Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan hockey players and officials left Islamabad for Birmingham to participate in the 22nd Commonwealth Games 2022, which will be started from July 28 with an opening ceremony and hockey contingent will also be representing their country in the ceremony. Pakistan squad embarked on international flight at Islamabad International Airport. It is important to mention here that Pakistan had won silver medal in 2006 Commonwealth, as they lost final against New Zeeland. An official said on the airport that Pakistan team would produce acceptable performance in the event. Names of players: Goalkeepers: Akmal Hussain, Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan Full-backs: Mubasher Ali, Imad Shakeel Butt, Mohammad Hammaduddin Anjum, Mohammad Abdullah, Rizwan Ali Half-backs: Mohammad Umar Bhatta, Moeen Shakeel, Abdul Manan, Junaid Manzoor, Ghazanfar Ali Forwards: Attackers Ejaz Ahmed, Rana Abdul Waheed, Roman, Afraz, Abdul Hanan Shahid, Ahmed Nadeem Team Officials: Syed Sameer Hussain (Manager), Siegfried Aikman (Head Coach), Nadeem Khan Lodhi (Video Analyst), Adeel Akhtar (Physiotherapist).

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The Commonwealth Games has a rich sporting tradition that goes back to 1930. In its earliest iteration, the multi-sport event featured 11 nations and 400 athletes. Now, in its 22nd edition, 4,600 athletes from 72 nations and territories will be participating in the English city of Birmingham in the event known as the Friendly Games. Hockey has been played at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 and in that first year it was Australia who dominated, winning gold in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Malaysia men and England women took silver, while England men and New Zealand women won the bronze medals. Australia men have dominated ever since – the Kookaburras have won the title an unbeaten six times, with New Zealand, Malaysia, India and Pakistan sharing the silver medals between them. India men and women will both be searching for medals. Both teams enjoyed an exceptional first season in FIH Pro League, finishing in third position in their respective leagues. India men will take the confidence of their Pro League wins against England, plus the incredible match which ended in a 3-3 draw with Belgium. Both sets of results suggest that India are more than ready to challenge for a first gold medal at this event. Potentially one of the most exciting teams to arrive in Birmingham is the South Africa men’s team. The side set the Tokyo Olympics alight in 2021 with their dazzling speed and courage to take chances in attack. The Cassiem brothers, Mustapha and Dayaan are now well-known players among hockey fans, but also watch out for the penalty corner specialists Connor Beauchamp and Matt Guise-Brown. Scotland men and women both finished in respectable positions in 2018. The men were placed sixth while the women finished seventh. This time all eyes will be on captain and goal scorer extraordinaire Alan Forsyth as he will earn his 200 combined Great Britain and Scotland cap in his first match in Birmingham. Sarah Robertson will be fulfilling an equally important leadership role as she uses all the experience she gained in Tokyo to lead her exciting squad to achieve a high placed finish in Birmingham. Pakistan men finished second in 2006 and would dearly love to get on the podium again. The national team has dropped off in recent years from their heady days in the 1970s and 80s. They won gold at the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 but that was their last significant win. While a lack of recent international experience might be a burden, expect this team, led by experienced Head Coach Seigfried Aikman, to be competitive in every match they play. Ghana is another nation where hockey has been developing apace at grass roots level and the results are showing higher up the chain. Most of the players from both the men’s and women’s teams are drawn from teams representing the national services – police, army and fire service. This edition will be the first time Ghana men have qualified for the Commonwealth Games, while the women’s team first appeared in 2018, where they finished 10th. For Ghana women, the Commonwealth Games is a great opportunity to test themselves on the world stage as they so often just fail to qualify for major events because they tend to lose out to South Africa. For both teams, the event in Birmingham will provide invaluable experience as the teams continue to grow and develop. For their part, the athletes can be relied upon to bring their own style of fast-flowing, attacking hockey and a real joie de vivre as they compete. Host nation England must be going into this event hopeful of medals for both teams. The England men’s team showed enormous potential in the FIH Pro League with some exciting and close matches, including a 2-2 draw with Belgium