he big name corporate sponsors of Indian sports are listed below:

Amount	Sponsor	Sport	Description
1,800 crore	Sahara	Cricket	Purchase of IPL team 'Pune Warriors'
500 crore	Sahara	Cricket	India Cricket Team Sponsor
500 crore	Sahara	Motor Sports	Purchase of Stake in Sahara Force India
100 crore	Nimbus Sports	Hockey	World Series Hockey event
100 crore	Hero MotoCorp	Various Sports	Annual Sports Budget (Cricket, Hockey Golf)
100 crore	JK Tyres	Motor Sports
50 crore	Airtel	Cricket	Advertisement Spending
50 crore	Nokia	Cricket	Advertisement Spending

The Hero Indian Open Golf carries prize money worth $1.25 million - the largest prize money for an open golf tournament in Asia.

World Series Hockey has the highest ever prize money announced for any hockey event in the world - 4 crore for the winner.

An astounding 200 brands associated with cricket's Indian Premier League in 2011.

Reliance and IMG have formed a joint venture to set up modern infrastructure and coaching facilities for sports, and to create and operate sporting events.

Photography by Matthias Correa of Argentina Hockey Confederation

wo 4-Nation Women's Hockey Tournaments were held in Argentina (Quilmes and Paraná) from December 7-18, 2011.

India finished 3rd in both the 4-nation tournaments, with the following results:

Venue	Stage	Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
Quilmes	League	Dec 7	Argentina 3 - India 2	Jaspreet Karu (18 min), PC Ritu Rani (25 min), PC
		Dec 8	Ireland 1 - India 0
		Dec 10	South Africa 3 - India 2	Anuradha Devi Thokchom (44 min-PC, 63 min)
	3rd vs. 4th	Dec 11	India 1 - Ireland 1 (4-2 Strokes)	Deep Grace Ekka (57 min), PC
Paraná	League	Dec 14	Argentina 3 - India 1	Rani Rampal (39 min)
		Dec 15	India 2 - Ireland 1	Anuradha Thokchom (6 min) Jaspreet Kaur (33 min)
		Dec 17	South Africa 2 - India 1	Jaspreet Kaur (38 min), PC
	3rd vs. 4th	Dec 18	India 4 - Ireland 1	Jaspreet Kaur (26 min), PC Anuradha Thokchom (58 min) Vandana Katariya (68 min) Preety Sunila Kiro (70 min), PC

Both the 4-nation tournaments were won by host nation Argentina, a country where women's hockey is a passion. The sold out crowd for the final at Paraná made deafening noises, chanting, singing, waving flags, bursting firecrackers, and beating drums incessantly, showing their support for Las Leonas (Lionesses) women's team. The gold medal match was telecast live on national television in Argentina.

In what will be a major concern for India, South Africa has won the last matches against India, giving them a big psychological advantage prior to the two teams meeting again in the Olympic Qualifier in Delhi in February.

The Indian team for the Argentina 4-nation touranments was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Yogeeta Bali, Savita Poonia

Defenders: Pinki Devi Thokchom, Jaspreet Kaur, Preety Sunila Kiro, P. Sushila Chanu

Midfielders: Asunta Lakra (captain), Kirandeep Kaur (vice captain), Ritu Rani, M. N. Ponnamma, Deep Grace Ekka, Rosalin Dung Dung

Forwards: Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Rani Rampal, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Lilima Minz, M. Lily Chanu

Officials: C. Raj Kumar (chief coach), Tingongleima Chanu (assistant coach), Sumrai Tete (assistant coach), Sudershan Pathak (manager)

he 1st Hockey India Jr. Men's National Hockey Championship was held at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, from December 11-22, 2011. The tournament was organised by Maharashtra Hockey, which is affiliated to Hockey India.

