The Wrap-Up Of The Year

The year is finally coming to a close and so the sports season has concluded as well.
It was a season of few highs and many lows, most of the lows coming towards the end of the year coincidentally. I guess one of the major highs of the year has to be the Woodstock Street Hockey B-Team reaching the semi-finals of the annual Mussoorie Open Hockey Tournament. Quite an achievement considering how Woodstock hockey has fared in the last few years, 9-0 to St. Georges anyone? The team had really played like they were enjoying themselves, something I personally love to see. The goalkeeping was amazing as well an Tokuji Tanaka, grade 12, seemed to be even better than a solid cement wall as he did not concede a single goal all tournament until the semi finals, where he shockingly conceded a howler of a goal to give the opposition an equalizing goal, pure evidence that the team was good enough to have even won the tournament. This was definitely a major high of the year. After that I feel the Senior boys Football team was the next high of the year. After a warm up Jackie Tournament, the team was well prepared for the hardest tournament of the year, The RIMC Football Tournament, a tournament where Woodstock has usually struggled, 8-1 to the "boys" from Rashtriya Indian Military College is never a fun game. Anyway this year the team had a very transformed look to themselves this year and were storming through the tournament, clearly the best team around. They went about their business dismantling every team they faced. They eventually met the Tibetan Nehru School in the semi-finals, going out unfortunately in a penalty shoot out which went 8-9 in favor of the opposition. A great show from the players though to even reach this far in a tough tournament. The Senior Boys Basketball team also had a good year, even though they didn't win anything. The team was predicted to be one of the weakest in recent years, but man they really proved they were no pushovers. They won every single friendly game they had this season, not only won but crushed every team with results including the famous 55-11 game against Wynberg Allen School. An awesome achievement. They then made there way down to the boiling pot known as Dehra Dun and continued there impressive playing even without their overage star player, Chris Puthiakunnel. They finished Runners up, pretty good I'd say. The lows were many more and so I will mention only the very worst. The lowest point I would say would have to be the sub-junior cricket team who played their first tournament in Mussoorie. In their very first game they won the toss and went in to bat first. They were bowled out for a shocking score of 12 runs. Ashish Peters top scored for the team with 8 runs. Really really shocking. Seems like they have definitely been trained by the Senior team who also quite a horrific year. The team felt they played so poorly at YPS that they have decided not to play the Mussoorie tournament. A tournament which was initially the only one Woodstock would go for. A huge step back for a team which was thought to be making huge strides after they won their first game ever. Another low of the year would have to be the table tennis team. Much was expected from this dream team but their results did not live up to expectations. They trained like crazy for over two months and were confident of a positive result against their opponents but,, they were defeated in three straight games, Aditya Das coming the closest to winning, very unimpressive to say the least. All in all it has been a decent season which revealed players who have tone of potential but will Woodstock take advantage of these individuals? who knows. Personally, I doubt it

Fatigue and its Results

Hello friends, today we are going to talk about nothing more than the 10th annual Win Mumby Basketball tournament. Firstly, we lost. To the winning teams. Secondly, we played out of our skin every time we were on that court which is something to be very proud of. the tournament was a really exciting event, the new Win Mumby gym really proved to be an amazing place to have the tournament. The crowd really got behind the players and were even open to booing the opposition, something which I believe to be really good for a home crowd to do. Anyway, if only our schedule showed us some mercy, I believe that without a doubt Woodstock would be Champions. The team was forced to play two game in one day, a fact only exemplified with another fact that the starting five had to play the entire second game. The tournament started for Woodstock on a really bright note as the managed to win their first two games in without any fuss whatsoever, except that the second game was gradually becoming a landslide victory for Woodstock and so the referees lowered the time per quarter from 10 minutes to 8. Everything seemed to be going fine and dandy until the Doon School game came. Woodstock had already beaten Doon twice this season with a 20 point victory at home and a priceless 2 point victory at theirs. The odds were in Woodstocks favor. Though Woodstock were favorites, the away side came out all guns blazing and raced to a 6 point lead within the first 2 minutes. Woodstock slightly under pressure now continued to fight back and just managed to grab a 2 point lead by the end of the second quarter. Just when the fans thought all their fears had been allayed, Doon started playing like they were not even tired. Eventually, Woodstock lost its precious 2 point lead and hence they were forced to play full strength for the entire game, not a very bright idea. The team just got way to tired after that and succumbed to a ten point loss. The team knew it was doomed then as they would have to face the amazing Welham's boys team which had just beaten Woodstock twice in the Afzal Khan Tournament. The team played and destroyed the Bishop Cotton School in their next game and, as expected, made to the semis. They all knew they had to play Welhams the next day but as unfortunate as it may sound, a majority of the team stayed up late talking to their friends. Three of the members slept no later than 4 a.m, dooming themselves and the chances of the team. The next day, Gaurab Adhikari, the Boy who single handily destroyed Welhams by scoring 27 points against them in the Afzal Khan, fell really sick. Without such a major player and a myriad of sleepy ones, the Welham Boys took the game by the horn and defeated Woodstock by around 20 points, leading by at one pint no less than 30. As Woodstock got knocked out, one couldn't help but see the emotion just pour out from everyone present. There were tears everywhere and a silent crowd who simply couldn't fathom this elimination. As the weary crowd went back, the tournament apparently continued.

