The international hockey family stood in solidarity tonight to support the victims of the October earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan and India.

The FIH Earthquake Benefit Match in Chennai between a combined India-Pakistan XI and a WorldHockey XI brought further assistance to the victims of October’s disaster with a bright spectacle enthralling the large crowd.

Broadcast globally, the match was played in good spirits, with spectators appreciating the chance to see the world’s best players displaying their skills on the pitch at the same time.

“I would like to thank the players from all teams for giving their time so generously to play in this match two days before the start of the Champions Trophy,” FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman said at half time of the match.

“This match is being played under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations and the International Hockey Federation is pleased to be able to provide an event to raise money for those affected by the earthquake.”

“I would also like to thank Mr. Ramachandran from India Cements for his generous support of this match,” Els said after receiving a cheque for US$10,000.

The match format of four 15-minute quarters allowed both teams to rotate their squads and reduce the workload on participants two days before the start of the Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy on Saturday.

It also proved a solid dress rehearsal for Champions Trophy organisers and officials, with the new lighting system used for the first time in a major match and media and other facilities fully tested.

Although largely irrelevant given the nature of the encounter, the WorldHockey XI emerged victorious in a bright encounter 5-3 over the India-Pakistan combination.

After scores were tied 1-1 at half time, the match became a more open affair in the second half, with the WorldHockey XI scoring twice in the final three minutes to pull away after India-Pakistan had fought hard to draw level near full time. The text commentary of the match can be found on the homepage of the WorldHockey website, www.worldhockey.org.

Visitors to the FIH website will be able to donate to the special bank account established throughout the Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy. Account details are available on the homepage of website.

WorldHockey XI 5 defeated India-Pakistan XI 3
Goals: WorldHockey XI – Sebastian Biederlack PC 13m, Mathias Witthaus FG 34m, Tibor Weissenborn FG 43m, Karel Klaver FG 57m, Jamie Dwyer FG 60m; India-Pakistan XI – Arjun Halappa PS 24m, Muhammad Shabbir FG 42m, Tariq Aziz PC 55m