New rules,same old woes

Self goal among changes implemented at hockey nationals; No show from Arunachal

Already trailing by seven goals against Punjab,Jammu and Kashmir made one of their very few forays into their formidable opponents circle. J&Ks Inderpal Singh made a run on the right flank and centred in a cross,more out of hope than anything. Punjab midfielder Gurbaj Singh stuck his stick out to clear the ball,but it took a deflection and sounded the board.

Under normal circumstances,the referee would have pointed for a long corner or a penalty corner if he thought it was intentional. Instead the referee blew the whistle and pointed both arms towards the centre of the field it was an own goal.

The second edition of Hockey Indias Mens Senior National Championship that got underway here on Sunday also turns another leaf in the ever-changing world of field hockey,with a slew of new rules coming into play: most notably,a football styled own goal,and there were three of those on the opening day.

A recent change introduced by FIH,own goals will become a mandatory experiment from January 1,2013. Keeping that in mind,HI decided to introduce it in the nationals. Gurbaj,however,was spared of the ignominy of having his name put against it on the score sheet as unlike football,the own goal isnt credited (in this case,debited) to a player. There has been another rule change that has been introduced in the nationals under which a dead ball can be raised intentionally and directly using a push,flick or scoop action.

There were a few off the field own goals as well as the nationals got off to a glitchy start that left the organisers red in the face,most notably when the Arunachal Pradesh team failed to show up for the opening match of the tournament,giving Chhattisgarh a walkover.

We have no idea why they didnt come. They didnt even bother to intimate us, a Hockey Karnataka official said. As the tournament progresses,however,those who havent come will hardly be missed as the players who have gathered here will have an extra incentive to perform: with the Hockey India League auction scheduled for next month,a good performance here might not go unnoticed.

Sandeep pulls out

Haryana too won their opening game,a 2-1 defeat of Bhopal but they will have to manage without their ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh,who pulled out of the tournament owing to a bout of typhoid .

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Results: Pool A: Haryana beat Bhopal 2-1; Puducherry beat Maharashtra 7-2; Pool C: Punjab beat Jammu and Kashmir 12-1; Chattisgarh w/o Arunachal Pradesh

Pool E: Rajasthan beat Nagaland 6-1.

Pool G: Kerala beat Gujarat 11-0; Orissa drew with Tamil Nadu 2-2.