closed down the spaces clinically, and the forwards efficiently utilised all the areas of their strength.

Germany also used the flanks to stretch the field, and as a result, the whole Indian defensive structure was torn apart. Germany didn’t take much time to transfer this domination in goals.

They made the most of their first penalty corner as Haner fired to the low right corner of Akash Chikte’s goal-post.

Only three minutes later Germany got their second. Following some immaculate passing game, Benedikt Furk received a ball from the right, and the top of the circle made a pass to the left. Furk trapped it and employed a fierce drive which entered the Indian goal with a deflection from a home defender.

India got a penalty corner in the 28th minute, but Rupinder Pal Singh’s flick was easily kept out by German goalkeeper Tobias Walter.

The hosts failed to make their second penalty corner count as Harmanpreet Singh’s flick was foiled by runner Haner in the 38th minute.

One minute before that, India had messed up a clearance from a penalty corner from Germany. The rebound after Karkera’s block hit the side-bar as India escaped the three-goal deficit.

Karkera again came to India’s rescue as he rushed ahead and dived to deny a brilliant counter-attacking run from Christopher Ruhr in the 46th minute.

In the final 10 minutes, Germany relied only on the counter-attack and were focused on denying India any chance. The opportunity came in the 59th minute in the form of a penalty corner, but Harmanpreet was unable to make it 1-2.

In the dying seconds, Rupinder’s drag-flick was put away by Walter as the visitors won 2-0.

“Germany were extremely disciplined. They did well and kept possession of the ball. We have to improve our penalty corner conversions. We will do better in the next game,” Indian coach Marijne said.

Earlier in the day, England held Australia 2-2.