Gurjinder Singh after scoring a goal against Argentina, Photograph courtesy Stanislas Brochier

he Hero Men's Junior World Cup for the Roger Danet Trophy, was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi from December 6-15, 2013. This was the last major FIH tournament of the year.

16 countries participated in the Men's Junior World Cup, and were grouped into 4 pools as follows:

• Pool A: Germany, Belgium, Pakistan, Egypt
• Pool B: Australia, Spain, Argentina, France
• Pool C: Netherlands, South Korea, India, Canada
• Pool D: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia

All the frustrating inconsistencies that plague Indian hockey were in full display in the tournament.

Foreign Coaches, Foreign Tours, Failure at Home

Despite being trained by foreign coaches for over last four years, Indian hockey has not shown any improvement. From José Brasa to Michael Nobbs to Roelant Oltmans to Gregg Clark, Indian hockey is still struggling at the world level. India finished 12th in the 2012 London Olympics - their lowest ever position. India finished 10th in the 2013 Men's Junior World Cup - their lowest ever position. What value addition are the foreign coaches providing?

The Indian junior men's team had the best possible preparation under some of the world's top coaches and support staff, and a preparatory stretch that ought to have sharpened them enough for the global competition. The venue was home. Granted the coaches need more time, but there wasn't even some incremental improvement - India finished lower (10th) than their previous worst position (9th).

Olympian Ajitpal Singh summed it up, "The Indian team was pathetic in the entire tournament. Our goalkeeping was poor. Same was the case with defence - we gave a lot of open spaces to the opponents to come and attack. Forwards missing goal scoring chances was another area of concern."

Money for Nothing

A Sports Authority of India official expressed his disappointment with India's performance in the Men's Junior World Cup. "We have increased the total budget for hockey from 10 crore to 20 crore this year, of which 4.5 crore is for coach salaries alone. To see India finishing 10th is disappointing considering the money spent."

Indian captain Manpreet Singh is a millionaire hockey player; he scored 0 goals in the tournament. Ramandeep Singh secured the highest bid of USD 81,000 (approximately 50 lakh) in the Hockey India League closed-bid auction; he scored only 2 goals, that too only after India failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

In contrast to India's millionaire hockey players, Canadian players had to play $5000 each in order to represent their country in the Men's Junior World Cup. Similar was the case with the South African hockey players. Neither India, South Africa and Canada qualified for the quarter-finals. With all the money the Indian players earn and all the facilities that the Indian Government provides, it was expected that they would qualify for the top half of the knockout stage (quarter-finals), rather than get clubbed with Canada and South Africa in the bottom half.

The Difference between Germany and India

Germany lost their first game of the Men's Junior World Cup, rebounded, and won every remaining game to win the tournament. India also lost its first game, won only half of its remaining games, and ended up 10th in the tournament.

The German squad was the youngest of all 16 teams. In fact, 5 of the German players were part of the u-18 squad. India had the most experienced side of all the 16 teams. participating in the tournament. Yet Germany finished 1st and India 10th.

Germany and India both played Pakistan in the tournament. While Germany whipped Pakistan by a tennis score 6-1, India only managed a 1-1 draw, before losing in strokes. Germany and India both played Netherlands in the tournament. While Germany slammed 5 goals in their 5-3 victory, India could only manage 2 goals in their 2-3 loss to the same team.

Player of the Tournament Christopher Rühr of Germany alone scored more goals in the tournament (9) than the goals scored by the entire Indian forward line of Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Talvinder Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh (6 goals)

Germany is the only European team to have won the Men's Junior World Cup. No other European team - including the likes of Netherlands, England, Spain and others - have even won the Junior Men's World Cup. Germany have entered the final of the Men's Junior World Cup 6 times, and won the tournament all 6 times. The difference between Germany and India is just too vast to bridge.

Last In Asia

Forget Germany/Europe, India is not even top in Asia at the junior level. Four Asian countries participated in the 2013 Men's Junior World Cup. India finished last among these four Asian countries in the tournament.

There are 27 hockey academies in India, where trainees get to learn hockey full-time with all expenses paid. South Korea does not have a single hockey academy. Yet India could not defeat South Korea in the do-or-die pool match, despite leading 3-1 till the 58th minute.

FIH president Leandro Negre said, "The Indian team is not mentally strong. They could not win a crucial match against South Korea despite leading 3-1 till late in the second half. Teams like Germany or Netherlands or Australia would not have drawn a must-win match from that stage."

