Pakistan, India set for intriguing semifinal today

BHUBANESWAR: Arch-rivals Pakistan and Pakistan return to centre stage in field hockey on Saturday after a controversial format helped them reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals in Bhubaneswar. Instead of rewarding performances in the preliminary league, all eight teams were assured of reaching the quarter-finals – a round which turned the tournament on its head, and left some teams quietly fuming.

The top four teams in the league – England, the Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium – were all knocked out in Thursday's round of eight, while the bottom four sailed through to the semi-finals. The format also helped new-look world champions Australia, seeking a sixth successive title, and Olympic gold-medallists Germany recover from shaky starts to line up for Saturday's other semi-final.

Hosts India, ranked ninth in the world, fought back from a 0-2 deficit to beat number four Belgium 4-2. Eleventh-ranked Pakistan stunned the Dutch by a similar margin after losing all their three league matches. The Germans knocked out England 2-0 and Australia ousted Argentina 4-2.

Dutch coach Max Caldas had been wary of the format from the start. "If you lose all three league games, you could still win the tournament and I think that's bad," he had said earlier in the week.In contrast, the surviving teams could not hide their glee." Although I am not in favour of this (format), today I don't mind it," Australian coach Graham Reid said on Thursday. German captain Moritz Furste added: "In this situation it is good for us. It has given us a lease of life. We can go on to win the tournament from here."Pakistan coach Shahnaz Shaikh tempered his joy with a suggestion. "To make this format fair to everyone, a handicap of one goal should be given to the table-toppers," he said.

Millions of fans across India and Pakistan will tune in to what should be a rousing semi-final, a repeat of the Asian Games gold medal clash in South Korea in October which India won in a penalty shoot-out. Once the masters of the sport, neither team has advanced to the final of a major world competition since 1998, when Pakistan lost the Champions Trophy final to the Dutch in Lahore. "I am so happy that both teams are in the semi-final," Shaikh said. "For fans it is a dream. For me, it is a good sign that Asian teams have started to do well again." India have not won a major title since bagging the last of their eight Olympic gold medals at the Western-boycotted Moscow Games in 1980. Dutchman Roelant Oltmans, India's high performance director who is acting as coach after Australian Terry Walsh was controversially axed last month, preferred to look ahead to the 2016 Olympics."We need to play tough matches to prepare for the Olympics," said Oltmans, who had earlier coached Pakistan. "And this tournament is as tough as it gets."

The other semi-final promises to be a classic between two young sides. Australia wear a new look in the absence of veterans Liam de Young and Rob Hammond, who retired after the World Cup in June, and five-time world player of the year Jamie Dwyer and Mark Knowles, who are both injured. Germany, with seven junior World Cup winners from 2013 in their squad, are banking on Furste, the world player of the year in 2012, to deliver.

Hockey India president seeks Pakistan’s apology over ‘uncouth’ behaviour

Hockey India President Narinder Batra on Sunday said the Pakistan hockey team would have to apologise for its ‘inappropriate’ behaviour, while also slamming the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH)’s decision to take “no further action” against Pakistan.

“Hockey India is disappointed with FIH TD (Tournament Director) decision conveyed to Hockey India on the behaviour of Pakistan team towards the crowd in Bhubhaneshwar, Odisha, after semi-finals of Champions Trophy on 13 December, 2014,” Hockey India (HI) President Narinder Batra wrote in his Facebook post, according to IBNLive.
In a statement issued by tournament director Wiert Doyer, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said Pakistan Head Coach Shahnaz Sheikh had apologised for his team’s rude gestures towards the crowd.
“I have spoken to Shahnaz and told him that the behaviour of Pakistan players went beyond what is acceptable to standards of the FIH,” Doyer was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Shahnaz has apologised and assured me that this behaviour will not occur again. Given these matters, I’ve decided that no further action is warranted,” Doyer added.
However, claiming that FIH’s decision is unaccpetable to India, the Hockey India president wrote, “I am instructing my CEO to inform FIH that in case this kind of behaviour by teams is within normal and tolerable limits of FIH, then we may not be interested to host any more tournaments in India and the tournaments may be shifted to countries which tolerate this kind of nonsense and uncouth behaviour.”
Batra also said there will be no friendly series with Pakistan until their federation issues an unconditional apology.
“Further there will now be no friendly series on annual basis with Pakistan until an unconditional apology is received from Pakistan Hockey Federation on the uncouth and undesired behaviour of their athletes with spectators and media after the semi-finals on 13 December 2014,” he said.
As Pakistan edged past arch-rivals India 4-3 in a thrilling semi-final match at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar in India on Saturday, advancing to the final, team players removed their T-shirts to celebrate.
Pakistan team’s head coach Sheikh boycotted a press conference following objections over his team’s behaviour by Indian media.
Pakistan will face Germany in the final today, while Australia and India will play each other for the third place.

