Former India captain Mohammed Shahid on Sunday welcomed Dhanraj Pillay's desire to become national hockey coach and asked the federation to take his claim seriously.
The Olympics-bound hockey team beat VFL Bad Kreuznach 13-3 and Suaduwahl Club 10-1 in practice matches on Sunday.
Suresh Kalmadi, president of the Indian Olympic Association and chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising committee to be held in New Delhi in 2010, said that it was a painful decision to suspend the Indian Hockey Federation and see the exit of former super cop K P S Gill as the president of the ailing Federation.
Clearly in no mood to oblige Sports Minister MS Gill who wants him to go, Indian Hockey Federation President KPS Gill on Thursday said he is not quitting from his post.
The former India captain and coach accused the FIH of bowing to European pressure.
India's No.1 hockey goalkeeper says he is working hard at the fitness camp to rejuvenate himself.
Sports Minister Vikram Verma said there was no discussion on selection matters.
"I can't understand why I was not picked," the 30-year-old full-back said.\n\n
The Indian hockey player said he was informed about testing positive for a banned drug before the Olympic qualifier by coach Rajinder Singh.
The Indian hockey team will start their defense of the Junior World Cup against Egypt.
India will start their campaign at the Azlan Shah hockey tournament against South Africa on May 26.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation will not bid for the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy, which was shifted from India due to the administrative row over the governance of the game there.
The veteran striker was reported to be unhappy playing under a 'much junior' Viren Rasquinha.
IHF president K P S Gill said they will look at the possibility after assessing the team's performance at the Asian Games.\n
Two state hockey bodies have expressed astonishment over Hockey India's official communication asking them to furnish details of their top officials for the World Cup accreditation, terming the move as 'contempt of court'.
Former India players on Monday smelt a rat behind inform Shivendra Singh's three-match suspension, alleging that it was done intentionally to weaken the hosts ahead of their second match against Australia on Tuesday.
Indian Hockey Federation secretary-general K Jothikumaran, who quit after being shown accepting cash in a television sting operation, claimed that he is innocent and accused the news channel of deliberately distorting his discussions. "I find that the entire discussions were recorded stealthily, willfully distorted and maliciously edited to show an entirely wrong picture," Jothikumaran said in a statement.
IHF handed ONGC their second defeat and will thus fight it out with Air India to decide the top place in the pool in the Murugappa hockey tournament.
The Champions Trophy in December could be the last assignment for the India's German hockey coach.
IHF chief KPS Gill expressed confidence of the team doing well in the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Pakistan hockey team's disastrous performance in the Beijing Olympics has taken another toll with coach Naved Alam following chief coach Khawaja Zakauddin in stepping down from his post. Announcing his resignation, Alam said the Olympic debacle is a collective failure and the federation should not start a witch hunt of senior players.
India, Australia, Australia 'A' and Pakistan will play two tournaments between May 28 and June 8, in Perth and Sydney.\n\n
Eight-time Olympic champions India continued to languish at the ninth position in the latest men's world rankings issued by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Following in the footsteps of IHF chief KPS Gill, Indian Women Hockey Federation secretary Amrit Bose too on Saturday backed the government's contentious tenure limitation guidelines and made it clear that she will not contest the much-awaited elections of the national body.
It would be the first time in 26 years that India would be hosting the European giants in a one-to-one series.
Eight-time champions India have been clubbed alongside title holders Germany and World No 2 Netherlands in Pool B at the men's hockey competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
India has committed to host the Dutch team for a Test series around the same time.
Media reports have cited a lack of suitable facilities as the reason behind Birmingham's decision to axe shooting which has featured at every Games since 1966, with the exception of Edinburgh in 1970.
International Hockey Federation president Leandro Negre on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the two-match suspension of Indian striker Shivendra Singh for injuring a Pakistani player in the ongoing World Cup was a reflection of FIH's bias against the Asian players.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has sent a formal request to the sports ministry seeking clearance for sending the national team to India for competing in the World Cup to be held in New Delhi from February 28.
Narinder Batra, Senior Vice President of IHF, demanded an explanation as to how the Federation funds were being spent.
Politicians and businessmen are causing harm by heading sports bodies, said Supreme Court on Thursday, which while expressing concern over the standard of hockey falling to an 'abysmal low' in the country.
Holders Punjab and Sindh Bank entered the final of the All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament.
India's hockey coach Harendra Singh apologised after a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by the Netherlands ended their hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil.
Apparently under pressure, former India captain Dilip Tirkey on Friday turned down an offer from the rejuvenated Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) to become a part of the four-member national selection committee. 'I am not accepting the appointment as a selector by the IHF. Air India has not given me permission for this,' Tirkey said in Bhubaneswar.
In an encouraging development for the Indian women's hockey team, all the squad members are set to be included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) when the review committee will identify a core group for the government-funded programme, next month.
