| Pargat’s IHL?
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Pargat Singh held a press conference in Chandigarh and said: “A parallel body will definitely promote the game in the right perspective. Indian hockey needs a sponsor and funds to rejuvenate hockey at grass root level.”
The parallel body that Pargat, former Indian captain and full back, was advocating was the set-up of an Indian Hockey League. Inspiration is coming in fast from the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
It’s a great idea and ‘if’ implemented would actually help Indian hockey.
But in a fast shrinking sports advertising market where every advertiser runs to cricket irrespective of whether India loses in the World Cup or beats a second grade England team, marketing hockey is like asking KPS Gill to understand hockey.
But the big question remains – conducting a press conference was easy but how would Pargat start an Indian Hockey League? Who would pump in the money? Which television channel would show the matches Live? Where would the players come from? And, yet again, are we talking of big money; big overseas players….a lot of questions and in the following days, answers forthcoming if at all they get answered.
Unlike, the Cricket Board, the Indian Hockey Federation, has said that they would welcome anyone starting an Indian Hockey League. The reasons to the generosity are simple: Nobody (read sponsor) would come in if the Indian Hockey Federation was organizing an Indian Hockey League. Of course, you would argue that the PHL is the IHF’s baby. But the ESPN of today is a lot different than the one that did the deal with IHF, a few years back. Today, ESPN-Star Sports has cricket and they really wouldn’t bother a lot if they didn’t get hockey. On the contrary, they would be eyeing football in a big way.
Pargat’s intentions are simple and clear. He wants to do something big with hockey. The only hassle is that he needs like-minded people who have a vision and are clear where hockey should be in five-ten years time. Most of the people who surround Pargat are hangers-on and want to bask in his glory and ultimately cut a slice of the cake if baked.
It’s not some NASA code that we are unable to decipher as to why in 12 years of Gill being in power, Indian hockey has never got a long-term sponsor. Most sponsor’s would keep their money in low interest fixed deposits than see it burn through IHF’s hands.
The Indian Hockey League should have started in 2006 if the IHF had any kind of vision. At the moment, what we need is not an Indian Hockey League but a league that would transform sub-junior hockey in the country. We need an elite schools tournament. By elite, I mean a top class league where every zone sends their best four schools to play in the All-India Finals. That would ensure a feeder system that could feed the juniors with the best turning out for the country. Once you have started that, the next step is to begin the club system for the Premier Hockey League.
To do all this, Pargat needs a Subhash Chandra to bankroll it. Nobody is naïve to think that Subhash Chandra is this die-hard fan of cricket. The Zee-boss is a businessman who at the end of the day wants to make money. Hockey also needs a Subhash Chandra. The sad part is that even Pargat doesn’t know where to find one.
| Schedule |
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Final Standings :
1. India
2. S Korea
3. Malaysia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. Bangladesh
8. Hong Kong
9. Sri Lanka
10. Singapore
11. Thailand
Sunday's Matches  |
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| TEAM A | TEAM B | Playoff | TIME | RESULT | |||
| S Lanka | SPore | 9/10 | 08:00 | 6-0 | |||
| Ban | HKG | 7/8 | 07:00 | 3-1 | |||
| China | Pak | 5/6 | 09:30 | 3-2 | |||
| Malaysia | Japan | 3/4 | 16:00 | 5-3 | |||
| India | S Korea | 1/2 | 18:30 | 7-2 | |||
|
Saturday's Matches |
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| TEAM A | v | TEAM B | TIME | RESULT | |||
| Singapore | v | Thailand | 08:00 | 4-0 | |||
| Pak | v | Ban | 07:00 | 10-0 | |||
| China | v | HongKong | 09:30 | 6-1 | |||
| S Korea | v | Malaysia | 17:00 | 2-1 | |||
| India | v | Japan | 19:30 | 4-1 | |||
|
SCORE TABLE |
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| POOL A | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Malaysia SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 10 | |
| Japan SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 9 | |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 3 | |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 0 | ||
| POOL B | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| India SF | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 15 | ||
| S Korea SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 10 |
| China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 6 | 10 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 6 | |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 46 | 3 | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 0 | ||
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 A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, more |
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