<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The IHF decided to launch the NHL after repeated demands from various quarters for introduction of a hockey championship on the lines of the popular National Football League.
"The NHL is all set to roll. It has been tentatively decided to launch this mega show in September after the Athens Olympics. The countdown has begun," IHF Secretary General K Jothikumaran said in a press release here.
The league would feature 10 teams divided into two tiers -- the Premier and the 1st Division. Each team will be allowed to take a certain number of foreign players to ensure "the best of world's talent on display".
The NHL would be introduced in association with sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports and Leisure Sports Management (LSM) company which had played a role in introducing the National Football League in India a decade back.
"IHF has been working very closely with their exclusive agent LSM for the last two years to come up with the perfect formula for this event," Jothikumaran said.
"ESPN STAR Sports was also introduced in the planning process for providing inputs to make the telecast viewer-friendly," he added.
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I deeply apologize for three straight posts in a row, but i want to share the letter i sent to the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Vikram Verma and the Deputy Minister for Sports Vijay Goel about the recent mistreatment of our Womens' Hockey team.
Although being absent from the world sports scene, I would consider Indian sportspersons to be the greatest achievers of all. Why? Because they manage to shine despite their own people trying to pull them down all the time.
This email is to complain about the extremely shabby treatment meted out to the National Womens' Hockey team in the recently concluded Asia Cup, which our girls won despite all the hardships. By putting them up in the dorms of the Nehru Stadium, while the other teams stayed in hotels goes a long way to show the attitude of Indian officials towards their own team. Six girls in one dorm room? I wish someone grows the guts to sue you and your ministry for the indignity. I would have, had i not been in college and a nobody.
Once the Asia Cup was won, your officials went into overdrive to share the limelight, scrambling for space on the podium. For once, let the girls bask in the light they so rightly deserve.
Mr. Goel, you were there too, weren't you? I hope the photo-op went well for you. But trust me Sir, unless you start taking better care of our sportpersons, you won't get many opportunities as this. Perhaps you can start by appointing people who really care. I wouldn't expect elite wives to be overly concerned about being positive and caring, but a retired athlete who has been through the same chaos and apathy will know, and do, better.
I am proud of the Hockey team for the glory and pride they have filled me with, and I cannot say if you all feel the same way. I have to say that the longer Indian sports remains with the polity and bureaucracy, the longer it will remain absent from the world sports scene.
Regards.
<!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo--> what do netas know about sports.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It proved to be more than a golden day for Indian shooters at the Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Not only did the Indians win two gold medals to boost their tally to four gold and one bronze, they also, more importantly, clinched four âquotaâ berths for the Athens Olympics in trap, Air Rifle (men) and Sports Rifle 3 Position events.
With four more Olympic berths, the Indian shooters have now got seven âquotaâ places so far. Among the shooters who have won the berths include Anjali Vedpathak, Abhinav Bindhra, Major RVS Rathore, Mansher Singh, Manavjit Singh, Gagan Narang and Deepali Deshpande.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian golfers arrive in Pakistan after a seven-year gap -- eeks they are in Karachhichi ! <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Main problem with Indians, they have very short vision. They don't even tries to think bigger or longer term problem with Pakistan. If they stop these mundane hop ons, things will improve much faster. But hey we are greedy SOBs.
Theres another way of looking at this whole issue of our sportsmen going to Pakistan.
It is called the carrot and stick policy. Why should we send the Indian Cricket Team to Pakistan when we can't get something in return? Give the Pakistanis what they are baying for, that our team play their cricket team in their Godforsaken country, and they will give us whatever our Chankian minds think we should get in return.
Plus, if anything untoward happens, it is Pakistan which will be at the losing end. Imagine a bomb blast somewhere where the team is playing, or some Jehadi trying to shoot the bus they are travelling in, and there goes their honor and dignity and credibility down the drain.
Khuda na kare ki any of our sportspersons are hurt, but you can never trust the twisted Paki mind.
If the series goes through, the team should declare that it is playing for our soldiers. that should get their jehadi undies in a zillion knots.
alright, can Indian sports ever move forward without jealousies and controversies?
Why is Dhanraj Pillay out when he has been declared fit by his doctor? :friusty
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian hockey was plunged into controversy yet again today when Dhanraj Pillay, the teamâs most creative player, was omitted from the squad for next monthâs Olympic Qualifying event in Madrid. And while the IHF said the decision was taken by the player on grounds of fitness, an emotional Pillay said he was fit but pulled out because ââI joined the camp today and didnât want other players talking behind my backââ.
