© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Field Hockey

Field hockey is played on a grass or artificial-turf field. A player scores by striking the ball into the opponent’s goal
from within the striking circle.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Field Hockey
Field hockey is played on a grass or artificial-turf field. A player scores by striking the ball into the
opponent’s goal from within the striking circle.
 International field hockey

Asia: ASHF – Asia Cup
Africa: AFHF – African Cup of Nations
Americas: PAHF – Pan American Cup to the FIH under the name of Patrick Rowley,
Oceania: OHF – Oceania Cup
Europe: EHF – Euro Hockey Nations
Championship
The Hockey World Cup was first conceived by
Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan and India's
Jimmy Nagarwalla. They proposed their idea
the first editor of World Hockey magazine.
Their idea was approved on October 26, 1969,
and adopted by the FIH Council at a meeting
in Brussels on April 12, 1970.
Hockey in History
Forms of hockey, perhaps one of the earliest stick-and-ball games, were played by the
ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, and Arabs. Hurling, a sport similar to
hockey, is known to have been played during the 1st millennium bc in Ireland, and
similar sports were adopted by other Europeans in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th
century). In pre-Columbian times (before the 16th century) Native South Americans
also played similar sports. The name hockey, thought to have been adapted by the
English from the French word hoquet (shepherd's crook), was first given to the sport in
the 18th century, but was not in common usage until the 19th century.

It is likely that a sport resembling modern field hockey was played in public schools in
England early in the 19th century. By the 1880s the sport's popularity was becoming
established, and women had begun to play. The first women's hockey club was founded
in London in 1887.
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH, International Federation of Hockey)
was in 1924 founded as the governing body over the men's game, and in 1927 the
International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations was established to govern
the women's game. In 1982 the men's and women's games were united under the
auspices of the FIH, which is located in Brussels, Belgium. By the 1990s the FIH had
more than 100 member nations
The British army was largely responsible for spreading the game, particularly
in India and the Far East. International competition began in 1895. By 1928
hockey had become India's national game, and in the Olympic Games that year
the Indian team, competing for the first time, won the gold medal without
conceding a goal in five matches. It was the start of India's domination of the
sport, an era that ended only with the emergence of Pakistan in the late 1940s.
Since 1970 European field hockey had become noted for the repeated victories
by The Netherlands and Germany, offset by occasional flashes of success from
Spain. The call for more international matches led to the introduction in 1971
of the World Cup. Other major international tournaments include the Asian
Cup, Asian Games, European Cup, and Pan-American Games. Men's field
hockey was included in the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1920 and then
permanently from 1928

Issued in 1981 on the

occasion of the World
Cup Hockey
Championships at
Bombay
 Olympic Medalists Men's field hockey became part of the Olympic Games in 1908.
Country
Teams from India and Pakistan have dominated Olympic field
Year Gold Silver Bronze

1908 England Ireland Scotland/Wales

1
hockey competition, but teams from New Zealand, Australia,
Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands have also had success.
1920 England Denmark Belgium
Women's field hockey was first played as an official Olympic
1928 India The Netherlands Germany
sport in 1980. The first Olympic women's competition was won
1932 India Japan United States
by the team from Zimbabwe, but since then teams from the
1936 India Germany The Netherlands
Netherlands, Australia, and Spain have also won at the Olympics.
1948 India United Kingdom The Netherlands
Other international field hockey competitions include the World
1952 India The Netherlands United Kingdom
Cup, the European Cup, the Manning Cup (between Australia and
1956 India Pakistan Germany
New Zealand), the East Africa championships, and tournaments
1960 Pakistan India Spain held as part of the Asian Games and the Pan American Games.
1964 India Pakistan Australia World Cup - Men
1968 Pakistan Australia India 1971 Barcelona, Spain Pakistan Spain

1972 West Germany Pakistan India 1973 Amsterdam, The Netherlands The Netherlands India

1976 New Zealand Australia Pakistan 1975 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia India Pakistan

1980 India Spain USSR 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina Pakistan The Netherlands

1984 Pakistan West Germany United Kingdom 1982 Bombay, India Pakistan West Germany

1988 United Kingdom West Germany The Netherlands 1986 London, United Kingdom Australia United Kingdom

1992 Germany Australia Pakistan

1990 Lahore, Pakistan The Netherlands Pakistan

1996 The Netherlands Spain Australia

1994 Sydney, Australia Pakistan The Netherlands
1998 Utrecht, The Netherlands The Netherlands Spain
2000 The Netherlands Korea Australia
2002 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Germany Australia
2004 The Netherlands Korea Australia
2006 Mönchengladbach, Germany Germany Australia
Sportstar recently came out with a list of the top 10 hockey players of the century.

