‘No disgrace’ for N.Z. hockey side

Press, 14 January 1982, Page 24

‘No disgrace’ for N.Z. hockey side

By

KEVIN TUTTY

in Bombay

New Zealand will return from the World Cup Hockey Tournament one place worse than it had aimed for—it was no disgrace to finish seventh—but one place higher would have made the tour a successful one for New Zealand. There were a number of factors which counted against New Zealand finishing that one place higher and they combined to work against the New Zealanders.

That sixth placing that New Zealand so dearly sought would have given automatic entry to the next World Cup in London in 1986 and a place in the Champions Trophy tournament in

Amsterdam in June. It would also have given the players confidence in themselves. It seemed at times on the field thay lacked it, and at this level of hockey it is essential to have confidence. There is a possibility NewZealand could still be invited to Amsterdam. That will depend on one of the six teams withdrawing and with Russia and India in the six that is always a possibility. The differences between the Dutch and Indian associations seem to have been smoothed over. There was a rumour earlier in the tournament that the Dutch were not keen to invite the Indians after they refused to play a test in Holland last year. The greatest counter to New Zealand finishing in the

top six was, without doubt, the tour of Pakistan it undertook before the World Cup. The team arrived in Bombay with its physical defences low and most of the players succumbed to illness. Several were very ill including Ramesh Patel, who did not reach his best form until the last two games of the tour against India and Poland. Peter Miskimmin was another who suffered and he too produced his best hockey in the last fewgames.

Had it played in the vital middle games as well as it did against Spain in the first match, and India and Poland in the last two. New Zealand would probably have finished in that first six. It showed at its best that it

was the fifth best team at the tournament behind the four semi finalists, and India, and there was not much difference between Germany, India, The Netherlands and New Zealand. While it has probably missed a chance to play in the Champions Trophy there will still be plenty of international hockey for New Zealand, and a chance to build the team into a unit capable of challenging the top five teams. The Indians are due to tour New Zealand in September. and in December NewZealand is entered in a 10nation tournament in Melbourne; there might have been too much hockey, had New Zealand been invited to the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand was disappointed it did not get the chance to play Russia after having lost to it in the semifinals of the intercontinental cup in Kuala Lumpur last April. New Zealand believed they would have reversed the placing this time. It was ironic that Russia should finish sixth with just one win in seven games. It was fourth in its pool on the strength of three draws. There will be a certain amount of rebuilding again in the New Zealand side. The captain Paul Ackeriey, has definitely retired from international hockey. Keith Gorringe, Mohan Patel, Arthur Parkin. Ramesh Patel, and Jeff Archibeld are

all undecided about their futures at international level but seem to be leaning towards retirement.

If all those players depart it will open the door for some of the juniors who played so well in Hong Kong last October to step up to full national representation.

New Zealand received some small consolation for its efforts. At the closing ceremony it was presented with the Hadsome Trophy donated by the State Bank for fair play. The applause from the 35,900 crowd almost matched that received byPakistan when it was presented with the World Cup, after defeating West Germany. 3-1. m the final on Tuesday.