India came a miserable 10th in the Men's Junior World Cup, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Result	Goals Scorers - India
Pool	Dec 6	Netherlands 3 - India 2	Gurjinder Singh (13 min), PC Akashdeep Singh (42 min)
	Dec 8	India 3 - Canada 2	Mandeep Singh (30 min), PC Akashdeep Singh (57 min) Gurjinder Singh (69 min), PC
	Dec 10	India 3 - South Korea 3	Gurjinder Singh (32 min, 35 min), both PCs Mandeep Singh (45 min)
9-12 Placing	Dec 12	India 4 - Argentina 2	Ramandeep Singh (4, 31 min) Amit Rohidas (7 min), PC Gurjinder Singh (40 min), PC
9-10 Placing	Dec 14	Pakistan 1 - India 1 (4-2)	Gurjinder Singh (66 min), PC

The final standings of the 2013 Men's Junior World Cup were: 1 - Germany, 2 - France, 3 - Netherlands, 4 - Malaysia, 5 - Australia, 6 - Belgium, 7 - New Zealand, 8 - South Korea, 9 - Pakistan, 10 - India, 11 - Argentina, 12 - South Africa, 13 - Spain, 14 - England, 15 - Egypt, 16 - Canada

The following were the tournament awards

• Player of the Final: Niklas Wellen (Germany)
• Player of the Tournament: Christopher Rühr (Germany)
• Top Scorer of the Tournament: Christopher Rühr (Germany), 9 goals
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Edgar Raynaud (France)
• Goal of the Tournament: Jean-Laurent Kieffer (France) - vs. Argentina, 3rd French goal (48th min)

The tournament was telecast live on Ten Sports in the Indian subcontinent. All New Zealand games from the Men's Junior World Cup were shown live on Sky Sport. In South Africa, SuperSport 6 and 7 showed 34 of the total 44 matches live.

The Indian team that finished its lowest-ever 10 position in the Men's Junior World Cup was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Sushant Tirkey, Harjyot Singh

Defenders: Gurjinder Singh, Khadangbam Kothajeet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Pardeep Mor, Sukhmanjeet Singh, Surendar Kumar

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (captain), Satbeer Singh, Harjeet Singh, Imran Khan, Prabhdeep Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Talvinder Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh

Officials: Gregg Clark (Coach), Baljeet Singh Saini (Manager), Dhananjay Mahadik (Video Analyst)

File photo of empty stands at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium

he Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi has a capacity of 16,000 fans, but for a major duration of the Junior World Cup, not more than 100 paying fans (at ticket price of 50) turned up at the stadium - even when hosts India were playing.

On the other side of the world, the Women's Hockey World League was held in San Miguel de Tucman, Argentina, around the same time as the Men's Junior World Cup in Delhi. In stark contrast to the sparse crowds in Delhi, the concluding weekend of the Women's World Hockey League was watched by capacity crowds. Every single ticket in the 6000-seater stadium was purchased for the final two days of the tournament in Tucuman.

Lack of enthusiasm from the organizers, be it FIH or Hockey India, to publicise the event was conspicuous for its total absence.

Even the event broadcaster Ten Sports did not do any pre-tournament publicity on their channel, obsessed as the channel is with foreign-hosted sports.

There were no event publicity in the official hotel, The Lalit. The vendors in the ground floor lobby of the hotel had no idea that the World Cup being held in the city, and the players were staying at the hotel.

There were no billboards on the streets of Delhi, no posters on the walls. There was no celebrity appointed as the brand ambassador for the tournament to give more visibility to the event. No publicity drive was carried out in the colleges, universities and schools of Delhi.

FIH chief Leandro Negre gave an indirect rap on the knuckles to Hockey India secretary Batra and Hockey India CEO Elena Norman by saying: "I am not satisfied with the audience figures in the Junior Hockey World Cup, and we have to find a solution. For future tournaments in India, the organisers have to be proactive before the tournament, like distributing free tickets to schools and colleges, or offering a free cold drink or tea along with the ticket."

Narendra Batra deftly deflected blame from Hockey India to the Delhi Government, stating, "We could put the tickets on sale just one week before the Men's Junior World Cup started, because the Delhi Government gave us permission only at the eleventh hour, inspite of us applying for the same in September. We pay 14 lakh as rent for the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, but still face obstacles. We had issues with the Sports Authority of India regarding movement of equipment, and the Delhi police always harass us. I sometimes wonder if the Delhi government is anti-sports. If the rest of my Hockey India Board supports me, I would not like to bring any hockey event to Delhi after January's Hockey World League final."