and a thrilling 4-3 narrow defeat to India. The team is not yet the finished article but with talent such as Zach Wallace, Will Calnan, Ian Sloan and penalty corner specialists Nick Bandurak and Sam Ward in the the team, the host nation could be there at the business end. England women exited the Women’s World Cup after a narrow defeat at the hands of eventual silver medallists, Argentina. Like the men, this is a side that is still building but there is talent aplenty in the ranks. Dependable defenders Hollie Pearne-Webb, Laura Unsworth and Giselle Ansley provide a platform from which the speed merchants Hannah Martin, Lily Owsley and Ellie Rayer can attack. Tess Howard is turning into a force to be reckoned with in the circle. England have never failed to win a medal in the women’s competition but, in front of a home crowd, this time the ambition has to be gold.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-After the resignation of Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra from the post of FIH President earlier this week, the Members of the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have officially accepted the resignation of Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra. Body unanimously appointed FIH EB Member and President of the African Hockey Federation Seif Ahmed (Egypt) as Acting President until the next Presidential elections and confirmed that the upcoming FIH Congress will be held virtually, as planned, on 4-5 November 2022, with the Presidential elections taking place on 5 November Seif Ahmed was a member of Egypt’s national team in 1968 and has a long association with the sport as both an umpire and a technical official. He has been Treasurer and now President of the African Hockey Federation (AfHF) and is a former member of the Egyptian Olympic Committee. Seif was given the FIH President’s Award in 1999 and the FIH Order or Merit in 2002 in recognition of his long, distinguished and valuable services to hockey. He joined the FIH Executive Board in 2004. His term as Executive Board Member will end in August 2023.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra has informed the Members of the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) of his resignation from the post of FIH President which he currently holds. As stipulated in the FIH Statutes (Article 7.4 a), “the Executive Board shall appoint an acting President to hold office until the FIH Congress appoints a person to fill the vacancy”. Therefore, a meeting of the EB will be organised as soon as possible. In accordance with the same article, the next Presidential elections will take place during the upcoming FIH Congress which is planned to be held virtually on 4 and 5 November this year. Any details about the Presidential elections process will be confirmed at a later stage.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-After completion of the bidding process for hosting the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s and Women’s World Cups, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that bids from four continents (Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania), to host either one or both World Cups, have been received. 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup: Australia (host city: Melbourne/Geelong, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane /Gold Coast – to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) Uruguay (host city: to be confirmed) 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup: England, in partnership with Wales (host cities: to be confirmed) Germany (host city: to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup combined (= being played at the same time): Belgium/Netherlands (host cities: Wavre and Amstelveen) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) The hosts will be decided at the Executive Board meeting on 3 November and announced at the FIH Congress which will be held virtually on 4-5 November this year. FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank all National Associations who are bidding for our flagship events. We’re looking at really strong, and also diverse, bids here. We will now conduct a thorough analysis of each dossier so that the Event Bidding Task Force is fully informed of all aspects when making their recommendation to the Executive Board.” The FIH Hockey World Cup, for Women like for Men, is the pinnacle of FIH events. Being played every 4 years, both the Men’s and the Women’s World Cup involve sixteen teams amongst the best ones in the world. It will be the sixteenth edition of the World Cups in 2026. The next FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup will be played next month (from 1 to 17 July) in Terrassa, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands, whilst the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup will take place in January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India.

