SUMMARY

Goal would earn Wizards a couple of points as well but it left coach Roelant Oltmans with some areas to think about as well.

On the face of it Delhi Waveriders have had a decent outing. Their 1-1 draw with the UP Wizards on Wednesday maintained their impressive home record — they have been unbeaten for the seventh time in nine games played at the Dhyanchand Stadium — and the two points they earned from the result took them to the top of the HIL league on 19 points.

However Delhi skipper Sardar Singh wasn’t a particularly happy individual at the end of the game. “This was a game that we should have won,” he said. Delhi had taken the early lead through Yuvraj Walmiki and dominated early play and even though UP had surged in the second half of the match, had held on until the equaliser by SK Uthappa with eight minutes to go.

Sardar’s reaction was more disappointment than a fair assessment of the game. Both teams had their chances although Wizards had the more clear cut opportunities.

So far in the HIL, Waveriders have shown an inclination to attack constantly from the first whistle but they chose a more cautious approach in Wednesday’s encounter. “We knew that Wizards would be patient and would keep the ball with them and so we tried to show patience ourselves,” said Sardar after the game.

While Waveriders had better possession in the midfield, there were few circle penetrations and no shots on target as Wizards’ keeper George Bazely wasn’t called into play once.

Yuvraj Walmiki would go on to have an average game but he would put Waveriders on the scoreboard. The hard work was done by Simon Child on the right flank as he broke past a couple of defenders then passed to Walmiki who had been left unmarked in the front of the goal. Wizards had an opportunity to equalise soon after through a PC.

However the fact that their regular drag flicker VR Raghunath was sitting in the timeout zone after earning a green card meant that Luke Doerner took the flick. Doerner tried for a variation but ended up holding on to the ball for too long and gave it away.

Wizards and Raghunath had the chance to make amends in the third quarter through another PC in the 47th minute but Waveriders keeper Stockmann got a sliver of leg to deflect the ball to safety. As time ticked by, Waveriders slowly reverted to all out defence and were helped by the fact that Wizards’ forwards weren’t able to finish their moves. Their midfield built around Sardar Singh was expected to dominate but failed to exert itself.

NEEDED: BETTER MAN MARKING“We could have been better was in our man to man marking in the midfield,” said Sardar who was seen constantly exhorting his line to stay with the opposition players assigned to them. The mistakes eventually caught up and in the 62nd minute Wizards’ midfielder SK Uthappa got a ball which had been stolen from inside the Waveriders half line. To his credit, Uthappa, at the top of the circle turned and blitzed a forehand stroke into the board.The goal would earn Wizards a couple of points as well but it left coach Roelant Oltmans with some areas to think about as well.“Uthappa had a good game, but that is expected because he is one of India’s better midfielders. He has scored in this game as well as the last game but while that is good for the team, we need our strikers to be scoring goals for us as well,” he said.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sports> Hockey / by Jonathan Selvaraj / New Delhi – February 06th, 2014

Ace shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa has been a force to reckon with in doubles. Now, she wants to try her hand in singles. The 24-year-old will participate in the singles category at the all-India ranking tournament in Bangalore next week.

“I’d like to give a shot at singles,” Ponnappa told dna in Panvel, where she attended Alegria, a college fest organised by Pillai Group of Institutions, on Tuesday.

“I love doubles. But I’d like to play singles. I stopped playing singles because of circumstances. I feel I don’t want to sit around but play singles in national circuit and have fun. Singles is easier and I don’t have to worry about. However, I am not sure whether I would take it seriously but I would certainly like to win some titles so that it will help my confidence,” she said.

“Incidentally, I will be playing singles next week since Jwala is not taking part in the tournament. This gives me a chance to explore. Anyway, I don’t have anything to lose,” Ponnappa added.

This year will see two of the biggest events — Commonwealth Games and Asian Games – and Ponnappa has set her eyes on both. “Jwala and I will be looking to defend the CWG title. Every tournament is important and we take it as a preparation. The more we play, the better we get. Asian Games, on the other hand, is neither going to be easy nor difficult. We have beaten Asian players and aim to do well in that competition as well,” added Ponnappa.

Ponnappa, who was partnerinig Pradnya Gadre during the time Gutta was away from the sport for a while, is back with her old partner. “We needed that break. Jwala has been playing for long and she needed a break, especially after she went through a lot. However, we are back now with better understanding, respect and a lot more hungry,” she said.
“It is important to get along off the court. We have to understand each other and have to be friendly, otherwise you can’t expect magic to happen on court. We are pretty good friends off the court. With both of us having different characteristics, it creates a kind of balance,” she said.

“The controversies (surrounding Gutta) affect us, especially what happened post Indian Badminton League. But, when we get on court, we leave everything aside.”

With the new leagues coming in every sport, Ponnappa believed they will develop a sporting culture in India. “These leagues give a bigger platform for sports. If you are passionate, you can use these platforms to prove yourself. It also helps one to earn money and play some quality matches. It is a really nice concept as you get to travel, be part of a team, compete with your friends and doing well for your teams,” she said.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Sport / by Taus Rizvi, Place: Mumbai, Agency:DNA / Tuesday – January 28th, 2014