Based on article by Mufeed Mahdi Rizvi, courtesy Mumbai Mirror

here are over 60 universities in the West Zone, but still there were no takers to host the 2013 West Zone Inter-University hockey championship.

Association of Indian Universities (AIU) Joint Secretary Gurdeep Singh confirmed the crisis to Mumbai Mirror. "We are aware of the problem, but we cannot force anyone to take up the event. We don't know the reason, whether there is financial constraint, lack of infrastructure or manpower that has caused this. Top universities in the West Zone like Mumbai, Baroda, Nagpur, Gvalior come forward to host these events, but I am sure there must have been unavoidable circumstances that has led to this crisis"

University hockey players are upset. "We don't get to play too many tournaments in hockey. And it's the inter-zonal tournaments that give us the opportunity to gain experience. If even the zonals are not held, it is disappointing," a hockey player said.

Mumbai University's sports director Uttam Kendre said his university cannot play the saviour every time. "We hosted both the West Zone and All-India inter-university hockey championship in 2011. We cannot host it this year," Kendre said.

It is not clear where the 2013 West Zone inter-university hockey was finally held, if at all.

The 2013 All-India Inter-University Hockey Championship, held in Anantpur, was won by Bengaluru University, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Bengaluru University Match Result
South Zone Final		beat Bharatidasan University 3-0
All India Inter-Zonal League		lost to Vir Bahdur Singh Purvanchal University 1-3
		beat Shivaji University 3-1
		beat Rashtra Sant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University 2-1
		beat Kurukshetra University 1-0
All India Inter-Zonal Quarter-final		beat Punjab University 2-0
All India Inter-Zonal Semi-final	Dec 20	beat Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth 1-0
All India Inter-Zonal Final	Dec 21	beat Vir Bahdur Singh Purvanchal University 3-1

Bengaluru University were All India Inter-University hockey champions in 1969, 1986, 1988 1990, 1991 and now 2013.

Bengaluru University has also won 18 consecutive South Zone Inter-University hockey titles from 1980 to 1998, in addition to wins in 2008 and now 2013.

Striker Basavaraj of Bengaluru University sizzled with eight goals to emerge as the Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament.

Bengaluru University Vice-Chancellor B. Thimme Gowda and registrar K. K. Seethamma expressed happiness over the hockey team's title triumph. "I am elated. We have arranged a get-together where the team will be honoured." The university is planning to present a sum of 10,000 to each of the players.

Uttar Pradesh Wizards players V. R. Raghunath and S. K. Uthappa in Varanasi

tar Sports, the official broadcaster of the Hero Hockey India League, shot a nationwide ad campaign featuring all 6 league franchises in iconic places in their region. This is part of the marketing blitz that Star Sports plans to launch to promote Hero Hockey India League, which starts from January 25, 2014.

The franchises and their respective ad campaign location are shown in the table below.

Team	Ad Campaign Location	Players Featured
Dabur Mumbai Magicians	Mumbai Local Train
Delhi Wave Riders	Jantar Mantar	Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh
Jaypee Punjab Warriors	Golden Temple	Jamie Dwyer, Sandeep Singh, S. V. Sunil
Kalinga Lancers	Puri Beach	Prabodh Tirkey, Dileep Tirkey, Mohammad Amir Khan
Ranchi Rhinos	Dassan Falls, Jharkhand	Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh
Uttar Pradesh Wizards	Varanasi	V. R. Raghunath, S. K. Uthappa

Star Sports is shooting the marketing campaign to build team affinity and local pride. The campaign will show star players of each team showcasing their hockey skills, with the most iconic location of the city/region serving as the backdrop.

In the associated press release, Juju Basu, Head of Communications for Sports Business, Star India, said, "The core idea behind the campaign is to get India's hockey playing regions to celebrate the game that has been a part of their culture for decades. The campaign is based out of the regions that the teams are from, using iconic backdrops and elements from their hockey heritage."

Punjab National Bank vs. Bharatiya Khaadya Nigam (FCI) in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament

he 24th Lal Bahadur Shastri men's hockey tournament was held from December 28 to January 3, 2014 at Shivaji Stadium in Delhi.

The 9 participating teams in the tournament were ONGC, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF), Punjab National Bank, Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF), Rail Dibba Karkhana (RCF), Bharatiya Khaadya Nigam (FCI) and Jai Bharat Hockey Academy.

Defending champions Air India were not part of the competition due to a schedule clash with the Scindia Gold Cup in Gwalior, in which they were participating.

