Tue 14 Dec, 2004
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FIH: Australian Gold Gains 1st Place in Sahara India Pariwar WorldHockey Rankings  x25
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| World Hockey |
September 14, 2004 
World Hockey
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Australian Gold Gains 1st Place in Newly-Sponsored Sahara India Pariwar WorldHockey Team Rankings
Australias Gold in the mens Olympic hockey tournament takes them to first place in the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings as Sahara India Pariwar, global partner of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) extends its involvement with international hockey.
To be titled the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings, Saharas three-year deal with FIH will gain title right to the ranking system and will guarantee daily exposure of the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings in India, Pakistan, Middle East and Asia on cable and satellite broadcaster TenSports from mid September. The Rankings system was devised by FIH in October last year to establish open, fair and clear pool compositions of major FIH and Continental Federation events and their qualifiers.
TenSports will produce four 30-second editorial spots each month, focussing on the updated rankings and other topics such as player and team features.
The spots are to be aired daily during primetime on TenSports and will also be offered free of charge to other global broadcasters.
Sahara India Pariwar, FIHs newest global partner since April this year and sponsor of both national Indian cricket and senior & junior hockey teams,has taken various initiatives for the promotion of sports in India, for which it also received the prestigious FICCI Annual Award 2002-2003 for "Outstanding Corporate Sports Initiative.
Managing Worker & Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, Shri Subrata Roy Sahara said, Congratulations from all 910,000 members of the Sahara India Pariwar to the German women and Australian men on their Olympic successes in hockey.
This additional tie-up between Sahara and Indias number one Olympic sport underlines Sahara India Pariwars enthusiasm for the international promotion of hockey and its commitment to the sport in the long term.
FIH President, Els van Breda Vriesman said, As well as reinforcing its relationship with international hockey and FIH, Saharas sponsorship of the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings also creates, via exposure on TenSports, additional daily promotion and exposure of our sport throughout Asia and the Middle East.
The latest Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings, updated following the Olympic Games are:
Men.
1. Australia
2. Germany
3. Netherlands
4. Pakistan
5. India
6. Korea
7. Spain
8. England
9. New Zealand
10. Argentina
11. Malaysia
12. South Africa
13. Egypt
14. Belgium
15. Japan
Women:
1. Argentina
2. Netherlands
3. Australia
4. China
5. Germany
6. Korea
7. New Zealand
8. England
9. Spain
10. Japan
11=. United States
11=. South Africa
13=. Ireland
13=. Ukraine
15. India
In the mens rankings Olympic gold medallists Australia move up from 3rd place to 1st place while silver medallists the Netherlands move down from second to third place. Bronze medallists Germany move down from first place to second place while Spain, their opponents in their final Olympic match move up from ninth to seventh place. Egypt, whose aim was to improve their ranking, not win a medal, fulfilled their ambition by moving from 16th to 13th ranked in the world.
There is no change for the womens leader; Argentina stays at the top despite only taking bronze medal in Athens. Surprise gold medallists Germany move from seventh to fifth place. Silver medallists The Netherlands move up from third place to second, while 4th ranked Olympic team China remains in 4th place in the world ranking. First time Olympians Japan bettered their ranking from 11th to 10th.
For full details of the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings visit www.WorldHockey.org.
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Comments on this article
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Rudi
09-14-2004 1:51 pm
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Canada Men
are certainly better than Egypt----do not understand this.
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??
09-14-2004 4:42 pm
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Rudi
Think you will find that Egypt qualified for Athens and Canada did pretty poorly in Madrid, so picked up very few ranking points !!
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Confused
09-14-2004 4:45 pm
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India
Whilst I know how these rankings work and think that it is a good way forward for the game there is real issue in that India can still be ranked so high in world hockey. They finished 7th in Athens winning only 2 games !!!! I know a comment like this will only stir debate but let's get real they are a pretty average team now.
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HockeyFan
09-15-2004 12:44 am
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Malsyia and Egypt
How does Malaysia feature higher than South Africa?
SA finished higher than them at the Champs Challenge, Madrid Qualifier and came tenth at the Olympic games?
As for Egypt. What warrants a three place move? They lost every game by at least 2-3 goals in Athens and their only notable achievement in thelast 5 years is Winning the 2003 All African Games.
Spain are under-ranked, especially after winning the champs challenge, their performance in madrid and Athens.
In fairness, there should be a seperate system for GB/England as its not right that England gets GB's points.
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Doddy
09-15-2004 2:48 am
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ranking
It's cause they take the Results over the past four years. Although some teams now aren't as strong as they used to be. But others have improved but are still ranked lower. You have to do it over a certain period, it's the only way. Take a look at the golf system. Tiger hasn't won a tournament in a while but was only knocked off the other week. There have been many better players in the past 3 years than Tiger.
