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  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    Davis Cup calling on February 1st.
    Venue- Calcutta South Club
    Court - Grass
    Opponent Italy
    Team: Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Divij Sharan, Rohan Bopanna, Saketh Myneni and Sasi Kumar Mukund.


    thebeautifulgame
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points

    Batra saab gave a long rant on Facebook for India Team loss !!!
    Former India captain Ashish Ballal has given a befitting reply.

    Still not able to understand that real reason for India loss was absence of many senior players.

    Ashsih Ballal has alleged that at Batra behest, Rupinder pal singh was removed from the team and amit rohidas was included. This was done because Orrisa which was the host & sponsor wanted local player or the Hockey administration wanted local player.
    This weakened Indian team penalty corner routine and thus India was out earlier then expected.

  • thebeautifulgamethebeautifulgame Durgapur,India29575 Points
    https://www.firstpost.com/sports/the-peculiar-case-of-indian-hockey-where-culture-opposes-hard-grind-of-strategic-planning-5925001.html

    The peculiar case of Indian hockey where culture opposes hard grind of strategic planning

    As I write this, I worry about Indian hockey. Questions swirl in my mind. It has a peculiar trajectory, being a madhouse of seasons that do not move in sequence. Spring is followed by a dark winter, with no summer or autumn in between. It goes into free fall, yet rises from the ashes to occupy some limelight, and then falls again. This is the unending circle, like the Hindu conception of time, moving like a wheel, without a destination.

    Before the World Cup, I kept my secrets and fears to myself because I did not want to write something unsettling. Let me share a few of the concerns I had felt before the World Cup.

    In the last few years, Indian players had been boastful ("my blood boils"- P.R. Sreejesh on playing Pakistan). This was a pantomime hero's tribute to India's raucous and jingoistic politics. Today, Sreejesh is a quiet man. There is no longer the bravado that defined his personality not so long ago.

    Before the World Cup, I worried about Sreejesh's ability to do the stellar acts he had done in the past. He was no longer the same force, remaining untested after injury, and a long lay off. The management was tricked by reputation. Suraj Karkera had done reasonably well at the Asia Cup and World League Finals in 2017. Why wasn't he in the World Cup team? What was management thinking?

    Recollect the players wearing black armbands at the 2017 World League semi-final game against Pakistan to honour Indian soldiers who had died in Kashmir. This sort of political statement gave false comfort because it shielded players from stronger contests. Would the players have made a similar statement against the Great Britain team for the depredations of British colonial rule? The era of blaming Europeans for stealing Indian hockey by introducing artificial surfaces was long over. So, why not attack a soft target? Only, the World Cup was different.

    Uncharacteristically, coach Harendra Singh blamed the umpires for India's World Cup defeat to the Netherlands. He might have drawn from the example of Virat Kohli, who once said it is no good blaming the pitch, or conditions one cannot control; winning needs to be an obsession. In another unsavory episode, players received reprimands for entering unauthorised hospitality areas, prompting an exchange between Singh and the management (according to media reports).

    The Hockey Pro League is another case in point. There is no credible explanation for India pulling out. Mihir Vasavda of the Indian Express calls it a blunder. True, because India does not have top-rung tournaments in 2019. What was the management thinking when it took the decision to withdraw?

    After failing to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, Indian hockey is back to seeking solutions for tomorrow in the muddles of today (India has had 25 coaches in 25 years). The intent has been there, but not the solution. Cultural tenets have ensured that players, coaches and managers do not look within after unsuccessful outcomes, or persevere with team structure and coaching staff.

    Outside observers express surprise at this. The Dutch coach of the Japanese team, Sigfried Aikman, had presciently told me in Bhubaneswar that, since supporting a team going through difficult times is less valued in Indian culture than handing out punishment, the home crowd would scrutinise the tiniest mistakes of the Indian team, thus increasing pressure. When we had met after India's semi-final loss to Pakistan after the 2014 Champions Trophy, Marijke Fleuren, president of the European Hockey Federation, had expressed bafflement at the negativity of the Indian media. One can understand, because India had actually improved over the previous Champions Trophy.

    Consider the facts. India stood 6th in the World Cup (it had stood 9th, 10th, 11th, 8th and 9th in the previous 5 editions). This was its best finish since 1994. India fought equal contests against the Netherlands and Belgium. Statistically, it won more games and scored more goals than in the past decades. Yet, the media is full of stories about Hockey India's displeasure. Changing coaches and support staff will mean a new cycle begins in a period of uncertainty, when the FIH is using the Pro League to develop hockey as truly global. Will pursuing old approaches not cause new turmoil?

    The players and team management need time to absorb the lessons of the World Cup and prepare for future battles. They deserve better. But culture militates against the hard grind of strategic planning. Ours is a culture where the easy reward is punishment at the slightest sign of things going wrong. We won't draw on the examples of more successful teams because we belong to a culture of insularity that obsesses with self- reliance. This informs every facet of Indian life- from economic planning to social experimentation. Hockey India, which has worked so hard to bring Indian hockey to a respectable level, could still make the painful choices that bolster Indian hockey. But this has to be part of a larger overhaul of sporting culture. Does the visionary Narinder Batra, who, as the president of the Indian Olympic Association, has the power to shape outcomes, listening?

    munna219777
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    This article has some flaws. Comparing 6th position this time to previous positions and calling it an improvement. In earlier editions. there used to be matches for positions like series of matches to determine who came 5th, 6th,7th all the way upto last.
    This time just Goal difference of Group stage was enough to give position ranking.
    So we cannot compare previous ranks to this one.

    Also silent about faulty and political team selection. !!
    thebeautifulgame
  • BadBad 5141 Points
    I agree and disagree with you Munna.

    I agree with the fact that the format was not as tough as it used to be but it is what it is.

    Despite a dodgy selection one cannot blame the Performance entirely.

    We beat South Africa 5-0
    Beat Canada 5-1(lost and drawn with them)
    Drew with Belgium 2-2(Our Nemesis and deserved to win)

    TOPPED THE POOL WHICH HAD BELGIUM(EVENTUAL CHAMPIONS)

    Lost to Netherlands 2-1(No shame in that,was an even sought of a game,Eventual Runner-up)

    I mean our full strength team could also lose 2-1 Against Netherlands.

    So,purely speaking on Results it was not that bad a performance.

    munna219777tejispartakartik91
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    My point was about wrongly comparing ranking between the previous tournaments where it was determined by knock-out matches and this one where Group Goal difference is accounted.

    India Hockey team perform poorly under pressure and knock-out games.

  • spartasparta Jamshedpur FC2074 Points
    http://morungexpress.com/grossly-underrepresented/

    In Khelo India, Maharashtra doing well too well maybe due to huge huge squad size. Why the other states are not sending big squads? Northeast has very few athletes competing in it. I guess with the amount of coverage it got this year. Next year if it happens there will be good amount of participation from every state
    deepuCarbon_14
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