Kuala Lumpur (TIP)- Spain were superb on the wings and played a close-knit game to crush India 4-1 in a pool match of the FIH junior men’s hockey World Cup here on Thursday, December 7. Spain are leading Pool C with six points from two wins, while Korea are ahead of India on goal difference, with both sides having three points each.
The fourth team in the pool, Canada, are yet to open their account after two losses.
India will play their last pool match against Canada on Saturday, December 9.
Uttam Singh’s side, after starting the prestigious tournament on a high with a 4-2 victory against Korea in Pool C, were brought down to earth by the tactically superior Spain, who made full use of the opportunities and tightened their defence resolutely to deny India penalty corner conversions.
Cabre Verdiell Pol (1st, 41st min) and Rafi Andreas (18th, 60th) were on target for the Spaniards, while for India, the consolation goal came from the stick of Rohit, who converted a penalty corner in the 33rd minute.
Most contests between India and Spain have gone to the wire but on Thursday, it seemed the 2016 junior World Cup champions were low on energy, conceding a goal in the very first minute of the contest.
Spain’s searing pace helped them take the lead in the first minute itself when an unmarked Cabre took just 51 seconds to stun India. The forward, who was unmarked just in front of the India goalkeeper made a lovely deflection to give his side the lead.
India tried rotating the mid-fielders following the jolt but were unable to find pierce the sturdy Spanish.
Uttam’s side did manage a few circle penetration with their aggressive play but the equaliser eluded them.
Just when India seemed to be finding their bearing, captain Rafi Andreas’s powerful drag-flick from a penalty corner beat the goalkeeper all ends up, leaving the 2016 Lucknow edition champions looking for answers to break the stout Spanish defence. India did pull one back in the 33rd minute after missing two PC opportunities in quick succession when Rohit slotted home the third to make it 1-2. But the joy was short-lived as Cabre struck his second goal of the match to regain the two-goal lead.
Spain goalkeeper Capellades Jan stood out for his pluck and anticipation, saving at least 3-4 sure-shot strikes from Indian forwards. India earned three penalty corners between the 55th and 57th minutes but Capellades put his body on the line to deny them success.
Spain earned a penalty stroke in the last minute and didn’t miss the gilt-edged opportunity to add to India’s miseries.
Tag: Kuala Lumpur
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Junior Hockey World Cup : India suffer crushing 1-4 defeat to Spain
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Singapore hangs first woman in 19 years after she was convicted of trafficking 31 grams of heroin
KUALA LUMPUR (TIP): Singapore conducted its first execution of a woman in 19 years on July 29 and its second hanging this week for drug trafficking despite calls for the city-state to cease capital punishment for drug-related crimes. Activists said another execution is set for next week.
Saridewi Djamani, 45, had been sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking nearly 31 grams (1.09 ounces) of diamorphine, or pure heroin, the Central Narcotics Bureau said. Its statement said the amount was “sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week.”
Singapore’s laws mandate the death penalty for anyone convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams (17.64 ounces) of cannabis and 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of heroin. Djamani’s execution came two days after that of a Singaporean man, Mohammed Aziz Hussain, 56, for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin.
The narcotics bureau said both prisoners were accorded due process, including appeals of their conviction and sentence and petition for presidential clemency.
Human rights groups, international activists and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug offenses and say there is increasing evidence it is ineffective as a deterrent.
Singapore authorities insist capital punishment is important to halting drug demand and supply. Human rights groups say it has executed 15 people for drug offenses since it resumed hangings in March 2022, an average of one a month. Anti-death penalty activists said the last woman known to have been hanged in Singapore was 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen, also for drug trafficking, in 2004.
Transformative Justice Collective, a Singapore group that advocates for the abolishment of capital punishment, said a new execution notice has been issued to another prisoner for Aug, 3 — the fifth this year alone.
It said the prisoner is an ethnic Malay citizen who worked as a delivery driver before his arrest in 2016. He was convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin, it said.
The group said the man had maintained in his trial that he believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend he owed money and he didn’t verify the contents of the bag as he trusted his friend.
Although the court found he was merely a courier, the man still had to be given the mandatory death penalty, it said. (AP) -
Malaysia court halts deportation of 1,200 Myanmar nationals amid outcry
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) (TIP): A Malaysian court has allowed a temporary stay of deportation of 1,200 Myanmar nationals scheduled to be sent back to their strife-torn homeland on Tuesday, after rights groups petitioned to say deportation could endanger their lives.
The 1,200 detainees were set to leave on Tuesday afternoon in three navy ships sent by Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a February 1 coup, sparking weeks of protests from pro-democracy activists.
Refugee groups say asylum seekers from the minority Chin, Kachin and non-Rohingya Muslim communities fleeing conflict and persecution at home are among those being deported.
An immigration truck carrying Myanmar migrants to be deported from Malaysia is seen in Lumut, Malaysia, on February 23, 2021. REUTERS
Amnesty International, which along with Asylum Access had asked the courts to stop the deportation, said the high court granted a stay until 10 am Wednesday, when it will hear the groups’ application for judicial review to suspend the deportation.
“In light of the court ruling, the government must respect the court order and ensure that not one of the 1,200 individuals is deported today,” Katrina Maliamauv, Amnesty Malaysia director, said in a statement. (Reuters)