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even i am confused
09-15-2004 3:41 am
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hey confused
confused, u are right...this is crazy..hwo could india which was in 6th place earlier move up to 5th lace fater the olympics
why are you beign so apologetic about raisiing your point---are you a government babu or what...i hope you are not from gill's office...
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TOAD
09-15-2004 3:55 am
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CRAZY
EGYPT ARE SURELY NOT RATED IN THE TOP 15 IN THE WORLD.THEY ARE REALLY NOT UO TO SCRATCH AND SURE THEIR TERRIBLE RESULTS AT THE OLYMPICS WOULD PROVE THAT.AS FOR SOUTH AFRICA ONLY BEING RATED 12,I FIND THAT SURPRISING.DEFINATLY 10TH IF NOT HIGHER.
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Another Observer
09-15-2004 5:35 am
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Ranking - not confused!
You need not to be confused - simply go to the www.fihockey.org website and read the original tables compiling all the results which are considered for the rankings (you find them under "Events & Results"). The rankings are based on a weighed and accumulated team performance over the last years.
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Rankings
09-15-2004 12:24 pm
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Ladies Rankings are a joke and guess what these must have something to do with Dutchies. Irish above India, England above India - surely Commonwealth games do not count eh!!! Do not bother with these as Els & Rowley who never sets foot on Playing fields anymore but can decide. WHAT WA WASTE?
Goodbye Hockey
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Confused
09-15-2004 2:55 pm
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Another Observer
I am fully aware of the way the system works and think it is fair. I am simply pointing out it's fallability. India moving up, Egypt moving up etc. Average teams benefitting from a system. Also England are still so high after really doing very little since Sydney ( Euro's accepted ). So if it is team performance then maybe we should all play poorly and get moved up !!!
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Hockey no hoper
09-15-2004 5:31 pm
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what a disgrace
The 'official' world rankings should reflect the placing of the teams at the most recently completed international tournament, ir the Olympics.
All the international series, champs challenge, champs trophy, azlan shah are just played so that teams can perfect their combinations for the olympics and world cup.
The reason why other sports like tennis and golf have rankings is that they play more major tournaments per year. Therefore they need to average them all out to find the no 1 ranked player at any one time.
Hockey on the other hand has a major competition, once in two years - unlike the four major tournaments a year, plus countless others that will be the equivalent of azlan shah, champs challenge etc.
The only shifts that should occur in the rankings are at the conclusion of tournaments like the champs challenge and champs trophy. Therefore the top 6 sides in the world for men would be australia, holland, germany, spain, pakistan and new zealand - the order of which may change depending on results in December. Same goes for the next rung. The azlan shah is an invitation event so shouldnt be counted in the rankings.
Taking past results into account is absurd as it is no bearing on the future or even the present. Just because other sports use this, it does not mean it would work for hockey - we should ask for why they do those calculations. Look at cricket for example, they have the moving average and it is utter tripe, however at least the ICC stipulates that teams must play each other on a home and away basis within a certain time frame.
From now on, if someone wants to sponsor the world rankings, they should have to pay a fortune so that they can fund a home and away series between each of the top 20 teams as opposed to playing a 30second clip four times per month in India only.
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yen
09-15-2004 10:30 pm
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RANKING , WHAT A CRAP
INDIAN MEN ARE DOWN TO 6TH , NO WAY 5TH , SPAIN IS BETTER THEN US
Men.
1. Australia
2. Germany
3. Netherlands
4. Spain
5. Pakistan
6. India
7. Korea
8. New Zealand
9. England
10. Argentina
11. South Africa
12. Malaysia
13. Belgium
14. Japan
15. CANADA
16. Egypt
--------------------------
INDIA IS 12TH
Women:
1. Argentina
2. Netherlands
3. Australia
4. China
5. Germany
6. Korea
7. New Zealand
8. England
9. Spain
10. Japan
11=. SA
12=. INDIA
13=. Ireland
14=. Ukraine
15. US
ANY COMMENTS FOR YEN
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HockeyFan
09-16-2004 12:41 am
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Yen
That looks a lot more sensible.....as for the last four years making a difference in terms of performance.....what the hell have egypt done..they have won a two horse race at the african games and now earn a three spot improvement?
looks a dodgy system and defintely rates teams that perform averagely...i.e india and england....in fairness, england should not be included in this ranking until they decide who they are? Why the hell should GB points be credited to England....does the same apply for scotland, wales and northern ireland?
PLease help me!
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Weston
09-16-2004 6:18 am
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Some have suggested NZL ought to be ranked in the top 6 -- I don't agree.
They need to show consistency in their performances -- If they can avoid finishing last at the Champions trophy, that'll be a start. What's to say the Olympics wasn't a flash in the pan ?