Rank Country Player

1 India Dhyan Chand
2 India Prithipal Singh
3 India Ajitpal Singh
4 Pakistan Hassan Sardar
5 Pakistan Shahbaz Ahmed
6 Netherlands Paul Litjens
7 Netherlands Marc Delissen
8 Germany Stephan Blocher
9 Australia Ric Charlesworth
10 England Ian Taylor
Prithipal Singh – B: on 28 January 1932
Nankana Sahib, Pakistan.

World's best full-back in his time scored the

largest number of goals single player in the
three Olympics in which he participated. With
hat-tricks agianst Denmark and Holland during
the 1960 Olympics. In the 1964 Olympics, he
scored 11 of India's 22 goals.

Captained India against the visiting German and

Dutch teams in 1967 and led an Indian team to
Madrid. He was Joint Captain with Gurbux
Singh, for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico where
India had to be satisfied with a Bronze.

Prithipal Singh A teacher in the Government

Agriculture College, Ludhiana, he was a
fearless, straightforward and outspoken person
and this cost him his life when he was shot dead
by his own student in the campus of the Punjab
Agriculture University, Ludhiana, in 1983.

I am grateful to God, for he
has given me everything. So
many play, and just fade
away. Whatever I achieved -
recognition, identity,
confidence, everything - I did
through the game. What
more can one expect from
the game!
Born on April 1, 1947,
Acclaimed as one of the best center forward in the
world during his time. He led India to a sensational
victory in the third world cup hockey tournament at
Kuala Lumpur in 1975.
First represented an international hockey
tournament at Bombay in 1960. Later he
represented India in Japan in 1966
1967 Next year Ajit Pal Singh gave a dazzling show
of Stick work in the Mexico Olympic Games.
he was included in the world Hockey teams of
1971,72 and 73. He next represented India in 1974
in Asian games at Teheran.
But 1976 in the Montreal Olympic Games India
Suffered the most humiliating defeat under Ajit Pal
Singh when they finished Seventh. He retired.
Four years later Ajit pal Singh came out of
retirement to play in champion Trophy Tournament
at Karachi in 1980. Ajit pal Singh awarded the
Arjuna Award in 1972.
 Hassan Sardar (b: October 22, 1957)
Field hockey player from Pakistan, He was
instrumental in leading Pakistan to a gold medal
at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Famous for his delightful dribbing and a defence-
shattering body dodge Sardar a Karachi native
graduated from Habib Public School. Arguably
the best centre forward Pakistan has ever
produced.
He started his international career in the early
1980s and played his first World Hockey Cup in
1982. Sardar scored 11 goals in the tournament
Man of the Toutnament at — a record that still stands — and Pakistan took
the gold winning the gold.
campaigns in the '82 world In the 1982 Asiad tournament in Karachi, he
cup, the '84 Olympics and helped crush India with a hat-trick as Pakistan
the '82 Asiad. triumphed 4-1. He later managed the Pakistani
Hockey Team.
Compared with Dhyan Chand On his day, he was simply unstoppable, leaving the best of
defences in tatters and the spectators awe struck by the glorious sight of Hassan bent on his stick,
weaving his way round the seemingly leaden-footed defenders with such uncanny control.
Hassan Sardar has been the scourge of Indian defences, scoring 22 goals in the Indo-Pak
encounters to lead the Pakistani individual tally. Penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas is on par
to break Hassan Sardar's record, as early as next year.
In his prime, he was compared with the inimitable Dhyan Chand. a
flattering comparison by the purist Indian connoisseurs, is a befitting
tribute to Hassan Sardar's scintillating artistry and genius.
Hailed as the most accomplished player of his age, Hassan's stint as
Pakistan's spearhead was rather brief, lasting a mere half a dozen
years. It nevertheless remains Pakistan's most flamboy ant and
memorable era, with one success following another And Hassan had
a big hand in all those triumphs; he was the Man of the Toutnament
at the gold winning campaigns in the '82 world cup, the '84 Olympics
and the '82 Asiad.