Champions Trophy: Pakistan celebrate India win with finger salute

Pakistani player flips out the middle finger aimed towards the Indian fans after their win
Pakistani players shamelessly hurled obscene gestures towards Indian fans and media after their win over India but no action will be taken against them as their coach Shahnaz Sheikh has apologised to the FIH for the incident.

Soon after their 4-3 win, Pakistani players went into a frenzy mode and started celebrating their victory in a wild fashion. They started dancing in jubilation.

They removed their shirts, used foul language and made obscene gestures including the finger salute towards the crowd and media, prompting their coach Shahnaz to come into action and take away his players.

Tournament Director Wiert Doyer then spoke to Pakistani camp and said International Hockey Federation (FIH) has accepted their apology.

"The celebration of the Pakistani team contained some behaviour that warranted further investigation by me as Tournament Director. As a result I have spoken to the Head Coach of the Pakistan team, Mr. Shahnaz Sheikh and told him that the behaviour of Pakistan players went beyond what is acceptable to standards of the FIH," Doyer said.

"The behaviour in question concerned many members of the Pakistan team. It is difficult to find any particular miscreant, and it is possible that the behaviour of the players may have been a reaction. Shahnaz Sheikh has apologised and assured me that this behaviour will not occur again. Given these matters, I've decided that no further action is warranted," Doyer added.

Their on-field antics prompted Pak coach to come into action and take away his players

The gestures of the Pakistani players infuriated every person present at the stadium.

Pakistan coach Shahnaz Sheikh was bound to feel the wrath of the media at the post-match press conference for his players' behavior but he went away by merely saying a sorry, which according to him was enough to settle the issue.

"I am not a politician I am a sportsperson, but I am sorry for this. They are youngsters and made a mistake in enthusiasm. I guess that's enough," Sheikh simply said and walked out of the conference hall evading further questions on the matter.

India captain Sardar Singh also denounced winners' celebration style.

"It doesn't look good because many families came to watch the match. Their celebration after the win was not appropriate. They deserved to win. Congratulations to them, but the way they celebrated by opening their shirt and making indecent gestures was not right. It sends a wrong message."

India's High Performance Director Roealt Oltmans said, "To be honest I didn't see much but it looked too much."

FIH bans two Pak players from today's hockey match

India government warned FIH of not hosting any international event in case of not taking the action.

BHUBANESWAR (Dunya News) - International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Sunday banned two Pakistani players, Amjad Ali and Muhammad Touseeq to play today s hockey match with Germany.

Earlier, FIH refused to take any action against Pakistani hockey team over the indecent gestures towards Indian spectators at the hockey stadium.

According to Pakistani hockey team coach Shahnaz Sheikh, the alleged hockey players Amjad Hussain, Shafqat Rasool and Muhammad Touseeq were presented before FIH and after watching the video of the match, FIH dismissed the Indian objection.

The head coach of Pakistani hockey team has also appologized over the profane gestures of Pakistani players and has assured to maintain respectful behavior ahead.

Further, Indian government on Sunday enraged over the success of Pakistan in Hockey Champions Trophy’s semi final and demanded FIH to take action against Pakistani hockey players who took off their shirts and did obscene gestures towards the Indian onlookers.

Indian government further warned FIH of not hosting any international event in case of not taking the action.

On the other hand, FIH has ignored the threats of India and has decided not to take any action against Pakistani players.

Also, Pakistan has defeated Indian by 4-3 in the semi-final of men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar, India. India was the first to score when Gurjinder slapped one into the nets in 11th minute. Pakistan failed to score only three minutes later on a penalty corner but succeeded to convert in the 16th minute of the game to level the match.

The two sides remained even till the end of the first half but immediately after the game was restarted in the third quarter, Muhammad Waqas scored to put Pakistan in the lead. Indians were quick to respond as Dharamvir scored to level the match again.

Irfan was the next to give Pakistan the lead and Nikkin was the next to level the scores yet again.

However, when Qadir scored for the fourth time into the India net, it was the goal that decided the fate of the match in Pakistan’s favour as India failed to score the equalizer one minute later on penalty corner.

No FIH event in India till Pakistan players are punished: Hockey India

PTI

Pakistan team members celebrate after beating India in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy hockey at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Saturday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Taking strong exception to FIH’s “weak” censure to Pakistani players for their obscene behaviour after beating India in the Champions Trophy semifinal, Hockey India on Sunday decided that it would not host any event sanctioned by the world body until strong punishment is handed out to the offenders.