The realty is there's a bit of a gap between the top 4 (which in my book are Aus, Ger, Holl, ESP) and the rest.
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small nation
09-16-2004 11:15 am
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once again
Once again as all the preceeding posts complain about who should be above who, spare a thought for the rest of the hockey playing world, ie teams not in the prestigous top 20 , who get to play 1 or 2 measly tournaments in a four year cycle. At least all you get to play in all the qualifying tournaments. What about the CAC games, African Cup of Nations, etc. Where do teams like the lesser known African, Caribbean, European, Asian & Oceania countries figure in this secular & elitist ranking/develpmental system????????
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Hockey Observer
09-16-2004 3:41 pm
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NZL
Interesting comments about NZ Men. You ask for consistency well try this.........19th after Sydney 2000. Qualified for KL WC and finished 9th, Commonwealth Games Silver Medal ( ahead of Pakistan, SA and England ), Qualified for Athens and finished 6th winning 4 of 7 games beating 2 teams still ranked above them and finishing higher than another. Pull your head in Weston and understand the situation before you comment. Where has the consistency been from teams ranked above NZ ie Eng/GB, Spain ( only last 18 months ), Korea, India ..........Also your comment about Not finishing last at CT is that not the only reason India have stayed so high in the rankings over the last 3 years !!!
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Jon
09-16-2004 6:42 pm
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hockey in Iceland
Hallo,my friends.
Does anyone know if there is any hockey activity in Iceland.
Please if you know,answer to me
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hockey no hoper
09-16-2004 8:17 pm
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U still don't get it
To all the planks, bricks and deadwood that read this thread
There are two major tournaments in four years. If a major tournament was played tomorrow, the world ranking should reflect the performance of each team in the most recently concluded tournament. Therefore teams should rank according to their Olympic results.
Being able to perform in the big events, eg what Federer does, what Vijay Singh does is how you find the world number one. They are not found in backyard hitarounds, ala Azlan Shah tournaments or any other invitation tournaments.
If there were more tournaments per year, then there would be a reason for some guy who passed their 'O' levels maths paper to do some sort of moving average calculation to come up with the best team. But there is not.
Els van Breda - I am going to take your job.
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Alessio
09-16-2004 11:38 pm
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Small Nations
Agreed.
When people are concern about the ranking of the top 15 in the world, they tend to forget the rest of the world who are not even worth a place in FIH qualifying events let alone Champions Trophy and Challenge.
I know some portions of the world ranking points do include continental tournament but then I'm not sure if the weightage has some notable significance to their ranking. Some teams only have the opportunity to play international hockey within their continent, some only confined to their region. I believe these nations would cherish the opportunity to play in a more global tournament, at least by starting with playing teams within their standard.
Perhaps it's time to create more 6-8 nations annual world-level tournaments to cater for the lesser ranked team. Let's say the CT is the 1st division teams, CC 2nd division teams and so on and on. Let teams play within their standards and let them progress by stages.
For example (purely random example): a 4th division world level tournament featuring Croatia,Chile,Nigeria,Oman,T&T,Bangladesh and Ukraine. the winner will be promoted to the 3rd division the following year and the bottom team will be relegated to the 5th division. At least we have some inter-continental element in this format. So they are not confined to their respective continents
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ritesh rao
09-17-2004 2:30 am
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rankings
after watching india`s peformance in OG india can be safely ranked at no. 99.don`t know to trap,pass,defend,attack they are good for nothing
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nasir
09-17-2004 8:51 am
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TO RITESH RAO
India can be ranked 99th , first of all list 99 countries who play hockey. Sorry i think you are referring to football , where india is ranked 115th and , thanks for ranking them 99th. what a jump
thanks rao, soor roa
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Weston
09-17-2004 8:03 pm
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Why does NZl deserve to be ranked higher than Korea or Spain ?
Korea finished 4th at the 2002 WC and 2nd at the 2003 Champions Challenge -- both better positions than NZL. Add to that winning the 2002 Asian Games.
OK NZl finished higher at Athens but you're not seriously telling me that on that basis,
NZl are a better team than Korea ?
As for Spain, well let's see now -- 2nd at the 2001 World Cup Qualifiers, winners at the 2003 Champions Challenge, 2nd at the 2003 Euros and 4th at Athens 2004 -- again more consistency than NZl.
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hockey no hoper
09-18-2004 12:03 am
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weston
Good analysis. can you please tell me when all those events that you listed occurred?? Yes all in the past.
Where did Spain come in the 2002 world cup??
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joots007
09-18-2004 7:28 am
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I agree that Spain should be ranked higher than NZ.
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Doddy
09-18-2004 6:07 pm
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Spain and Korea are better than NZL. I think you'll see they are also ranked higher than them on the table so what are you guys talking about!!!!!
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