Three goals in the final three minutes resembles a script where India have in the recent past ended up on the losing side. Today, Rajinder Singhâs men ensured that they were on the winning end of such a tale.
Quote:II World Cup Chess (October 2002): Harikrishna and Humpy were on hand at this event, fittingly held at Ramoji Film City, leading a star-studded field but Vishwanathan Anand took home the menâs prize
IMG on board (August 2003)This is the one Naiduâs banking on to bring in the really big bucks. In exchange for government-owned land, Hyderabad will get sports academies, entertainment and theme parks. And then thereâs the IMG roster, including Tiger Woods; if he lands up once a year, Naidu will feel itâs worth it...
Formula 1 Powerboat racing The least-known of all planned activities, deal likely to be signed on October 17. Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city could then see boats racing at speeds of 220 kmph...
Afro-Asian Games (Oct-Nov 2003) The Big One. Forget the participants, the government is aiming to impress the Commonwealth Games and other officials who turn up. To get the Bigger One
Quote:A punishment posting has proved quite rewarding. When NIS, Patialaâs football coach Dr SS Chawla got a transfer order to Kurali, a remote suburb near Chandigarh, disgusted with what he calls ââoffice politicsââ, he thought of quitting. But fortunately for Kurali he didnât take the easy option and took it up as a challenge.
Call it coincidence or the fact that sporting success was somehow fated for this town, Chawla and his athleticsâ coach wife Usha were followed by another âcoach coupleâ. Family circumstances forced weightlifter Devinder Sharma and hockey Olympian wife Nisha to shift here. Suddenly for Kuraliâs traditional sporting talent, which over the years had mostly gone untapped, expert guidance was now available in their backyard.
I wanted this win badly: Jugraj --> [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=206415"]http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll...how?msid=206415[/url]
Quote:NEW DELHI: While India were taking on Pakistan in the Asia Cup hockey final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, one player, who could have held the spotlight, was tethered to a hospital bed in Delhi. Even though his physical presence lay here, his soul was far away -- with his mates in Kuala Lumpur.
Penalty corner specialist Jugraj Singh, who survived a terrible accident early this month, was airlifted to the Capital hospital aboard a helicopter provided by the hockey team sponsors Sahara. He was admitted to Batra hospital for further treatment after 26 days at the Dayanand Hospital in Ludhiana.
"I want to get back to the field at the earliest. I wanted this one (win) very badly. It will certainly do a lot for my speedy recovery," smiled Jugraj, who was mobbed by television channels in room number 534 of Batra hospital. "My colleagues have fulfilled the promise they made to me."
"I spoke to everyone in the team before the match and tried to motivate them," he said. He spoke to skipper Dhanraj Pillay, coach Rajinder Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh and Ignace Tirkey.
Jugraj, who watched the match on TV in his hospital bed, became very emotional after the third goal by Ignace Tirkey. "I had a feeling that India would win. The team always bounced back after a bad match. An this was their day," he said kicking his left han in the air.
Asked to pick up a player who mattered most, Jugraj said "They all played as team and deserve all credit. Tirkey was simply brilliant in defence."
"I wish I was there to celebrate with them," he added.
It may be recalled that skipper Dhanraj Pillay had said that "the team would try his best to win the match for Jugraj."
The members of the Indian team have been in constant touch with the player since his accident.
Regarding the treatment, Jugraj said "it is upto the doctors to decide whether he should go abroad for treatment."
Dr Laljee Kent, who is attending to the Punjab player, said "the general condition is stable." The senior consultant of orthopaedics added that the condition of his fractures will be reassessed with a fresh set of X-rays and a physiotherapy regimen would then be implemented.
According to the Indian hockey Federation officials Narendra Batra and Suresh Sharma, the federation is in touch with United States Olympic Association for inputs on Jugraj's treatment. "The federation is firmly behind him. A final decision will be taken within a couple of days after the arrival of IHF president KPS Gill."
It's rare for people and officials to stand behind a player during times of distress. One can only hope this is not a one-off occurrence.
Another account of this thrilling match. I played about a year of hockey during my schooling. It is definitely a game of much skill and endurance.
[url="http://headlines.sify.com/2534news1.html?headline=Special:~Indians~win~the~Asia~Cup~in~style"]Special: Indians win the Asia Cup in style[/url]!
They said they would do it for Jugraj Singh and they did it in style!
Winning the hearts of all hockey lovers, Indian team won the Sultan Azlan Hockey Championship at Kuala Lumpur beating arch rivals Pakistan 4-2 in the final.
It was sweet revenge for India which lost the bronze medal to Pakistan in the recent Championâs Trophy at Holland despite beating them convincingly in the round robin rounds of the same tournament.
For far too long, Indian hockey has been on a downward curve and the cupboard has been bereft of any major trophies. But there now seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon with the Indians winning the Asian Crown for the first time ever today and in the process, qualifying for the World Cup Hockey Championship 2006.
Since they had lost the group match earlier, most people were worried that it might turn out as a familiar story of being so near and yet so far but that was not to be.