Raja Hafeez Ahmed Lausanne (Switzerland):-FIH CEO Thierry Weil reflects on the Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022 which took place in the Olympic Capital on 4 and 5 June. Thierry, what do you keep in mind from this first Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022? What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that people having a walk at the Place de la Navigation around the lake in Lausanne, stopped, looked at what was going on and eventually decided to move into the stadium and watch the games! This was exactly the purpose of this event: bringing hockey to people. Then of course the huge enthusiasm of the players to play this format – for some of them for the first time – as well as the intensity of the matches were a blessing. India men – considered as pre-tournament favourites – won. But for the women, the winners were Uruguay, therefore confirming that Hockey5s enables nations who are not necessarily regarded as powerhouses of world hockey to excel. How do you look at this? Here again, this is fantastic since one of the main reasons why FIH has decided to boost the promotion of Hockey5s is precisely because this format enables some smaller nations to play at the same level as the traditionally bigger ones and even beat them! Extrapolating from this, it means that numerous nations in the world could start hockey with Hockey5s, which it’s simpler and cheaper to put in place. Speaking of India, what do you think of the current situation with Hockey India? It’s 100% clear that every National Association has to make sure that its Statutes are compliant with the sports code of the local authorities. Therefore, if this is not the case for Hockey India at the moment, then this has to happen. However, this situation does not affect FIH’s full trust in Hockey India. Indeed, Hockey India has been and continues to be a key actor of the development of our sport, not only in the country, but also for the world, as an outstanding organiser of numerous FIH events. How can Hockey5s support the overall growth of hockey? Hockey5s is a great lever to boost the growth of hockey at the global level. Thanks to its less restrictive infrastructure – smaller field – but also to the required number of players, the practice of Hockey5s can be a real development asset for many nations in the world. Developing the sport is the number 1 mission of any international federation. The same goes for FIH. This is why, among other things, the FIH has decided to create a Hockey5s World Cup (first edition in 2024). In addition, the size of the field also makes it possible to anchor the Hockey5s in the heart of cities, giving it an urban dimension that is very fashionable and attractive, especially among young people. Finally, Hockey5s is an excellent springboard, a "gateway", to 11-a-side hockey.

Raja Hafeez Ahmed Lausanne (Switzerland):-After 2 days of swashbuckling Hockey5s action through 22 total games, we have our first ever winners of the Hockey5s event, with Uruguay, who won every match they played at the event, overcoming hosts Switzerland in the women’s final to become the Women’s Champions; while India who started the event as favourites in the men’s event, lived up to the billing prevailing over Poland to become the inaugural Champions in the Men’s event. Overcast conditions in Lausanne proved to be a foreshadowing of the day to come as it rained goals throughout the day with teams getting more familiar with the format of the game and the tactics best suited to prevail in it. India, the eventual champions set the tone for the day with an offensive masterclass in a 7-3 win over Malaysia and from there the barrage of goals never ceased with a total of 78 goals scored in the 10 games! Switzerland men caused the biggest upset of the day with a 7-5 win over Pakistan in a game that they trailed for most parts but kept finding ways to come back! India defeated Poland with another clinical attacking performance in the group stage match which left Pakistan to win their final match against Malaysia to seal their place in the finals. Malaysia, who had just 1 point from their first 3 games, brought their A-game into their last match and played out a thrilling 5-5 draw against Pakistan in a game where the lead swung from every couple of minutes! The draw for Pakistan meant Poland finished over them in the 2nd position with 2 wins and 2 losses, and moved to the finals against India who ended the group stage with 3 wins and a draw. On the women’s side, Uruguay won their 3rd and 4th match of the pool stage against South Africa and Poland to go 4 for 4 and finish top of the table with comfortable ease. The 2nd final’s spot was up for grabs for all the other 4 teams however. Hosts Switzerland who started the day in the 2nd place lost their opening encounter to India and had to rely on other results to make it to the finals. India and South Africa played the final pool stage game and after a thrilling 4-4 draw, it was the Swiss fairytale that continued to the final. The women’s final started off with an early goal from the home team on the back of a booming crowd that certainly believed in their team. But Uruguay showed no nerves and went about their business in the calmest of manners and within 5 minutes of going behind they had not only restored parity, but also found a second and third goal to take a comfortable 2 goal lead into the half time. Skipper Manuela Vilar found the goal twice and Teresa Viana, who finished as the Top Goal Scorer and Best Player overall, found the third. The second of the game was a clinic in game management from Uruguay as they bossed possession and killed off any hopes of a Swiss comeback