28 teams from all over India, grouped into 8 pools, participated in the junior nationals. Hariyana and Orissa reached the final of the championship, with the following results:

Stage	Date	Hariyana	Date	Orissa
Pool	Dec 15	beat Mizoram
	Dec 17	beat Andhra Pradesh	Dec 15	beat Andaman & Nicobar
	Dec 18	beat Gujarat 17-0	Dec 16	beat Delhi 8-0
Quarter-final	Dec 19	beat Madhya Pradesh 5-3	Dec 19	beat Karnataka 5-2
Semi-final	Dec 21	beat Jharkhand 5-3	Dec 21	beat Punjab 4-2
Final	Dec 22	beat Odisha 2-2 (3-2 via Penalty Shootout)

The final saw the introduction for the first time of the new penalty shootout format, wherein a player starts from the 30-yard line with the goalkeeper under the bar and 8 seconds to beat.

Punjab beat Jharkhand 6-1 to finish third.

The following were the tournament awards:

• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Subodh Tirkey (Odisha)
• Defender of the Tournament: Kiro Xess (Jharkhand)
• Midfielder of the Tournament: Pardeep Mor (Haryana)
• Forward of the Tournament: Manish Rana (Hariyana)
• Player of the Tournament: Mandeep Singh (Punjab) - the highest goal scorer
• Fairplay Trophy: Mizoram
  
  

he 7th Sub Jr. Men's National Hockey Championship was held at Gurgaon, Hariyana, from December 15-21, 2011. The tournament was organised under the aegis of Hockey India.

9 teams grouped into 2 pools participated in the sub junior men's nationals. Orissa and host Hariyana reached the final of the championship, with the following results:

Stage	Date	Orissa	Date	Hariyana
Pool	Dec 15	vs. Chattisgadh	Dec 15	vs. Himachal Pradesh
	Dec 17	vs. Karnataka	Dec 17	vs. Tamil Nadu
	Dec 18	vs. Punjab	Dec 18	vs. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy
			Dec 19	vs. Bihar
Semi-final	Dec 20	vs. ?	Dec 20	vs. ?
Final	Dec 21	beat Hariyana 1-0

Champions Orissa also won two of the tournament awards - Defender of the Tournament (Ananda Lakra) and Midfielder of the Tournament (Kunjan Toppo).

Photograph courtesy Stick2Hockey.com

he Hockey India Sub Jr. Women's National Hockey Championship was held in Rajnandgaon, Chattisgadh, from December 15-21, 2011.

8 teams grouped into 2 pools participated in the sub junior women's nationals. Hariyana and Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy reached the final of the championship, with the following results:

Stage	Date	Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (MPHA)	Hariyana
Pool	Dec 15	vs. Hariyana	vs. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy
	Dec 16	vs. Bihar	vs. Tamil Nadu
	Dec 18	vs. Tamil Nadu	vs. Bihar
Semi-final	Dec 19	vs. ??	vs. ??
Final	Dec 21	beat Hariyana 2-1

Orissa finished third by beating Karnataka 3-1.

The following were the tournament awards:

• Player of the Final: Preeti Patel (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy)
• Player of the Tournament: Navneet Kaur (Hariyana)
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Sandhya K.K. (Karnataka)
• Defender of the Tournament: Jyoti Dahiya (Hariyana)
• Midfielder of the Tournament: Shyama Tidgam (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy)
• Forward of the Tournament: Birajini Ekka (Orissa)
• Fairplay Trophy: Tamil Nadu
  
  

he Photograph of the Month for January 2012 is of penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh.

In this Olympic year, a lot will be riding on young Sandeep Singh's shoulders, to ensure that India wins the Olympic Qualifier at home in Delhi, and does well at the London Olympics.

Assisting Sandeep in this task will be fellow penalty corner specialists V. Raghunath and Rupinderpal Singh. For the year 2011, Sandeep, Raghunath and Rupinderpal were among the top 5 goal scorers for India.

he inaugural World Series Hockey tournament that will take place in February 2012 will be offering the highest ever prize money for any hockey event in the world.

Prize Money Category	Amount ()	Amount ($)
World Series Hockey (WSH) Champion	4 crore	$7,70,000
WSH Runner Up	2 crore	$3,85,000
WSH 3rd placed Team	1 crore	$1,92,000
WSH 4th placed Team	1 crore	$1,92,000
WSH Most Valuable Player	1 crore	$1,92,000
WSH Best Indian Player	50 lakh	$96,000
WSH Highest Goal Scorer	25 lakh	$48,000
WSH Game Changer/Impact Player	25 lakh	$48,000
WSH Rookie of the Year	10 lakh	$19,000
TOTAL	10.1 crore	$1.95 million

A release by the organisers stated, "The champion team in WSH stands to win almost 30 times more prize money as compared to the Euro Hockey League, the leading domestic hockey league in Europe. All WSH franchises have committed to sharing a minimum of 50% of their team winnings with the players."

