fih English news | fih, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

New Delhi, June 25 Indian hockey umpires, Javed Shaikh and Raghuprasad RV, said on Friday that preparing for the Olympic Games in Tokyo had quite a few challenges, given that things were different this time around due to the pandemic.The two veteran umpires with experience of over 100 international matches each are the only Ind selected by the international hockey federation (FIH) to officiate in the matches beginning July 24."We have both officiated at the Olympic Games in the past. I was there at Rio (in 2016) and everything was very smooth but this time it has obviously been very different due to the pandemic, and we have had to change our plans due to a series of lockdowns in our respective cities."In a normal scenario, we would have been on the hockey field going through our drills and fitness routine ahead of a big tournament, the pandemic has caused a few setbacks for us, but we had to find ways to deal with it and be prepared for the task," said umpire Javed Shaikh, who is based in Mumbai.Raghuprasad RV said, "The last time I officiated in an international match was more than a year ago. Due to the pandemic, there were no tournaments, and we were unable to travel for any outside assignments either in the last couple of months.""But this can't be the reason for me to not officiate to my potential in Tokyo. We have to be on top of the job and deliver the right umpiring decisions. What helped during this time was Hockey India's efforts to hold regular online sessions for hockey officials, where we would discuss match scenarios and watched videos from different tournaments. We also watched the recent European Championships and analysed how the teams' structure has changed and new tactics they are using," said Raghuprasad.The duo also highlighted the importance of fitness with the game getting faster with the regulation time being reduced to four quarters of 15 minutes each."Hockey is really fast now. Players today are extremely quick which is why the FIH and Hockey India have their guidelines and set benchmarks in fitness. Umpires undergo frequent fitness tests, at least four times a year. Like players, we too have Yo-Yo and Dal Monte Sprint Test. We need to complete 2,200 metres in the Yo-Yo beep test and sprint 40 metres in under six seconds. So, in that sense, fitness is paramount for us umpires too," said Raghuprasad, who has officiated in over 150 international matches.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

FihFOLLOW

Fih, Latest News

A delightful finish to a dream campaign at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 saw Indian hockey scripting history as both men's and women's teams achieved their highest ever FIH world rankings. ...

Mumbai, July 29 The Netherlands' 2-2 draw with Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics has caused upheaval in ... ...

The Manpreet Singh-led Indian men's hockey team will make a cautious start to their campaign in the group stage at the most-awaited Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as they take on dark horse New Zealand in their first Pool A match on Saturday. ...

After appearing in the Olympics for the first time in 36 years at the Rio Games in 2016, the Indian women's hockey team is all set for the first time in history to take part in their second consecutive Olympic Games in Tokyo. ...

New Delhi, July 11 Indian men's hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh gave an insight into the team's preparations ... ...

FIH Junior men's World Cup winning player Gurjant Singh has said the team is focused to win a medal in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and the game-time against Great Britain and Argentina will definitely help the side in the showpiece event. ...

While the Indian men's and women's hockey teams are in their final stages of preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, umpires Javed Shaikh and Raghuprasad RV too are gearing up for the showpiece event as the only umpires chosen from Indian by t ...

New Delhi, June 25 Indian hockey umpires, Javed Shaikh and Raghuprasad RV, said on Friday that preparing for ... ...