Interestingly, the IHF did not conduct a fitness test on Pillay, though the player took part in a 45-minute practice match. ââWe saw his medical reportââ, Gill told this reporter. ââPillay told us he was not fit. He said he required 13 more days.ââ
It left the impression that Pillay was taking his own decisions on fitness. Ex-India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal says <b>fitness tests are a misnomer in Indian hockey. ââItâs very haphazardly conducted. There are no fitness parameters.ââ </b>
Signs of a deep rift between Pillay, the ageing but clear star of the side, and his juniors were first noticed at the 2002 Champions Trophy in Cologne, where Dhanraj played at his best. Heâd been a catalyst in Indiaâs comeback in the tournament but flopped in the crucial bronze-medal match against Pakistan.
He later told this paper that players from Punjab, who were biased against him, did not pass the ball to him in that match.
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Indian sports definitely needs professionalism, or we are going nowhere. <!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo-->
added later: More on the mismanagement that rots the IHF. Come on Dr. Gill, this is the last i would expect from an organization that is headed by a man of your stature and calibre. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Gentlemen, no Indian free-style wrestler qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics or the 2000 Sydney Olympics. There was just one Greco-Roman wrestler who qualified for the games each time.
Come 2004 Athens. There are 6 free-style wrestlers who have qualified for the games. Now 4 of our Greco-Roman wrestlers will take part in the 1st Greco-Roman Olympic Qualifying tournament that will be held in Serbia.
It is indeed heartening to note that the Indian Contingent will be a large one at the games, with a lot more athletes qualifying for the games.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Even if they do not fare well in Serbia, they can make another attempt at the 2nd Greco-Roman Olympic qualifying competition at Tashkent on March 14-15.
Interestingly, no Indian freestyle wrestler had qualified for the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics Games, while a solitary Greco-Roman exponent had made it to each event.
"CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) is helping us and they would most probably bear the expenses of our stay there," he said. "CII is helping us find sponsors."
CII has helped wrestling get sponsorship from Ambuja Cements, which is supporting the sport until the Olympics.
The support, which is over and above the government efforts, includes additional exposures to select players.
Ambuja Cements sent a three-member women's wrestling team to Japan for training in December. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"There's a real sea change," says Bill Adams, a British football coach who runs one of dozens of new academies which are springing up all over India.
Indian football is largely confined to two geographic areas: the eastern state of West Bengal, centred on the city of Calcutta, and Goa on the Arabian Sea coast.
India's captain and star, Baichung Bhutia, says the key to future success is more support at grass roots level.
Leicester City from the English Premiership has just signed a deal with Bhutia's team East Bengal, to tap into a potential player market.
"Success at the national level is fine", he says, "but [in the] long term it needs better marketing and better training from junior level right the way up the game". <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
in other news, more details on the new National Hockey League are out. And what a sell-out it is. The games have been made to look a lot like American games, with time-outs and smaller quarters.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->With Rs 7.1 million as prize-money on offer and live telecast of matches on ESPN STAR Sports guaranteed, plans are in place for a National Field Hockey League in India.
As per the proposed format, the league will comprise two tiers. Tier I will be called the Premier Division and Tier II the Second Division. The leagues will follow a round-robin format, with all teams playing each other twice. The winner will be decided on the basis of total points aggregated.
In order to make the game a viewing spectacle, each game will have four quarters of 17 minutes and 30 seconds instead of standard two halves. The concepts of time-outs will be introduced to liven up the game. The winner within the stipulated time will get 3 points for each victory while the team winning in the extra-time will share the points.
All Tier I matches will be played on Fridays and Saturdays. In the inaugural year, the premier division matches will be played in floodlit stadiums across India, including Hyderabad. Tier I teams will have an option of bringing in a maximum of five foreign players.
According to the list made available by the IHF, the first tier will have teams liker Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Jalandhar and Hyderabad.
Tier Two will have Delhi, Chandigarh, Imphal, Lucknow and Ranchi or Kolkata.
<b>So, come September, fixtures between teams like Delhi Dynamos and Bombay Bombers could be on the Indian hockey calendar.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Is it just coincidence that in a post in this thread on September 18th last year, i had mentioned Dehradun Dynamos and Bangalore Bombers?!?! Plagiarism! <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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