New hockey rules a hit

PERTH: Australia defeated India 4-1 to win the women’s title and its men’s team beat New Zealand 5-3 at a field hockey tournament that experimented with new rules designed to speed up play and create more scoring opportunities.

The changes included goals a meter (three feet) wider than regulation, two 15-minute halves, reduced from 35 minutes per half; only nine players per side instead of 11, and more tolerance of foot and stick contact in order to reduce play stoppages.

Australia men’s coach and former player Ric Charlesworth, who helped develop the experimental rules with Hockey Australia, said he wants the Super Series to become a regular event on the sport’s calendar. The four-day series attracted more than 10,000 fans.

”Twenty20 cricket has changed the paradigm so that the skills are different,” Charlesworth said.

”All this does is open up the skills and put them on display more which is what we want —the one-on-one contests around the field as an example.

”They won’t do anything before the (2012) Olympics but I don’t think having two products available is necessarily a bad thing at all.”

Australia women’s coach Adam Commens said Sunday he thought the experimental rules were exciting —”we need to embrace it … I think that in the future we will see it become very popular, and that’s what we need to promote our sport.”


New hockey rules a hit | Sport | DAWN.COM

Watched a game this weekend b/w Pak and NZ. The way corners and penality corners are taking with these rules is very interesting. Actually this will take up the penality corner experts out of the equation. The game is fast now, no doubt. Not sure if these rules will be implemented in the bigger FIH tournaments.

its just fun game.... classic hockey or the conventional hockey as some say is much more good n interesting imo

The game is designed to benefit European style. Long passes, fitness and stamina. Pak and Ind are already behind catching up to the rules changed few yrs back and now these rules will put them more behind.

yeah same here... pakistan's most of the hockey triumphs came on grass trough n under offside rule..... once both grass trough n offside rule got sidelined pakistani hockey literally got murdered

we are too rigid to change - this is what is holding us back in sports and other walks of life - Ironic

indeed... flexibility is the need of hour

where is AP and KG today

don't knw... k.g is terrified of u.lol