BELGIUM’S RED LIONS WIN ODISHA HOCKEY MEN’S WORLD CUP BHUBANESWAR 2018

    December 16 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: Belgium have claimed their first ever World Cup title thanks to a dramatic shoot-out victory over the Netherlands in the final of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018. It proved to be third time lucky for the Red Lions, who finished runners up at both the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the EuroHockey Championships in 2017. Goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch excelled in the shoot-out, making numerous key saves to help his side became the first Belgium side in any team sport to win a world title. As well as winning the iconic trophy for the first time in their history, it has been confirmed that Belgium, coached by New Zealander Shane McLeod, have moved into first position in the FIH Hero World Rankings. To see the complete rankings, click here. The bronze medal was taken by Australia, who recovered from their semi-final loss at the hands of the Netherlands on Saturday to storm to a sensational 8-1 victory over England. Tom Craig scored a hat-trick in the contest to earn the Odisha Player of the Match Award. The medal matches brought the curtain down on a thrilling two and a half weeks of sensational hockey at the 15,000 capacity Kalinga Stadium, the stunning venue that has welcomed mammoth crowds on a daily basis throughout this wonderful event. Belgium defender Arthur Van Doren was named as the Odisha Best Player of the event, being presented his award by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Dutch duo Pirmin Blaak and Thijs van Dam were also winners of individual awards, being named Odisha Mining Corporation Best Goalkeeper and Hockey India Best Junior Player respectively, while the Hero Top Scorer Award was shared by Australia’s Blake Govers and Alexander Hendrickx of Belgium, who scored seven goals apiece. The gold medal match, witnessed by a sell-out crowd at the Kalinga Stadium, was packed full of drama as two evenly-matched teams set about the task of claiming the world title. The Netherlands were chasing a fourth World Cup success to draw level with Pakistan as the team with the most title wins, while Olympic silver medallists Belgium – a side beaten by the Dutch in the final of the EuroHockey Championships 2017 in Amsterdam – were determined to claim their first major crown to cap what has been a remarkable rise over the past ten years. The two finalists went hard at each other in the opening stages of the match, with chances being created at both ends. Jeroen Hertzberger forced an early save from Belgium shot-stopper Vincent Vanasch, while Simon Gougnard’s speculative, high backhand strike was almost brilliantly turned into the Dutch goal by Tom Boon. The play switched from one end of the field to the other throughout the second quarter, with Netherlands defender Glenn Schuurman making a crucial interception to deny Florent Van Aubel a clear scoring opportunity with Arthur de Sloover doing the same in the Belgian back-line. The Netherlands had two penalty corner opportunities ahead of half time, but failed to take their chance as the Red Lions defence held firm. The two sides remained locked together throughout the third quarter, although Belgian captain Thomas Briels forced a save from Pirmin Blaak while Mirco Pruijser flashed a backhand effort across the face of the Belgian goal. It was a tense and cagey period, although the same could not be said for the fourth quarter as both teams desperately tried to get the win before the lottery of the shoot-out would be brought into play. Netherlands ace Bob de Voogd rattled the pads of Vanasch, while Nicolas de Kerpel hit the side of the goal just before Briels almost won it for Belgium, with Sander Baart making a crucial goal-line clearance to take the match into a shoot-out. The Dutch took a 2-0 lead in the shoot-out thanks to strikes from Jeroen Hertzberger and Jonas de Geus, but goals from Florent Van Aubel and Victor Wegnez, combined with some brilliant saves from Vanasch, restored parity at 2-2. When Thijs van Dam missed, Arthur de Sloover thought he had won the title for Belgium when he fired home, but his effort was ruled out by a smart video referral from the Netherlands. However, Belgium did not have long to wait for their moment in the sun. When Florent Van Aubel scored in sudden-death, Jeroen Hertzberger needed to find the net to keep his team alive. However, it was not to be, with Vanasch forcing the brilliant Dutch attacker wide before his shot sailed over the cross-bar. Whilst it was heartbreak for the Netherlands, who had suffered defeat in a second successive World Cup final, the triumph for the Red Lions will be forever remembered as one of the greatest moments the history of Belgian team sport. Speaking after the match, Odisha Player of the Tournament Arthur Van Doren said: “I couldn’t be more proud. We are world champions. We showed today that our best player is the team. What a team performance again! We showed against Germany, England and again today. It was a really close game. We knew that. Holland is a really great side, they showed it throughout the tournament. I could not be more proud of this team. We’re world champions and we deserve it. To be really honest, I think the team should get the Best Player award. We showed that team performance was key today. I could not be more proud of a number of individuals. Simon Gougnard showed that he can perform with all the circumstances. We dedicated this Final, and also the semi-final, to him and his family. The character that Van Aubel and Vanasch showed to take the shoot-outs after we thought it was over already. Every game, every moment, there were different players stepping up. That’s why the team is the best player.”” The game was an extra special occasion for Australian umpire Adam Kearns, who reached the milestone of officiating his 100th international match in