The Pakistani players made obscene gestures towards Indian fans and media after their win last night but no action was taken against them by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) after their coach Shahnaz Sheikh offered an apology.

“It was a shameless and condemnable incident but the FIH took a very weak and feeble decision. It is not acceptable to us. We have made it clear to FIH that such sort of behaviour from sportspersons is not acceptable to Indians,” HI president Narinder Batra toldPTI from New Delhi.

“So we have decided not to host any FIH tournaments in India after the Women’s World League Round 3 scheduled in March, which includes the 2018 Men’s World Cup, if they don’t take any strong action against Pakistan,” he said.

Soon after their 4-3 win, Pakistani players went into frenzy and started celebrating their victory in a wild fashion. They removed their shirts, used foul language and made obscene gestures towards the crowd and media, prompting their coach Shahnaz to come into action and take away his players.

Tournament Director Wiert Doyer, who was asked to carry out an inquiry into the matter, then spoke to the Pakistani camp and said FIH has accepted their apology. But Batra said a mere apology is not enough.

“If FIH rules and regulations permit such uncivilized behaviour then they should hold their tournaments in any other country not India because Indian culture and values don’t permit such acts,” the HI chief said.

India and Pakistan were scheduled to resume their bilateral hockey series at a neutral venue in Dhaka soon, but Batra said India will not play any bilateral series with Pakistan after this incident.

“We have decided not to play any bilateral or trilateral series against Pakistan until and unless the Pakistan Hockey Federation gives an unconditional apology for this incident in writing,” he said.

The FIH also has to share the blame for the fiasco as they conducted a hurried investigation into the incident and came out with their views within hours.

“The celebration of the Pakistani team contained some behaviour that warranted further investigation by me as Tournament Director. As a result I have spoken to the Head Coach of the Pakistan team, Shahnaz Sheikh and told him that the behaviour of Pakistan players went beyond what is acceptable to standards of the FIH,” Tournament Director Doyer, who was in charge of the investigation, said in a statement last night.

“The behaviour in question concerned many members of the Pakistan team. It is difficult to find any particular miscreant, and it is possible that the behaviour of the players may have been a reaction. Shahnaz Sheikh has apologised and assured me that this behaviour will not occur again. Given these matters, I’ve decided that no further action is warranted,” he added.

UNESCO declares Indian National Anthem best in the world

A hoax email has resurfaced that claims that UNESCO has declared the Indian National Anthem Jana Gana Mana to be the best in the world. This email message has gone viral on Facebook and Whatsapp again. It appears to have first emerged in 2008, and again in 2012, before reappearing at the end of 2014. This message is believed to be fake and reports say that UNESCO has denied any such declaration on their part.

A Facebook page has also been created asking Indians to be proud because the Indian National Anthem has been declared the best in the world by UNESCO.

Jana Gana Mana is based on a Bengali-Sanskrit poem written by Rabindranath Tagore, India’s great poet and author of pre-Independence era who had also put his poem to tune.

The Indian National Anthem hoax email is in a series of online hoaxes, the recent ones being a fake picture of the baby of Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia just a few days ago, and also the fake photo of Aaradhya Bachchan – the daughter of Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan two years ago. Another fake was the beautiful Diwali lights photo clicked from space that emerged in 2011.

Eicher launches new generation buses in Pune

Following the launch of new gen Eicher Skyline Pro Series light duty buses in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the automaker has now launched this range in Pune

Commenting on the launch, Shyam Maller, Senior Vice-President, Sales, Marketing and Aftermarket, VECV, said, “The new generation Eicher Skyline Pro Series buses have been developed as per our philosophy of relevant modernisation to continuously improve transportation efficiency in India and developing world thereby reducing cost of people transportation and increased productivity.”VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has launched its new-generation Eicher Skyline Pro Series of light duty buses in Pune. The new buses aim to meet the demands of the emerging premium market segment while providing enhanced passenger safety and comfort.

Eicher Skyline Pro buses are available in school, staff and tourist variants. The seating capacity ranges from 36 to 60 high head rest and school bus seats as per the segment requirement. These buses have been equipped with the Eicher E-483 engine which the company claims has low maintenance and good fuel-efficiency. The automaker claims that the longer length and width of the buses offers best seating layout for passengers in the saloon area, higher seat pitch for more leg space, and a wider gangway. Parabolic suspension and radial tyres improve passenger and driver comfort, and tyre life.

Eicher Skyline Pro school buses also offer individual retractable seat belts for safety of children. The front engine buses have the lowest first step and floor height. 

The new Skyline Pro Range is being manufactured at Eicher’s Baggad plant in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.