to win the finals by a 3-1 margin, becoming the inaugural champions of the Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022! If there were any doubts about the ability of the Hockey5 format to upset the pecking order, it was erased within 4 minutes of the Men’s finals, as Poland, who were the distinct underdogs, shocked India with 3 goals before India could find their feet in the game! But with 16 minutes left in the game, Indian nerves were settled by a thumping goal by Sanjay that got them going. Captain Gurinder got a second goal before the half time, that allowed India to trail by just 1 goal going into the half, and the game was anyone’s to win! India had all the momentum going into the half and they started the second half in a similar vein. Boby Singh Dhami got India the leveller in the 1st minute and that was followed by some genius from the Player of the Tournament and Top Goal Scorer Raheel Mohammed scoring 2 goals to give India a 2-goal lead. Poland got a 4th goal that could have got them a way back into the game, but once again it was Raheel Mohammed who brilliantly set up another goal for Boby Singh Dhami that effectively ended the game with just 1 minute left. Awards: Best Goalkeeper (Women): Ursina Fazis (SUI) Best Player (Women): Teresa Viana (URU) Top Scorer (Women): Teresa Viana (URU) Best Goalkeeper (Men): Lars Kleikemper (SUI) Best Player (Men): Mohammed Raheel (IND) Top Scorer (Men): Mohammed Raheel (IND)

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022 event is the first official senior World Hockey5s competition to be organised by FIH and it builds on the success of Hockey5s events that have been taking place across the world, including the Youth Olympic Games events in Nanjing 2014 and Buenos Aires 2018. Taking place in the centre of the Olympic Capital Lausanne on June 4-5, Hockey5s Lausanne 2022 will be two days of hockey action, fun and entertainment. The hockey action will see the men’s teams of India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland and Switzerland compete in a round robin style tournament, with a final between the two top teams. South African coach Tsoanelo Pholo said: ‘Hockey5s is an initiator into hockey, a developer into the full-field version. If you have a Hockey5s court in three or four places in the country, I am telling you now, we are going to have way more hockey players in developing countries.’ Swiss athlete Sae Fontana said: ‘As early adopters of Hockey5s, we want to gain a competitive advantage, to get better rapidly, as a small country. Hockey5s is a fast game which makes it intense for the players.’ There will be some superstars, both established and up and coming, showing their skills at the Place de la Navigation, near Lake Geneva. Pakistan men led the way in the sport throughout the 20th century and it is exciting to see what this young team can do in a new format of the game. The speed and intensity will suit the super close skills of the Pakistan team. Both Poland and Switzerland men’s teams will be looking to transfer some of the skills and tactics of the indoor game onto the court in Lausanne. Poland is a specialist when it comes to the short form of the game and Switzerland, led by Sebastian Schneider, will have the advantage of a home crowd.

Raja Shafik ISLAMABAD : Pakistan’s hopes to enter the super four stage of Asia Hockey Cup 2022 and qualify for the 2023 Hockey World Cup suffered a big blow as they conceded a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Japan in a closely-fought Pool A match at the GBK Sports Complex Hockey Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday. According to information made available here by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Japan, who earlier on Tuesday stunned defending champions India 5-2, scored two goals in the first quarter to put Pakistan under pressure. Pakistan made a strong comeback in the second quarter when in the 23rd minute Ijaz Ahmed scored a scintillating field goal. But four minutes later Japan scored the third goal. Pakistan found another breakthrough in the 30th minute, thanks to a well-converted penalty corner by Mubashir Ali. By the end of the match, both teams failed to score any more goals. Pakistan, who scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 against India in their tournament opener, registered a thumping 13-0 win against hosts Indonesia on Tuesday. But despite that, they finished at number three as India claimed second spot on the points table after thrashing Indonesia 16-0 in their last pool game. That means Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia have sealed the FIH World Cup 2023 berths. India has qualified as hosts and Pakistan are out of the race. The Asia Cup served as a World Cup qualifier. (Thanks to APP)

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne, Switzerland: All 16 qualified teams line-up has been completed for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, India. At the Hero Asia Cup, which is currently taking place in Jakarta, a thrilling match between Japan and Pakistan, which ended 3-2 in Japan’s favour, meant Japan joined Malaysia and Korea as the three teams to qualify for the World Cup. As the host nation, India had already qualified. At the continental showpiece event, India, Japan, Malaysia and Korea have all won through to the top four of the competition, with the Super4s finals taking place over the weekend to decide the overall winner of the event. The other two teams making up the participating nations are the top ranked teams in Oceania, New Zealand and Australia. Full list of participating nations: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and Wales.