Hockey’s long held reputation as one of the world’s most pioneering sports will be strengthened even further in the coming days as the latest in a long line of revolutionary changes come into force at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
The tournament - which offers a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic games to the men’s and women’s Gold medallists - will be the first major international hockey competition to feature the groundbreaking 60 minute format, with the sport moving from two halves of 35 minutes to four 15-minute quarters with 40-second time-outs when a penalty corner is awarded and after a goal is scored.
The additional time-outs for penalty corners and after goals ensures that the new 60-minute format is actual playing time, eliminating the dead time associated with penalty corner set up while also allowing for teams to enjoy their goal celebrations.
India goalkeeper and vice captain P.R. Sreejesh gave a thumbs-up to the new format. “The new format of the game is actually going to act as an added advantage for us in the field. It will not affect us as we already have experience of playing in four quarters in the Hockey India League,” Sreejesh said ahead of Indian men’s opening game against Sri Lanka on September 21.
“It will not only make the game much faster, but will also offer time to the players to re-energise during every quarter”, added India’s ace shot-stopper.
To learn more about the rule changes, click here.
The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII Asiad, is the biggest sporting event held in Asia and is widely recognised as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The event is held every four years, with Hockey being one of 36 different sports set to feature in the Games. The Hockey competition in Incheon will be the biggest in the history of the Games, with ten men’s and eight women’s teams all battling it out for glory and Olympic qualification at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium.
Hockey has featured in every Asian Games since debuting at the Tokyo 1958 event, where the men of Pakistan claimed the first of an incredible eight titles. Remarkably, the Green Shirts come into the 2014 event as reigning champions, having defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the 2010 tournament final in Guangzhou, China. They will be determined to add a ninth title to their collection in Incheon, but the 2013 Asian Champions Trophy winners will face stern opposition from Asia’s finest, including perennial rivals India and hosts Korea.
India head into the competition as Commonwealth Games Silver medalists and also as the highest placed Asian team at the Rabobank Hockey World Cup thanks to a ninth place finish in The Hague (NED). When it comes to the FIH World Rankings, however, it is Korea who remain the best ranked team and are always a side to be feared on home soil. The world number eight are the second most successful team in the competition with four Asian Games Gold medals, having won the event in 1986, 1994, 2002, and 2006.
The Asian Games has featured a women’s Hockey tournament since the 1982 event in New Delhi, where host nation India took their one and only title to date. Korea are the most successful team with four Gold medals (1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998), while China have claimed the title in the last three events (2002, 2006 and 2010).
However, in 2014, all eyes will be on Japan. The 2010 Asian Games Bronze medallists enjoyed a highly successful 2013, winning the Asia Cup, East Asia Games Gold medal and also the Asian Champions Trophy. That said, Japan’s 10th place finish at the Rabobank Hockey World Cup earlier this year was a slight disappointment, being outdone by defending Asian Games champions China (6th) and Korea (7th). Both China (WR: 5) and Korea (WR: 9) are both placed higher in the FIH World Rankings than their rapidly-improving Japanese rivals and are certainly capable of grabbing Gold in Incheon.
The Hockey competition runs from 20-27 September 2014. You can keep track of the action at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on the official event website: http://www.incheon2014ag.org. To see the tournament match schedule, click here.
17th Asian Games
Incheon, Korea
Men’s Hockey competition
Pool A: Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore.
Pool B: India, Pakistan, Oman, China, Sri Lanka
Women’s Hockey competition
Pool A: China, India, Malaysia, Thailand
Pool B: Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong
