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| Hockey in India | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Premier Hockey League: The Premier Hockey League (PHL) is a new domestic field hockey competition introduced in 2005, in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad Sultans while in 2006 won this competition, whereas the Bangalore Lions defeated Chandigarh Dynamos to emerge victorious. The tournament is initiated to revive the interest in the sport .The league is made up of two groups, each consisting of five teams. The format is revolutionary and encompasses many innovations such as shorter games, a theme song, and a television friendly format. The Premier Hockey League (PHL) is a joint project of ESPN-Star Sports, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Leisure Sports Management and is modeled on the U.S. NBA league.
The PHL is made up of ten teams divided into two tiers, the Premier Division and the First Division. The league follows a round-robin format with all teams playing each other twice. The PHL incorporates a slew of innovations to make the games more exciting and spectator friendly. The participating teams sport fancy names and boast of foreign players in their ranks. Instead of normal 70-minute hockey games with two sessions, the PHL games have four sessions each of 17.5 minutes. Teams can take time-outs to chalk out new strategies to deal with emerging situations. The Teams participating in this competition are: The Rules of Hockey  The game is played between two teams of eleven players (five reserve) each, on a 100 × 60 yard (91.4 m × 55 m) rectangular field. At each end, there is a goal 7 feet (2.14 m) high and 12 feet (3.66 m) wide and a semi-circle 16 yards (14.63 m) from the goal known as the shooting circle (or D or arc), with a dotted line 5 yards (5 m) from the semi-circle, as well as lines across the field 25 yards (22.9 m) from each end-line and in the center of the field. A spot, called the penalty spot or stroke mark, is placed 7 yards (6.4 m) from the center of each goal. The objective of both the teams is to play the ball into the goal, which will score them a point, and also to prevent the opponents from scoring a goal. The team with more goals after two 35-minute halves wins the game.
The game begins with a toss of a coin and the winning captain can choose a starting end or start with the ball. The game time is divided into two equal halves of 35 minutes each, with five minutes for half time. At the start of each half, as well as after goals are scored; play is started with a pass from the centre of the field. All players must start in their defensive half, but the ball may be played in any direction. Each team starts with the ball in one half, and the team that conceded the goal has possession for the restart. Field players may only play the ball with the face of the stick. Tackling is permitted as long as the tackler does not make contact with the attacker or his stick before playing the ball (contact after the tackle may also be penalized if the tackle was made from a position where contact was inevitable). Further, the player with the ball may not deliberately use his body to push a defender out of the way. When the ball passes over the sidelines, it is returned to play with a sideline hit, taken by a member of the team whose players were not the last to touch the ball before crossing the sideline. If it crosses the back-line after last touched by an attacker, a 15 m hit. A 15 m hit is also awarded for offenses committed by the attacking side within 15 m of the end of the pitch they are attacking.  A hockey team essentially comprises of one Goalkeeper, forwards, midfielders and defenders. The midfielders are referred to as halves and the defenders as backs in some countries. The forwards are those in the attacking circle, whose job is to score goals, the midfielders/halves, get the ball from the defenders and pass it to the forwards, and the defenders prevent the opposing team from scoring. The goalkeeper is the final guardian of the goal post and he tries to save the goal at the last minute. The forwards are further divided as to right in, left in, right out, left out and centre forward. The configuration depends upon the team, though many begin the game with 5 forwards, 3 halves and 2 defenders. This may even change during the course of the game, if the opponent is a little weak, there may be more attacking forwards; or if a considerable lead has been achieved and if the opposition is showing signs of a sudden comeback, it will be wise to strengthen the defence to fight off the rest of the match.
Terms in Hockey Free Hits: Free hits are awarded when offences are committed outside the scoring circles. The ball may be hit or pushed once in any direction by the team awarded the free hit. Long Corner: A long corner is awarded if the ball goes outside the back-line after being touched by a defender. Long corners are given to the attacking team, which is a free hit on the sideline 5 m from the corner of the field closest to where the ball went out of play. Short Corner: The short or penalty corner is a rather complicated set play that is awarded to the attacking team, when any offence is committed by the defenders in the defensive circle, and they may also be awarded when a deliberate offence is committed in the defending 23 m area, or when the defending team deliberately plays the ball over the back line. Short corners begin with five defenders (including the keeper) arranged along the back-line. All other defending team players must return to the centre line until the ball is in play. Attacking players begin the play standing outside the scoring circle, except for one attacker who starts the corner by playing the ball from a mark 10 m either side of the goal This player puts the ball into play by pushing or hitting the ball to the other attackers outside the circle; the ball must pass outside the circle before the attackers attempt to get a shot or deflection into the goal. Penalty Stroke: A penalty stroke is awarded when defenders commit a deliberate foul in the circle, which results in the attacker losing control over the ball, or which prevented the scoring of a goal. A penalty stroke is also awarded if defenders repeatedly start to run from the back-line before a penalty corner has started. This penalty pits a single attacker against the goalkeeper, and is taken from a spot 6.4 m out and directly in front of the goal. India and World Cup Hockey In Sharp contrast to the stunning Olympic record, India has, so far, just a solitary victory in World cup history, and the performance of the current team is not very encouraging either. Nevertheless, it would be worthwhile in going back to the past, to the glorious victories in the semi finals and finals of the world cup 1975, a result of several dazzling performances. Indian Hockey Players No other sports person from any other sport, has been glorified to the extent which Indian legends have been glorified; the game of hockey, however is an exception to this rule. Though these players have brought fame and name to India, they yet are struggling to make a decent fortune for themselves, since the hockey scene in India is in a pathetic state. However, with some legends like Dhyan Chand, to recent few like Dhanraj Pillay and Gagan Ajit Singh, the Indian hockey team has faced a lot of recognition lately. Hockey in Olympics Hockey made its appearance in the Olympics for the first time; during the1908 Summer Olympics, held in London. In 1928, Olympic games were held at Amsterdam and 14 countries participated. In their very first appearance the Indians made a great impression and reached the final where they defeated Holland 3-0. Entering the Olympic games in 1928, India won all five of its games without conceding a goal, and went on to win in 1932 until 1956, and then in 1964 and 1980. | |||||||||||||||||||
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The game of Hockey is played widely across India. It is very popular and is played by both men and women. The origins of the game can be traced back to the earliest civilizations of the world. The rules of hockey are very similar to the rules of football except that players must use sticks instead of their feet to play the ball.