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| International Super Series begins Nov 22 |
The first edition of the tournament which saw 67 goals in 15 games played in only 30 minutes of play increased interest of game among the people. The second edition of the International Super Series will build on the success of last year’s event that had great support from the public and became a big hit internationally will have couple of rule changes to make the tournament more exciting to the players as well as fans.
The second edition of the tournament will all be about traditional rivalries with India, Pakistan, England and hosts Australia taking part in the tournament in the men’s event. In the women’s event only three teams are participating consisting of Australia, Malaysia and Australian under 21 team better known as ‘Jillaroos’.
There have been couple of changes in the rules in the format of the game with the game time increasing to 40 minutes (20 minutes in each half) from 30 minutes and the rule of own goal introduced.
Once again all the eyes will be on Australian men’s team whose performance was the biggest standout, who easily adjusted to the openness and speed of the this format, scoring a total of 19 goals in 4 games, with the average of 4.75 goals per game and 7 goals against for the entire tournament while it was ery difficult for last year’s opponents New Zealand, Pakistan and Australia. Their midfield power was obvious, often leaving the opposition looking stagnant. They consistently strangled their opponents of possession and seldom gave them time to restructure and compose themselves by playing at a breakneck pace.
This year’s tournament will see England taking on Australia with the aim to take revenge for their bronze medal defeat in the London Olympics. Also, the eyes will be on India and Pakistan who failed to impress the fans in the Olympics.
In the women’s tournament, the most exciting match will be between Australia senior team ‘Hockeyroos’ vs Australia Under-21 team ‘Jillaroos’ which will take part in next year’s Junior World Cup.
The second edition of the game is sure to keep the crowd standing on its toes with attacking play and lots of goals.
The tournament starts on November 22nd with ABC telecasting the tournament live in Australia (no news about telecast in India, so far, will keep you updated)
The rules of the tournament can be read here
Check out the schedule of the tournament:
| Day 1 (22/11/12) | (W) | Round | Malaysia v Australia (Jillaroos) | |||||||
| (W) | Round | Australia (Hockeyroos) v Australia (Jillaroos) | ||||||||
| (M) | Round | Australia v Pakistan | ||||||||
| (M) | Round | England v India | ||||||||
| Day 2 (23/11/12) | (W) | Round | Malaysia v Australia (Jillaroos) | |||||||
| (W) | Round | Australia (Hockeyroos) v Malaysia | ||||||||
| (M) | Round | Pakistan v England | ||||||||
| (M) | Round | Australia v India | ||||||||
| Day 3 (24/11/12) | (M) | Round | Pakistan v India | |||||||
| (W) | Round | Australia (Hockeyroos) v Australia (Jillaroos) | ||||||||
| (W) | Round | Malaysia v Australia (Hockeyroos) | ||||||||
| (M) | Round | England v Australia | ||||||||
| Day 4 (25/11/12) | (M) | Finals | 3 v 4 | |||||||
| (W) | Finals | 1 v 2 | ||||||||
| (W) | Finals | 1 v 2 |
