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26
HOCKEY COMES
2
days
TIMES SPORT
* THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010
HOME I
FIH WORLD CUP
to go
ODDITIES AT THE
STAR TREK
MATTHIAS WITTHAUS (GERMANY)
WORLD CUP
A QUESTION OF TACTICS
Born: Oct 11, 1982 I Position: Striker
I Internationals: 291 I WC Matches:
COMING HOME, THE HARD WAY
16 I WC Goals: 4
L
osing the right to host the World His nickname is Witti. And true to the
Cup could well have a silver lining,
Getty Images
tag, the livewire forward is known for
nay, a golden one. Going by history,
India have continued to
his quick thinking and cool head even
Pakistan, who were bestowed the in the most
honour to host the inaugural edition of
ignore ‘total hockey’.
desperate of
hockey’s premier competition in situations. He was
Lahore were forced to surrender it to
Can they now blend
the youngest to
Barcelona, Spain, in October 1971 make his national
because of politically induced security
instinct with intellect?
debut, in March
tension relating to the participation 1999 against
of India. Belgium, and is
Pakistan were not to be denied glory, V Narayan Swamy | TNN also the youngest
though. They beat Spain in the final to lift ever goalscorer for Germany. The wily
the Cup. India, all agog at hosting the ne Olympics (1960) as a striker has since been part of his
competition allotted to Mumbai in 1975
O
player, four others (1968, ‘80, country’s gold-winning teams at the
were penalised by the FIH for ‘84, ‘92) as a coach. Yet, 2008 Beijing Games, 2002 and 2006
administrative anarchy and the World Cup Balkishen Singh is an enig- World Cups, the 2007 Champions
moved to Malaysia. The rest is history. ma in India, not the messi- Trophy and the 2003 European
One wagers, then, that the superstitious ah that he should have Championships. The Germans are
wouldn’t have minded the FIH doing as it been. And that’s because Indian hockey aiming to make a hat-trick of World
promised — making Hockey India forfeit saw in him an infidel who spoke the lan- Cup triumphs, and he’s the one they
the right to host the World Cup. guage of the Europeans and about the would be pinning their hopes upfront.
game they played — ‘total hockey’.
DRIBBLING PAST THE ELEMENTS
Ever since Johan Cruyff popularised
TEUN DE NOOIJER (THE
S
omebody up there must love hockey. the concept of total football and the Dutch
NETHERLANDS)
The 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, hockey gurus at Ajax borrowed it with Born: March 22, 1976 I Position:
Malaysia, ravaged by the weather, still glee, total hockey was the mantra that Midfielder I Internationals: 412 I WC
stuck to the schedule almost had the Europeans in thrall. Matches: 30 I WC Goals: 11
miraculously — surviving deluged Around the same time, celebrated Ger- One of the legends of world hockey,
grounds and fearsome thundershowers. man coach Horst Wein institutionalised since his 1994
The rains, it appeared, followed the Cup it, calling for versatile players, rapid in- debut, de
to next edition in Buenos Aires, terchange of positions, short, well- Nooijer’s biggest
Argentina, where a torrential downpour planned attacks and flowing movement strength is his
put question marks on the smooth which was guaranteed only by ball pos- pace. Many
conduct of the tournament. session and crisp passing. teams, who have
Thankfully, the weather relented and That’s pretty much what we see been at the
led to a classic World Cup on the around the world today. But what did
MOODY BLUES: Sean Kerly of Great Britain dives for the ball as Pargat Singh (third from left) rushes in to thwart him in the