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    BELGIUM AND NETHERLANDS TO FIGHT FOR TITLE AT ODISHA HOCKEY MEN’S WORLD CUP BHUBANESWAR 2018

      December 15 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: The final of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 will be an all-European affair, with Belgium’s Red Lions facing the Netherlands after a thrilling day of semi-final action at the Kalinga Stadium on Saturday (15 December). Belgium made a massive statement with a staggering 6-0 semi-final triumph over England in the first match of the day, while Australia’s hopes of winning a third successive World Cup title were ended by European champions the Netherlands, who emerged victorious in a shoot-out after a breathless contest finished with the scores locked together at 2-2. Belgium (FIH Hero World Ranking: 3) – wearing black armbands in memory of Simon Gougnard’s father, who sadly passed away on Friday – were absolutely sensational against England (WR:7), a team that had reached the semi-finals for the third World Cup in succession. The Red Lions themselves were aiming to reach a third major final in as many years, following the silver medals won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the EuroHockey Championships 2017. Striker Tom Boon gave Belgium the perfect start, getting ahead of his marker to deflect past England goalkeeper George Pinner in the eighth minute. That lead was almost doubled when Boon – later named Odisha Player of the Match – dived at full stretch to touch on a searching pass from Loick Luypaert onto the England cross-bar. Belgium took a 2-0 lead into half time thanks to the outstanding Gougnard, who pounced on a penalty corner rebound to smash into England’s net shortly before Sebastien Dockier wasted a brilliant chance from close range, failing to convert after some fine set-up play from Florent Van Aubel. England – searching for their first World Cup final appearance since the Willesden 1986 event on home soil – came out firing in the third quarter, playing their best hockey of the match in a bid to drag themselves back into the contest. However, their hopes were cruelly dashed when Cedric Charlier’s blistering strike finished off a rapid counter-attack, leaving Danny Kerry’s team with a mountainous task to overcome. A penalty corner double from Alexander Hendrickx – his sixth and seventh goals of a hugely productive World Cup – either side of the quarter-time break all but sealed a Belgian victory, with Sebastien Dockier firing a late sixth into the roof of Pinner’s net to complete an emphatic 6-0 triumph. Speaking after the match, Belgium captain Thomas Briels said: “We worked really hard for this success. It was a big challenge. Especially after [the] Germany [victory], we had a tough game and we wanted to be really ready for this challenge and I think we did a really good job today. It feels amazing to be in the final. It was really our big goal to be in the last game of the tournament and hopefully we can do one more step and play even better than today. We really hope we can bring the Cup home. We have to recover first. It’s going to be another really tough game. But I think we still have the energy to deliver one more good performance.” The second semi-final was a replay of the World Cup final of 2014, with reigning champions Australia (WR:1) and the Netherlands (WR:4) taking to the field for what proved to be a truly epic encounter. The Kookaburras came into the game having just conceded once in their previous four games here in Bhubaneswar, but that all changed in one of the best games seen at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018. After soaking up some early Australian pressure, the Netherlands took the lead when Jonas de Geus surged around the back of the Kookaburras’ defence before finding Glenn Schuurman who made no mistake from close range. Seve van Ass made it 2-0 in the second quarter when his attempted cross was inadvertently deflected into the Australian net by Tim Howard, giving the Dutch some breathing space. Australia’s response was fierce, with Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak producing numerous high-quality blocks to keep the title holders off the score-sheet ahead of the half time break. The match continued to move from end-to-end at breakneck speed, with Australia pulling a goal back through Howard’s ferocious slap-shot from the top of the circle to give his team hope going into the final quarter. Blaak – later named Odisha Player of the Match – continued his sensational form in the fourth period by making further crucial saves, including a remarkable close-range block from Flynn Ogilvie who seemed almost certain to score. Australia’s equaliser arrived with just 26 seconds of the match remaining, and there was little Blaak could do about it. Eddie Ockenden was the scorer, brilliantly intercepting an aerial pass before eventually getting a first time shot towards goal, only for the unfortunate Schuurman to edge the ball through his goalkeeper’s legs to send the match to a shoot-out. With both teams missing twice, the shoot-out score was locked at 3-3 and went to sudden-death. Jeroen Hertzberger made no mistake with the first of the sudden-death efforts, piling the pressure on Daniel Beale, who needed to score to keep Australian hopes alive. However, it was Blaak and the Netherlands who would emerge triumphant, with the goalkeeper standing tall to make a superb stick save to put the Oranje into the World Cup final at the expense of the defending champions. Speaking after the match, Netherlands forward Jeroen Hertzberger – who scored twice in the shoot-out – said: “It was great. I think we deserve to win. We made it very hard for ourselves but at the end of the day we kept our focus and deserved to win the game. To be honest, the shoot-outs were obviously a bit nerve-breaking but there’s also something amazing about it. I had real confidence that we were going to win. I had so much confidence in our goalie even after we missed. Belgium are a good team obviously. It’s not for

