For several years now, Belgian hockey has been growing impressively, with almost 43% of members joining in the last five years. This is due to the international sports results achieved both by our young and senior national teams as well as the results achieved by the different clubs.
For reference, a penalty corner (pc) is granted in the case of unintentional fault in the circle or willful misconduct in the 23-meter zone. It is played from the end line (via the player entering the ball into play) to attackers placed outside the circle. The ball must leave the circle to be able to score a goal. An attacker playing the ball in the circle must score the goal. Only four defenders and the goalkeeper are allowed to defend the goal. The pc has become the lethal weapon of several national teams who have true sharpshooters such as the Dutch player Mink van der Weerden.
While mostly everyone’s focus during the Hockey World League here in Antwerp has been turned to the team and players as they strive for a ticket to Rio, we cannot forget about the third team on the pitch during these games: the umpires. During these matches there is a total of four umpires per game: two on the pitch, one video umpire, and one reserve umpire. Each pitch umpire works one game per day to make sure that they are fresh and focused for every game that they work; this includes the reserve umpire. Video umpires, however, work two games a day although never back-to-back games. When pitch umpires are not overseeing a match they tend to refresh and relax at their hotel. Video umpires can usually be found in the A4 stands catching the matches they are not working.
The big surprise of this tournament is undoubtedly the heatwave. The weather is one of the main concerns for every organiser of any outdoor event in Belgium. But usually it is for fear of the event being rained out. On the contrary, these days some places around the hockey venue that may be cause for concern for the lack of water.
During the 1970s, hockey was the first national sport, a sort of religion for the whole country, however the situation has changed a great deal in India today. Now, cricket is the real cult for the 1.27 billion inhabitants. While there are just 30,000 players throughout the country, hockey does remain extremely popular in some regions such as Penjab, Orissa, Mumbai, and Bengalore.
The FIH confirmed the match schedule for the Men’s matches on Friday 3 July as follows.
5-8 place play-offs:
13:00 Ireland v Pakistan
15:30 Malaysia v France
Semi-final matches:
18:30 Belgium v India
21:00 Australia v Great Britain