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

new movie scheduled for release in late 2012 - Kumizhi - by noted writer and director Rathikka, has our national game hockey as the backdrop. Throwing light on the story, Ratthika says, "The film is about hockey. The script revolves around life on one street where all the young residents are aware of the nuances of hockey, and are passionate about the game. The entire film has been shot in and around Peravurani in Thanjavur."

Rathikka said that says that though some Tamil films had been made in the past about sports, no Tamil film has come out with hockey as the backdrop. A huge lush-green ground was chosen as the hockey playing venue. 9 different cameras were used to capture the action on the field.

The female lead in Kumizhi is a Tamil-speaking girl Uma; and a bunch of newcomer boys are making their foray as hockey players. The producer of the film is Ravindran of Siva Vishnu Films, while Kannan, of Tamizh Padam fame, is composing the music.

Says Ravindran, "I had finished a course in Film Institute but was looking after my family business of agriculture, when Rathika narrated the script to me. I was very impressed and found the money to invest in the film, and also play a significant role in the film."

Rathika says "The script deals with what happens when the dream of the players to achieve big turns haywire. The film would remain a testimony to the sporting skills of the village youths, who are mostly neglected when it comes to selecting the national team in various sports."

he January 2012 Visitor of the Month is Dr. Shibu Varghese from Kerala, who wrote the following to BharatiyaHockey.org:

I am an Orthopaedic Surgeon (Assistant Professor) from Kerala, India. I am a member of Indian Association of Sports Medicine, and recently completed my Team Physician course conducted by the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine.

I am also a member of the BCCI anti-doping panel as a representative from Kerala. I would like to offer my services in sports medicine to the Indian hockey team, and be part of their medical support team.

Thanks, Dr. Shibu Varghese, Tiruvalla, Kerala

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

he January 2012 edition of Fun with Numbers is on Indian men's and women's team records in international tournaments in 2011.

INDIAN MEN'S TEAM RECORD (2011)

Tournament	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Rank
Champions Challenge I	6	4	1	1	29	17	2
Asian Champions Trophy (* won in TB)	6	2	0	4*	15	8	1
Hockey Australia Challenge Cup	4	0	2	2	7	17	4
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup	7	2	4	1	16	19	6
TOTAL	23	8	7	8	67	61

• The Indian men's team played a mere 23 internationals in 2011 - that works out to a poor average of 2 internationals per month.
  
• The Indian men won only 35% of the internationals they played in, and only 25% of the tournaments they participated in - that would be a D grade performance for year 2011.
  
• The top 5 men's scorers in 2011 were Rupinderpal Singh (12), S. V. Sunil (8), Sandeep Singh (7), Danish Mujtaba (6), and Gurvinder Singh Chandi, V. Raghunath and Yuvraj Valmeeki (5 each).

INDIAN WOMEN'S TEAM RECORD (2011)

Tournament	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Rank
Champions Challenge I	6	2	3	1	11	8	7
Asian Champions Trophy	4	0	4	0	3	16	4
4-Nation Tournament (Quilmes)	4	0	3	1	5	8	3
4-Nation Tournament (Parana)	4	2	2	0	8	7	3
4-Test Series with Australia	4	1	2	1	5	10	L
TOTAL	22	5	14	3	32	49

• The Indian women's team played a mere 22 internationals in 2011 - that works out to a poor average of 2 internationals per month.
  
• The Indian women won only 23% of the internationals they played in, and 0% of the tournaments/series they participated in - that would be graded a resounding failure for 2011.
  
• The top 5 women's scorers in 2011 were Saba Anjum (5), Jaspreet Kaur and Vandana Katariya (4 each), Rani Rampal and Anuradha Thokchom (3 each).