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      Preview: England, Belgium, Australia and Netherlands set for semi-final showdowns at Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018

        December 14 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: Sixteen nations started the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, but only four teamsa remain. After 16 days and 32 matches featuring the finest men’s hockey teams and players on the planet, we now know that the iconic World Cup trophy will be raised aloft by either England, Belgium, Australia or Netherlands on Sunday 16 December. Ahead of Saturday’s semi-finals, we take a look at the journey that each team has made to get to this stage of the competition, as well as getting the thoughts from those within each camp. Semi-final 1: England versus Belgium – 1600 IST (UTC +5.30) England – FIH Hero World Ranking: 7 How they qualified: 3rd Place – Hero Hockey World League Semi-Final London Notable honours: FIH Men’s World Cup silver medallists (1986), European gold medallists (2009), European silver medallists (1997), 7x European bronze medallists (1978, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2017), Hockey World League bronze medallists (2013), 3x Commonwealth Games bronze medallists (1998, 2014 & 2018) Rank in previous WC editions: 1973 – 6th, 1975 – 6th, 1978 – 7th, 1982 – 8th, 1986 – 2nd, 1990 – 5th, 1994 – 6th, 1998 – 6th, 2002 – 7th, 2006 – 5th, 2010 – 4th  2014 – 4th. Form in Bhubaneswar: Pool B – ENG 2-2 CHN, ENG 0-3 AUS, IRL 2-4 ENG. Crossover – ENG 2-0 NZL. QFL ARG 2-3 ENG. Top scorer in Bhubaneswar: Liam Ansell, Will Calnan, Mark Gleghorne – 2 goals each About the team: England’s growth in the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar has been clear for all to see. A 2-2 draw against 17th ranked China was a fairly ordinary start, although there were signs of improvement in their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Australia. Since then, their performances have been excellent, with the 4-2 victory over Ireland setting up a cross-over play-off against New Zealand, a match they deservedly won 2-0. Their greatest challenge came in the quarter-final when they faced Olympic champions Argentina, where they once again produced the goods as the evergreen Barry Middleton and the electric Liam Ansell inspired the team to a 3-2 triumph to reach the semi-finals for the third successive World Cup. Head coach Danny Kerry – the man who guided Great Britain’s women to Olympic gold at Rio 2016 – is getting the best out of a talented group of players who will be determined to not let this opportunity slip from their grasp. Player perspective – Phil Roper (co-captain): ‘It feels amazing to be in the semi-finals of the World Cup. We’ve enjoyed improving and seeing positive results as we have progressed through the tournament. Belgium are a very talented team, with some great players, but we are confident and have a lot of momentum behind us, and we want to keep that going, and see where it leads us!’ Belgium – FIH Hero World Ranking: 3 How they qualified: 1st Place – Hockey World League Semi-Final Johannesburg. Notable honours: Olympic silver medallists (2016), Olympic bronze medallists (1920), Hockey World League silver medallists (2015), European silver medallists (2013, 2017), European bronze medallists (2007), 5th place – Olympic Games (2012), 5th place – Rabobank Hockey World Cup (2014), 5th place – Hero Hockey Champions Trophy (2014). Rank in previous WC editions: 1973 – 8th, 1978 – 14th, 1994 – 11th, 2002 – 14th, 2014 – 5th. Form in Bhubaneswar: Pool C – BEL 2-1 CAN, IND 2-2 BEL, BEL 5-1 RSA. Crossover – BEL 5-0 PAK. QF – GER 1-2 BEL. Top scorer in Bhubaneswar: Alexander Hendrickx – 5 goals About the team: As the Olympic silver medallists from Rio 2016, it comes as little surprise that Belgium have reached the final four. However, it is easy to forget just how far this team has travelled in a very short space of time. This is the first World Cup semi-final in Belgium’s history, with their previous best performance being the 5th place achieved four years ago in The Hague. While Belgium have earned a reputation as a team with plenty of attacking flair in recent years, their displays here in Bhubaneswar have shown just how brilliant they are in defence. 2017 FIH Player of the Year Arthur Van Doren has been majestic in the Red Lions’ back-line, while 2017 FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Vincent Vanasch has also been at the top of his game. Both were exceptional in the semi-final victory over in-form Germany, a result which certainly turned some heads. Remarkably, the loss of vastly experienced duo John-John Dohmen and Emmanuel Stockbroekx seems to have had little impact, with replacement players Antoine Kina and Agustin Meurmans proving that the Red Lions have genuine strength in depth. Player perspective – Thomas Briels (captain): “We are very happy to reach the semi-final after a great team performance against Germany, but we are not yet satisfied. We will need another big performance against England to reach the final. They are playing very well and they will be ready for the challenge.” Semi-final 2: Australia versus Netherlands – 1830 IST (UTC +5.30) Australia – FIH Hero World Ranking: 1 How they qualified: Continental champions of Oceania / 3rd Place – Hockey World League Semi-Final, Johannesburg Notable honours: Olympic gold medallists (2004) 3x Olympic silver medallists (1968, 1976, 1992), 5x Olympic bronze medallists (1964, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012), 3x FIH Men’s World Cup winners (1986, 2010, 2014), Hockey World League champions (2015, 2017), 15x Champions Trophy winners (1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018), 6x Commonwealth Games gold medallists (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018), 10x Oceania Cup champions (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017). Rank in previous WC editions: 1971 – 8th, 1975 – 5th, 1978 – 3rd, 1982 – 3rd, 1986 – 1st, 1990 – 3rd, 1994 – 3rd, 1998 – 4th, 2002 – 2nd, 2006 – 2nd, 2010 – 1st, 2014 – 1st. Form in Bhubaneswar: Pool B – AUS 2-1 IRL, ENG 0-3 AUS,