receiving end of
marvellous polo grounds in the Balkishen introduce to the world that he
1992 Barcelona Olympics. India, coached by ‘total hockey’ exponent Balkishen Singh, lost the match 2-3.
his swift counter-
Argentine capital. The sixth World Cup in became a celebrated theoretician? feeds from the midfield over the
Willesden, England, was played in Balkishen highlighted the funda- tiala, where the Korean did his diploma tantly, it was time for the players to go His 1994 World Cup debut was a dream, as years, will vouch for his skills. An
glorious sunshine in autumn. A storm mentals of possessional play with a tech- course, Kim used the inverted triangle ex- back to old habits as that was what they it were, with India finishing fifth. The ideas opportunistic finisher in front of the
the very next day after the final wreaked nique that borrowed as heavily from soc- tensively in the 90s. In fact, Korea’s run- had been taught from childhood. were similar — a tight defence and econ- goal, the Dutch ace has been a three-
havoc at the venue and flattened the cer as it did from the rules of geometry. away success until the Sydney 2000 At one point of time in 1992, Balkishen omy of movement as the players system- time FIH Player of the Year, and has
tented village adjoining the stadium. Using the backpass as the essence, he Olympics can be attributed to Balkishen. and PA Raphael were the national coach- atically switched from defence to attack, won a World Cup, two Olympic gold
formed his three principles of attack: At the same time, Balkishen was con- es for the senior and junior teams, fol- continuous off-the-ball running and in- medals and six Champions Trophy
STICKING TO LUCK
width, depth and speed (penetration). sidered a jinx in India. His worst moment lowing much the same ideas. More fore- tricate setpiece drills — the anti-thesis of titles for his country. The 34-year-old
G
ermany’s captain Florian Kunz and The three-dimensional precept meant came in 1992 when the team discarded sight could have seen both work togeth- the traditional format. Then again, he met sure would be gunning to add another
penalty-corner striker struggled to that two players had to be on either side his ideas at the Barcelona Olympics and er to prepare teams ready to play the with failure in the subsequent tourna- World Cup to the kitty.
find form at the 2002 Kuala Lumpur of the ball and a player behind to inject sank into the familiar quagmire of tra- game the modern way. ments as he didn’t have a captain who sub-
World Cup. After a defeat to Spain, the speed into the attack. ditional hockey to finish a lowly seventh. Another man who could have achieved scribed to his ideas and met with resist-
RAJPAL SINGH (INDIA)
then twice Olympic champions were Balkishen also devised the two centre- Fitness was a problem but, more impor- tremendous success was Cedric D’Souza. ance from a majority of the players who Position: Striker/Captain
faced with a crunch match against haves formula to strengthen his concept. couldn’t grasp his ideas, let alone deliver. His off-field calmness is in stark
Pakistan, needing a win to make the In 1984, it was Hardeep Singh and Joaquim In the subsequent years, Germany’s contrast to his persona on-field,
semifinals. Kunz, though, seemed to Carvalho and in 1992 it was Jude Felix and WEIN’S WAY...
the ball; constant changing of positions
during attacks.
Gerhard Rach and a whole lot of Indian where his attacking forays upfront
know what was going wrong. He had Sukhjit Singh, with one being a schemer
Modern hockey is...
coaches — V Baskaran, Joaquim Car- impressed coach
forgotten to bring along his old stick and the other assisting the defence and valho, Harendra Singh and Rajinder Jose Brasa so
and the new one wasn’t bringing him marking the centre forward of the other
team. These theories were in direct con-
1
Systematic planning of how to
6
Immediate running free after a
successful pass. Singh — all experimented with European much that he
much luck. He called his girlfriend back
introduce and execute a switch from
concepts. But the basic premise had named Rajpal as
home in Germany, had her pack the flict with the 5-3-2 format, India’s penchant
defence to attack.
for positional play and the players’ propen-
7
Organised and systematic taking of a
changed: it was instinctive hockey with skipper in place
weapon and send it across to
rebound after a shot at the opponents’
of Sandeep Singh.
Malaysia.The six-foot-six-inch tall sity to wait for the ball to come to them.