The tournament was played in a league-cum-knockout format. Last year's runner up Bharat Petroleum and Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF) reached the final of the tournament, with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Bharat Petroleum	Date	Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF)
Pool	Dec 30	beat ONGC 3-1	Dec 28	beat Jai Bharat Hockey Academy
	Jan 1	vs. Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF)	Jan 1	vs. Bharat Petroleum
Semi-final	Jan 2	beat Bharatiya Vayu Sena 4-2		beat Rail Dibba Karkhana (RCF) 2-2 (5-4)
Final	Jan 3	beat Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF) 7-4

The winning team was awarded a cash prize of 2 lakh, while the runner up was awarded 1 lakh.

Aamir Khan of Bharat Petroleum was the Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament, with 7 goals and was awarded an Electric Scooty. Michael Barla of Kendriya Reserve Police Bal (CRPF) was chosen as the Player of the Tournament and was awarded 11,000. FCI won the Fairplay Trophy.

Photograph courtesy Balbir Singh Greval (Railways)

he Photograph of the Month for January 2014 is of the first Indian team to win the Asian Games hockey gold medal. This was achieved in the 1966 Asian Games held in Bangkok.

The players in the photograph are:

Seated (L to R): V. J. Peter, Prithipal Singh, Haripal Kaushik, Randhir Singh Gentle (coach), Inder Mohan Mahajan (manager), Shankar Lakshman (goalkeeper, captain), Gurbaksh Singh, Mohinder Lal, Harbinder Singh

Standing (L to R): N. Toppo, Balbir Singh (Punjab), Dharam Singh, Tarsem Singh, Balbir Singh (Services), Jagdeep Singh, Jagjeet Singh, Inder Singh, Balbir Singh (Railways), Harmeek Singh, A. L. Frank

The photograph was taken by the Delhi Photo Company.

n the 2013 Men's Junior World Cup held in Delhi, the following was the prize money awarded, courtesy sponsor Hero.

Player	Country
100,000	Hero Player of the Tournament
50,000	Hero Top Scorer of the Tournament
12,000	Hero Man of the Match (quarter-finals onwards)

The same player - Christopher Rühr of Germany - won both the Hero Player of the Tournament as well as the Hero Top Scorer of the Tournament awards.

Article and Photography by Dil Bahra, courtesy National Hockey Museum

eteran hockey writer Patrick John Phillip Rowley turned 80 years on 1st December, 2013. One of the most senior hockey writers in the world, Pat has been involved with hockey since he first played for Hounslow in 1948 and reported for the Middlesex Chronicle, his local newspaper, on the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Pat then joined the Guardian newspaper in 1950 as a tea boy, and worked his way up to become the paper's hockey correspondent for over 40 years. In an eventful career, Pat has reported for the Guardian, Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Telegraph and Observer.

Pat has reported on every Olympics since 1948, and has reported all twelve World Cups to date. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, Pat achieved a unique double of covering his second London Olympics - 64 years after his first.

Pat was the founder member and editor of the FIH Newsletter in 1969, and editor of World Hockey magazine from June 1969 to April 1991. He was awarded FIH order of merit in 1987.

he January 2014 Visitor of the Month is Vinayak Ram, who wrote the following to BharatiyaHockey.org.

I am Vinayak from Chennai and I work as an assistant director in documentary films. Some weeks back I started reading "Olympics - The India Story" by Boria Majumdar. The book has information about the history of Indian sport and Olympics.

While reading the book I got an interest towards Indian hockey and its golden years. Could you please let me know of other books about Indian hockey, and the source from where I can obtain them. Thank you for your help.

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

he January 2014 edition of Fun with Numbers is on the inaugural Hero Men's Hockey World League (HWL) Final, which will be held in the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi from January 10-18, 2014. This will be the first event of the FIH in the new year.

The win-loss records of the 8 participating countries in the Men's HWL is given in the table below. Countries marked with an asertisk had to go through 2 rounds of HWL qualifiers (11 matches), while the remaining (higher ranked) countries went through only 1 round of HWL qualifier (6 matches) in order to reach the HWL final.

	Rank	Country	Rank	P	W	L	D
	1	Germany	1	6	5	0	1
	2	Australia	2	6	4	1	1
	3	Netherlands	3	6	4	1	1
	4	England	4	6	3	1	2
	5	Belgium*	5	11	9	0	2
	7	New Zealand	7	6	2	2	2
	10	India*	10	11	6	2	3
	11	Argentina*	11	11	9	1	1

6th-ranked South Korea and joint-8th-ranked Pakistan and Spain did not qualify for the HWL final.