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        ACCC18 – “We are confident and ready”- Richmond Attipoe

          Source: isports360.com | December 13, 2018 Bank of Ghana’s pride, Exchequers Hockey Club will be among Ghana’s four team contingent at the 2018 Africa Cup for Club Champions to be staged in Abuja, Nigeria. The 2018 GAHA league champions are back to the continental stage after placing fifth in 2016 – Nairobi, Kenya. The team has trained and well prepared for the championship and isports360 caught up with Coach Attipoe after their last training session in Ghana before setting off. Isport: Congrats Coach on winning the GAHA league and also a qualification slot to Africa. How is the feeling like? Richmond Attipoe (RA): Thank you very much. It wasn’t an easy one but we were able to achieve. It’s a great feeling on winning the league and also back to Africa. Isports: How prepared is Exchequers for Africa? R.A: We are more prepared than ever. We have been training, planning and dreaming of this day and here we have it. It’s an honour to represent Ghana and we are so privileged to be part. We started training from the beginning of this year after narrowly missing out last season. We are very ready for Africa. Isports : How do you assess the mental state and physical fitness of your players? The players are in a good state. Most of them have been to the ACCC, Hockey World League and numerous international competitons, hence they are at ease and relaxed mentally. The players are physically fit, taking part in all training sessions with no injuries recorded. Isports : Do you feel pressurized as a Coach? R.A: Not at all. I’m someone who really likes working under pressure because it makes me deliver. The pressure will always come heading into tournaments of this sort but for me I’m calm and always deliver. Isports: Are we seeing new stars and if yes, which of them will deliver? R.A: Benjamin Kwofie is the name and I urge all teams to watch out for him. I promised to register him last season and I honored my word, gave him the opportunity and he delivered during the league. Isports : Which of the clubs will pose a threat to Exchequers? R.A: All the clubs present. I don’t want to single out any club because if you do so, the players become complacent when playing with the so called ‘weak teams’. Every team here is a champion and a threat and we will treat them as such. Coach Richmond Attippoe together with his able technical team released the 18-man squad heading for Abuja. Squad in full : Goalkeepers: Tyche Duisberg and Dontoh Simon. Outfield players: Osmanu Mohammed, Akaba Elikem, Arthur Ebenezer, Ofori Isaac, Obeng Emmanuel, Asante Alexander, Nyarko Nicholas, Akaba Elorm, Apronti Sylvester, Adams John, Ankomah Emmanuel, Osei Maxwell, Dzotsi Eric, Kwofie Benjamin, Bempah Daniel Nana and Mensah Samuel. The team left the country on Monday 10th December, 2018. The 2018 ACCC will be staged in Abuja, Nigeria from 15th December – 22nd December, 2018 at the National Stadium, Abuja.