Played at a good pace through out the first half, the match looked like petering in to a tame affair in the second half until Indians brought alive the proceedings with two brilliant field goals in the dying stages of the match. The last two goals of the match proved to be the final nails in the Pakistani coffin leaving no chance of a recovery.
The first fifteen minutes of the match saw fortunes swinging like a pendulum gone wild. India moved ahead in the sixth minute through a penalty corner shot of Kanwalpreet Singh but Pakistan soon hit back through two pin point penalty corner conversions by the brilliant Sohail Abbas who obviously doesnât miss much.
Though Pakistan shot in lead, India dominated the mid field area continuously and the Pakistan defence was severely tested. The constant pressure made Pakistanis wilt against the attacking Gagan Ajit Singh who levelled the score 2-2 by sounding the boards in the fifteenth minute.
The second half got off to a dull start as both teams chose to play safe rather than attack but still the possession of the ball remained largely with India except for a couple of brave thrusts down the left flank by the Pakistani forwards.
With every thing at touch and go, the Indians suddenly upped their antennae and made frequent raids on the rival goal which finally saw the rookie Ignaes Tirkey shoot a solo goal on the run in the Sixty ninth minute to take India ahead by 3-2.
Everyone was at the edge of the seat as Pakistan made a valiant effort to get a look in at the Indian post but their forwards were neatly dispossessed. And as an icing on the cake, Prabhjyot Singh brought down the curtains by converting a lovely pass from Baljit Singh Dhillon with a deft touch to make it 4-2 in favour of India.
What was heartening to note through out the Asia Cup was that younger players like Ignaes Tirkey, Sandeep Michael made good of the chances provided to them. Most of the boys are, without any doubt, abundantly talented but it remained to be seen what the rookies could do and without a doubt, the skills of new entrants were a revelation!
Speed without stick work is like an empty cannon and creating opportunities in the mid-field is of prime importance for any team. Fortunately, both at Holland and at Malaysia, India displayed that it is gradually learning that only collective skills of players can bring about a cohesive finish. So despite heavy marking of Skipper Dhanraj Pillai and Gagan Ajit Singh, the other players rallied the ball around to create newer opportunities to score.
The forward line of Dhillon, Pillay, Thakur, Prabhjot shouldered the attack well but muffed up several penalty corners in the entire championship through poor co-ordination. No doubt the ailing Jugraj Singh, watching the match in his hospital bed in New Delhi, was sorely missed and is required by the team at the earliest.
India has at the moment some outstanding players who on their day can pulverize any defence in the world. Their movements are swift and have a lot of charm and grace written over them but they still need to do a lot of homework to see that their movements result in more goals and better finish.
A prime requirement of the modern era is that all players must be capable of playing in two different positions so as to switch positions in times of crisis. Our tackling has to be more aggressive and determined rather than timid and we must emphasise on improving our mid-field play so as to create greater goal scoring opportunities.
Hopefully, this victory will be part of an upswing curve that will take the Indian team to greater heights.
A strategy based on the 5-3-2-1 formation is best suited to attack and pulverising the opponent and it is time we adopted bolder and more aggressive measures to counter the game plan of international opponents. If we were to apply these fundamentals, I would stick my neck out and predict that this team has in it to be a world beater.
Though Rajendra Singh has kept abreast with the latest innovations in the game around the globe and has a nucleus of talented players, it is imperative that he realises that he has some fine uncut diamonds in his possession who need to be cut and polished to crowning glory.
India has adequate talent at its disposal to be a giant in the hockey arena but the Indian Hockey Federation has to do a lot of soul searching and hard work before this team can deliver what it promises with its immense potential.
[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=227292"]Anjali wins gold at ISSF World Cup[/url]
NEW DELHI: Rifle shooter Anjali Bhagwat won the gold in the 10m air rifle event for women with a total score of 502.4 at the ISSF World Cup in Milan, Italy, on Friday.
[url="http://ushome.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/23snook.htm"]Pankaj Advani in semis[/url]
Quote:National champion Pankaj Advani upset top seed Paithoon Phonbun of Thailand by six frames to two to enter the semi-finals in the World Snooker Championship at Jiangmen, China, on Thursday.
[url="http://in.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/23hockind.htm"]India too good for Egypt[/url]
Quote:India began its campaign in the men's hockey tournament at the Afro Asian Games with a fluent 5-1 victory over Africa champions Egypt, in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Prabhjot Singh (5th, 56th minutes) and Gagan Ajit Singh (44th, 67th) scored two goals each and Deepak Thakur (38th) one in the big victory.
Quote: Significantly, it was India's first-ever match under lights at home and the hosts reveled in the conditions.
[url="http://in.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/24snook.htm"]Pankaj Advani in final[/url]
Quote:National champion Pankaj Advani stormed into the final of the World Snooker Championships, being played in Jiangmen, China, after easily beating fifth seeded Brendan O'Donoghye of Ireland 8-3 in the semi-finals.
tupid in finals and :flush 
