PHF recommends Sohail for Pride of Performance award

Pakistan Hockey Federation has recommended the name of Olympian Sohail Abbas for President’s Award for Pride of Performance 2013. “He has played hockey for almost 18 years in the national team, which is a great honour and we have recommended his name to recognize his meritorious services as a player for the cause of hockey,“ said Secretary, PHF, Mohammad Asif Bajwa here on Thursday.
He scored 348 goals and maintaining ‘world record’ for maximum goals in the world hockey, out of which he scored 80 goals in a single calendar year, which is another record in itself. He was declared the top scorer in various Tournaments having surpassed the record of Paul Litjen of Netherlands (267 goals). He was the top scorer in 8 international events and second top scorer in the Sydney Olympic Games. In the Athens Olympic Games, he was the highest scorer. He captained Pakistan hockey team in the 33rdChampions Trophy and 30th Olympic Games/London. He won Gold Medal for Pakistan in the Asian Games 2010. “The PHF is taking every measure to encourage players for their achievements and recommending the name of Sohail is a part of our effort to give due recognition to an outstanding player,” he added.
HIL to start on Jan. 14, Delhi faces Punjab in opener: After being delayed once, the inaugural Hockey India League will take off on January 14 with Delhi Waveriders taking on Jaypee Punjab Warriors in the opening clash of the event that will go on till February 10. The league will feature 34 matches in 28 days and will be played in five franchisee cities — Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi. The opening ceremony will be held on January 14 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi just before the first match in which Delhi Waveriders will face Jaypee Punjab Warriors, featuring Australian hockey star Jamie Dwyer.
Jalandhar will host the second match at Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium where the home team Jaypee Punjab Warriors will face Ranchi Rhinos January 16. On the same day, Mumbai Magicians will later play their first match in New Delhi against Delhi Waveriders. Uttar Pradesh Wizards will commence their contest against Jaypee Punjab Warriors in Jalandhar January 17.
Ranchi Rhinos’ Bisra Munda Hockey Stadium will host its first match on January 18 against Mumbai Magicians.
The first home match of Uttar Pradesh Wizards will be played on January 19 against Delhi Waveriders at Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow.
Mumbaikars will watch their first home match at the Mumbai Hockey Association Stadium on January 20 against Jaypee Punjab Warriors.
The Republic Day will see the clash of titans when Delhi Waveriders will lock their horns with Mumbai Magicians at home and Uttar Pradesh Wizards will try to tame Ranchi Rhinos in Lucknow.
Matches at Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Ranchi will be played under floodlights while matches in Lucknow will be played during daytime. Play-off semifinal matches will be played on February 9 with the HIL final on February 10. The venue for the semifinals and final is yet to be decided. All the matches will be live on Star Sports. “We are very pleased to announce the confirmed match schedule for the first ever Hockey India League, which will feature many of the big hockey stars from around the world,” Hockey India Secretary General and HIL Chairman Narinder Batra said. “It will be a real treat to hockey fans as they will see the toughest battles among the five teams. We are pretty sure that the HIL will become an unforgettable moment for all players, sponsors and spectators,” he added.
Hockey legend no more: Leslie Claudius passes away: India’s triple Olympic gold medallist and one of the legends of the game of hockey, Leslie Claudius passed away here today after a prolonged illness. Claudius was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and frequently needed hospitalization in the past couple of years.
He was 85-years-old and is survived by wife and three sons. One of his sons Brandon lives with him in Kolkata and the other two sons live in Australia. In an illustrious career, Claudius had three Olympic gold medals – London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. At Rome in 1960, he led India to a silver-medal finish. Claudius was being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a local hospital for abnormal fluid retention. “In fact his condition had got better yesterday and doctors were hopeful of discharging him. But today morning, it deteriorated,” Brandon told PTI. In past last 11 months, Claudius had been hospitalised four times due to ill-health.
Claudius was one of the five surviving members (Keshav Dutt, Grahanandan Singh, Jaswant Singh Rajput, and Balbir Singh Senior) of the 1948 squad that had won the gold in London when it hosted Olympics 64 years ago. One of the finest right-half and former captain, Claudius was also part of next three editions of the quadrennial extravaganza that won two gold and one silver, a record only matched by compatriot Udham Singh. In 1978, Claudius met with tragedy as he lost his younger son Robert (Bobby) in a fatal road accident. Bobby was considered very talented and had also represented India in the Mexico World Cup in 1978.