Famous for his delightful dribbing and a defence-shattering body

dodge,Hassna's class and calibre cannot be measured simply by the
number of goals he scored, though he put away as many as 180 in a
career which lasted a mere half a dozen years.
More importantly, he never let the team down, never failing to make
an opportunistic conversion or two when it was most needed.
On his day, he was simply unstoppable, leaving the best of defences
in tatters and the spectators awe struck by the glarious sight of
Hassan bent on his stick, weaving his way round the
seeminglyleaden-footed defenders with such uncanny control.That
really was a sight to remember and cherish.
 Paul Litjens lived for long in the shadow of Ties
Kruize, but got his break in the 1976 Montreal
Olympics. Using a stick of the maximum permissible
weight, Litjens topped the goal scorers list at Montreal
with 11 goals. He bid adieu after the 1982 World Cup
in Mumbai, where he captained the Dutch team. Paul
Litjens played in 4 World Cups and 2 Olympics, and
for many years was the most feared penalty corner
striker in the world. Paul Litjens, nicknamed the
'Executioner', retired as the world's highest goal scorer
(in the post-war era) with 267 goals from 177 official
international matches.

Matthew WELLS OAM, Australia

To be part of the best team in the world and hold
a gold medal in all of hockey's major
tournaments
Pakistani Hockey player
Sarwar Muhammad at the
2002 H k W ld C i
Eight-time Olympic champions India have won the World Cup only once, in
1975 at Kuala Lumpur. India came 3rd in the first World Cup, 2nd in the second
World Cup and 1st in the third World Cup. Since 1975, India has not won any
medal in the World Cup, failing to even reach the semi-finals, with one
miserable performance after another. In contrast, neighbouring Pakistan has gone
from strength to strength, playing in 6 finals of the 9 World Cup tournaments
held so far, winning a record four times and coming runners up twice.

Germany won the two main prizes for men's field hockey in 1995, retaining the
European Nations Cup in Dublin in August and regaining the Champions Trophy
in Berlin in the autumn. The Dublin final was decided on penalty strokes after a 2-
2 draw against The Netherlands. England finished third and Belgium fourth.

One of the most sweeping changes in field hockey came into effect on Aug. 4,
1996, when, as an experimental measure, the offside rule was abandoned. The
purpose of the experiment was to diminish dependence on the set pieces and
encourage more goals from open play, which would thereby make the game
more attractive to spectators.

The 10th men's field hockey World Cup was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Feb. 24–March 9, 2002. Germany, led by the 2001 Player of the Year, Florian
Kunz, beat Australia 2–1 on a match-winning goal by Oliver Domke to secure
its first men's World Cup. The Netherlands sank South Korea 2–1 with a
golden goal for third place. The tournament featured 16 teams,
 Topscorer 2006 World Cup
Taeke Wiebe Doekes Taekema
(born on January 14, 1980 in
Leiderdorp) is a Dutch field
hockey player, who won the
silver medal with the national
squad at the 2004 Summer
Olympics in Athens. He is
famous and feared for his
devastating penalty corner drag
flicks. He made his debut on
January 28, 2000 in a friendly
match in and against Egypt.
Since then the defender played
over hundred international
matches for the Dutch.
 Best Player 2006 WorldCup
Jamie Dwyer OAM (born March 12,
1979 in Rockhampton, Queensland) is a
field hockey striker from Australia, who
was a member of the team that won the
golden medal at the 2004 Summer
Olympics in Athens. He scored the
decisive golden goal in the final against
title holders The Netherlands.

Jamie Dwyer of
Australia contests the
ball with Mitesh Patel
of New Zealand
 Best Goalkeeper 2006 World Cup
Ulrich Bubolz (born February 25, 1981) is a field hockey goalkeeper
from Germany, who currently plays for the Berlin based club
Berliner HC. The goalie made his international senior debut for the
German team on June 6, 2002 in a friendly against Malaysia in
Hamburg. As of November 11, 2005, Bubolz earned 23 caps for his
native country.