As in the past, fitness was an issue as was
2
Short duration attacks with fast
a bit of Euro techniques.
goal and following up the solo attacker.
crossing in the middle field
Now it is the turn of Spaniard Jose He is known as a
defender then took the pitch with his thinking skipper,
good old stick and scored twice as the will to change. “The ball moves faster
8
High technical maturity of individual
Brasa to shift the focus towards Europe
who believes in
Germany beat Pakistan 3-2 to enter the on the synthetic pitch. You have to be on
3
Simple attack actions with a small
players.
again. Whether he has the players with
number of passes.
the right fitness levels, sound basics and leading by example. The recent
semifinals. Old surely was gold, as in the move all the time. You cannot get stuck players’ revolt may have created
the final against Australia, Kunz struck in a position and wait for everything to 9
Strong qualities of will in individual technical maturity to understand his
some rift in the squad because of his
the equaliser before Oliver Domke happen,” Balkishen used to say.
4
Making use of man-to-man marking in
players. ideas will be evident once the World Cup
defence within one’s own half.
unfolds. As history tells us, total hockey mild stance against Hockey India, but
scored the match winner to make One man who heard the gospel was Kim one’s sure it will not affect his
it 2-1 and bring Germany their first Sang Ryul, the father of the South Kore-
an hockey revolution. A disciple of Balk-
5
Continuous free running of those
10
Very good physcial fitness in speed,
or its advocates have never been at fault
endurance, stamina and agility
players who are not in possession of
despite India’s failure on the field. It’s performance when India take on
World Cup title.
(Courtesy: The science of hockey by Horst Wein)
just that the coaches have failed to get Pakistan this Sunday.
— Errol D’Cruz | TNN ishen at the Sports Authority of India, Pa- the response they needed. — Satya Siddharth Rath | TNN
Indian men crush Vietnam Youzhny’s desert special
IOB do the Houdini act
V Anand | TNN
semifinal in the process. IOB
Shrivathsa Sridhar | TNN
How They Fared
In the Thomas Cup, P Reuters stayed focused and cut out all
Thomas Cup: India bt Vietnam
Kashyap was fielded in place of Prajwal Hegde | TNN structive on its day, said. “I Mumbai: When IOB were Punjab’s movements under
Bangalore: India’s top shut-
3-0 (P Kashyap bt Nguyen Hoang
World No. 15 Chetan Anand in want to be at the top, and in down by 10 points in the first the board, allowing them vir-
tlers were at their dominating
Nam 20-22, 21-10, 21-18; Aravind
the first singles. The AP shut- Dubai: The other story of the every match I want to show quarter, somebody from the tually no room.
best on Thursday, cruising past
Bhat bt Pham Cao Hieu 16-21, 21-
tler got off to a slow start, los- star ravaged $2 million Dubai my really good game. After crowd remarked that the Men’s: Indian Army 65 (Jairam Jat 23, A
their clueless opponents in the
7, 21-10; Anup Sridhar bt Huynh
ing his first game by a narrow tennis championships is that Dubai, I’ll play Davis Cup in Chennai team can go home. Nixon 13, Sambhaji Kadam 12) bt Indian
Thomas and Uber Cup Asia
Vinh 21-13, 21-6); Uber Cup: India
margin. However, he fought of the two Russians—World Moscow against India.’’ They perhaps took it to Overseas Bank 52 (S Robinson 13,
Zone qualifiers.
bt Philippines 5-0 (Saina Nehwal
back strongly to take the next No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and heart as IOB turned a 6-16 Abhilek Paul 10, Mihir Pandey 10); ONGC
The men’s team rolled over
bt Ann Venice Alcala Malvinne 21-
two for a 20-22, 21-10, 21-18 win. No. 15 Mikhail Youzhny.
SUPER SHOW: Mikhail Youzhny
Murray crashes out deficit to a 25-22 advantage at 84 (Trideep Rai 22, Mohit Bhandari 17,
Vietnam to breeze into the
9, 21-13; Sayali Ghokale bt Gelita
Experienced campaigner Ar- Davydenko bowed out in
of Russia after winning his
Andy Murray crashed out of the end of the first quarter in Shabbir Ahmed 14, Shiv Kumar Huda 13)
semifinals of the event with a
Castilo 21-9, 21-16; Trupti
avind Bhat then doubled India’s the second round on Wednes-
quarter-final match against
the championships and ad- the 26th UPL Ramu Memori- bt Chennai Customs 62 (Sarvana B 13,
3-0 win, while the eves, spear-
Murgunde bt Dia Nicole Magno
lead, getting past Pham Cao day, to Michael Berrer after
Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in
mitted that he wasn’t prepared. al basketball tournament on Ramkrishnan R 13, Pratibhan K 11); IOB
THOMAS & UBER CUP 21-4, 21-8; Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini
Hieu 16-21, 21-7, 21-10 in 39 min- losing the first set 3-6, due to
Dubai on Wednesday
The Scot, playing in his first Thursday. IOB won 95-64 and 95 (Pratham Singh 23, S Robinson 31,
utes. “We knew Vietnam’s a damaged left wrist that has event since losing in the final put favourites Punjab out Mihir Pandey 16, S Aravind 10) bt
BADMINTON Ponnappa bt Ann Venice Alcala
Malvinne/ Gelita Castilo 21-15, 21-
strengths and weaknesses and put a question mark over his sarevic 6-3, 6-4. After 92 min- of the Australian Open last with a resounding win, help- Punjab 64 (Amritpal Singh 20, D
headed by World No. 7 Saina
11; Saina Nehwal/ Aparna Balan
were sure of advancing. The real participation in the Davis utes of all-court dominance, month, went down 7-6 4-6 6-4 to ing Army progress to the Gurkripal 20, S Jagdeep Singh 17).
Nehwal, bettered their chances
bt Dia Nicole Magno/ Fatima Cruz
challenge will be against Korea Cup first round clash against the 27-year-old topped cele- Serb Janko Tipsarevic.
of making the semifinals with
Jamila 21-9, 21-13).
and unlike today, there will be India in Moscow next week. brations with his charac-
REGD. NO. MH/MR/South-91/2009-11
a 5-0 demolition of the Philip- no easy matches,’’ Bhat told TOI. Youzhny, however, teristic military style salute Paes-Dlouhy in semis REGD. NO. TN/Chief PMG/398/2002
pines in Group ‘Y’ in Nakhon Europe’s fourth-placed team “The first singles will be a pressed ahead, showing the to fans, placing his racket Meanwhile, India’s Leander
RNI NO. 1547/57 ISSN 0971-8257
Ratchasima, Thailand. The Ukraine on the basis of world tough one for us, while the oth- stellar form, which helped above his head, and saluting Paes and Czech Lukas No. 48 Vol. CLXXIII. Air Charge: Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, Trivandrum & via Rs. 2.00, Ahmedabad,
men now face Korea in the last- ranking, to the finals. The Bad- er two could go either way. The him reach the final in Rot- with his right hand. Dlouhy cruised into the
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Udaipur, Vizag & via Rs. 4.00, Delhi, Kolkata, Patna & via Rs. 5.00.
NOT FOR SALE OUTSIDE INDIA
four stage on Friday knowing minton World Federation will doubles clashes could well de- terdam earlier in the month, “My aim for this year is doubles semis defeating Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., by R. Venkata Kesavan at The Times of India Building,
that a win will assure them of announce the final list of qual- cide the match,’’ he added. to storm into the semifinals to play at a really high lev- French Arnaud Clement
Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai-400 001 and printed by him at (1) The Times of India Suburban Press, Akurli Road, Western
Express Highway, Kandivli (E), Mumbai-400 101. Tel. No. (022) 2887 2324 and (2) The Times of India Print City, Plot
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No. 4, T.T.C. Industrial Area, Thane Belapur Road, Airoli, Navi Mumbai 400 708. Tel. Nos. (022) 27609999; Fax: (022)
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of Publisher is prohibited.
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place finish will see them pip will advance to the semifinals. 21-13, 21-6.
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