MAN ON A MISSION

WITH six books and a hockey website to his name, Indian freelance sports journalist K. Arumugam is in Australia on a mission — to gather information and profile leading players for his next hockey year book.

His journey so far has been productive. “I have made a strange observation,” he said. “The players who wear the number eight. most of them are playing very well- Japan’s Sakae Morimoto and Ukraine’s Tetyana Kobzenko and Luciana Aymar from Argentina.

“The most important person here is Tracy Fuchs from the USA. She’s playing her fourth World Cup and has a lot of determination and spirit -the US is here in the World Cup only because of her.”

Mr. Arumugam said stamina was an important element in this tournament. ‘learns that were not used to playing a lot of games in a short space of time, such as Ireland, had fallen behind after a strong start. He predicted Australia and Argentina would face each other in the semi-finals.

He said the Netherlands had surprised many because it had not performed well for the past few year and was beginning to catch up to claim its spot in the top four. “Women’s hockey has always thrown up surprises, he said. “In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Spain won the gold and no-one would ever have thought of it so you can never be sure what will happen.’

-Yanina Boschini in SLAP SHOTS, daily bulletin of the Meadow Lea Women’s Hockey World Cup, produced by the Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia.

Hockey Year Book 2003

International Edition K Arumugam

This is an invaluable reference source on hockey that recaptures the hockey activities of the year 2002. Two World Cups, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Champions Trophy enliven the content. The ‘Records’ section provides vital statistics of all major men and women hockey tournaments from the Olympics down to invitational events.

Code: H(X)88; Hardback; 168 pages

India Today Book Club, a leading publication house & distributors in India.

CASTROL No 2.

Kothandaraman Arumugam (centre)author of the much acclaimed International Hockey Year Book 2002, seen presenting a copy to FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman, has now produced a 2003 year book. The new book has a foreword by IOC President Jacques Rogge and is once again a companion for journalists, a reference book for players, fans and coaches and is certain to become something of a collector’s item. The hardbound glossy book of nearly 200 pages and 200 photographs is certainly a must for all hockey enthusiasts. Priced US$10, excluding postage. Orders to hockeybook@hotmaiLcom. The author has also written a second book Nation’s Pride Dhanraj Pillay price US$5.

THE HOCKEY WRITER, The Newsletter of the Hockey Writer’s Club, March 2004.