Champions Trophy is
an international field hockey tournament held by the International Hockey
Federation. Founded in 1978 by Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan and the Pakistan
Hockey Federation, it features the world's top-ranked field hockey teams
competing in a round robin format. Champions Trophy was changed from an annual
to a biennial event from 2014 onwards, due to the introduction of the Hockey
World League. The 2018 edition will be the last edition of champions trophy. Australians have won the trophy fourteen, the
Germans ten, and the Dutch eight times.
India played their
first ever Champions Trophy final against Australia in London. After being
goalless in regular time, India lost 1-3 in the shoot out – it was not decided
on field though. At the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in
London, goalkeeper Tyler Lovell was the hero of the hour, conceding just once
in the shoot-out to help the World champions to glory. A pulsating game
finished with the score locked at 0-0, although it had been packed full of
drama. Australia’s Blake Govers missed a penalty stroke, while India were
dominant in the third and fourth quarter before losing the shoot-out.
Following an
official protest from India against a situation which occurred in the
shoot-out, there was a delay in the official confirmation of the result. The
protest - in relation to an unintentional foul that had lead to the shoot-out
being retaken - was rejected by the Technical Delegate. Earlier in the day,
Germany edged past Great Britain to win the bronze medal thanks to a solitary
strike from tournament top scorer Marco Miltkau.
India lodged an
official complaint to the FIH tournament director against the second shot taken
by Australia, saying the obstruction by India goalkeeper Sreejesh was after the
hooter. Australia’s player hit the ball
into Sreejesh pads and it was not visible for a split second. Both players
looked at the umpire who didn’t stop and said, “Nothing, nothing. It’s clear.” Australia
player played on and the hooter went off. But, both players kept playing and
Sreejesh cleared the ball. Australia asked for a review and the TV umpire gave
a decision that the shot had to be re-taken. “I see an unintentional
obstruction by India goalkeeper and the shot has to be re-taken,” third umpire
said on air. Australia scored on the retake.
India coach,
Roleant Oltmans was furious with the decision and decided to lodge a complain.
Australia won the shoot out 3-1 but the official result was not declared by
FIH. The tournament jury seemed to be in
a fix when India filed an appeal against the video umpire’s decision to re-take
the second attempt in the shootout. It took the jury multiple replays to find a
way out of the embarrassing situation that kept the result pending. After an
hour and a half of the match, the jury eventually discovered that the ball had
rolled under Indian goalkeeper’s pad for a couple of seconds. The jury later
cited this as the cause why the shootout was re-taken.
But it still took
the jury a lot of explanation to the Indian captain and coach before announcing
that the result would stay. Australia thus won the title, but both teams had to
be ushered out of the ground, to send a signal for the crowd to go home. The
medal presentation was then staged in the media interview room, away from the
spotlight.
“The umpires have
failed,” said Narender Batra, President of Hockey India, who vehemently
protested from the VIP galleries. “The shootout attempt went on for over 14
seconds, and then it was re-taken. “Just to cover up their shortcomings, they
are now pointing out at a different incident,” he said. “If the goalkeeper had
made an infringement, then a penalty stroke should have been awarded,” Batra
emphasised.
It was an unusual end to the tournament. Indians
gracefully accepted the verdict. Speaking
about the events that took place, FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather said: "First
and foremost we would like to thank both Australia and India for graciously
accepting the outcome of this decision. Their sportsmanship on the pitch was
further evident off it during this official process. We would also like to
apologise to all of the fans in the stadium and watching on TV around the
world. Due to the timescale involved they were not able to witness the Trophy
presentation following what was a thrilling Final. As a result we will be
looking at ways to minimise such delays in the future."
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar.
20th
June 2016.
photo credits : www.fih.ch