The Bitter Taste of Defeat

So the cricket team is back and sadly they have been given a sound beating. Their first game said it all, the opposition went in to bat first and put a commanding total of 205 runs for the loss of three wickets by the end of their 20 overs. Woodstock responded to this massive total by scoring 65 runs in 16 overs and getting all out. A truly shocking display with both the bat and the ball. Though understandably the team wasn't aware of what kind of weather conditions to expect or what tactics would be suitable for such a pitch, they still had no reason to perform so dismally. The Woodstock cricket team has always been quite poor, their biggest achievement coming when they won a single match in a nail biting finish. The fact that cricket is indubitably India's sport of choice means that Woodstock has to have a team, otherwise they will be (not like they already aren't) considered a very Un-Indian school, getting them ostracized from the rest of the community here. As ridiculous as this notion may sound, Woodstock has already been ignored by its neighbouring school St. Georges as their annual music festival, Milestone, hasn't featured Woodstock but every other major school in the vicinity. The reason for this, Woodstock plays a completely different breed of music, a throwback to the ages past. A pure focus on classical music and instruments makes Woodstock a completely different entity from the generic guitar and drums, cover performing band, which is all the other schools are capable of. In this case its Woodstock failure to comply with the normal that has gotten them ostracized (not a bad thing at all in this situation.) Well anyways, back on the main topic, the team played two more games after the initial set back and were yet again defeated in both games with the only highlight being that of inspirational captain Siddarth Datla's knock of 65 runs. Datla has long been the teams sole hope of victory as he actually trains and recieves coaching over the break, pure dedication, especially when compared to the rest of the team which consists of members who only play cricket at home with a tennis ball and freedom to do anything they want with rules such as the famous one-tip one-hand rule. Anyway before I go into another angry rant, I will conclude with the old idea that no matter what, the team will have to keep its head up and look towards the future as every Indian sports team, other than the cricket team, has to as well.

Pure Dedication

If there is anything wrong about school sports teams it has to be the amount of voluntary sacrifices one has to make. The Cricket team and the Basketball team both have major tournaments coming up and are ready to perform but it seems that these teams will miss out on the annual JSB (Junior Senior Banquet) as, if they perform well enough they will undoubtedly miss the event as the finals for both of these tournaments coincide on JSB night. Though this sacrifice may seem small in the larger picture, it is still an integral part of a students childhood. Alumnus who wind up back here usually remember their JSB night quite well and can even recall what they were wearing and the awkward moments which accompany such a night. The same goes for sports teams, a team invariably remembers its wins and losses. Such is the recall factor that ones judgement can be clouded. If one chooses to play sports over the JSB night, they have a chance of gaining invaluable experience which could benefit them in the future, a great long term plan. Yet if one chooses to attend JSB night over sports, in the short run it will be a very memorable night with some good food and some quality time with friends, a fun short term plan which is quite feasible. Either way, the the team members will have to choose one as, if they do not they will be distracted by the other one no matter what.

Of Carpet Pitches and "Rocky" Playing Fields

After hours of catch, batting and bowling practice, Woodstock's cricket team has finally been formed and they are ready to hit out from the first ball. In a surprising move, Siddarth Datla has been named captain after predicted captain Aditya Todi decided that he had to much on his plate to deal with. The team had a record turnout for tryouts as no less the 50 students showed up. The signs were definitely encouraging. Anant Poddar and I decided to go for the tryouts just for kicks and were quite simply blown away. It started it off with catch practice. The catching with a leather ball was a lot more difficult than either of us had imagined. It was so difficult that when we were instructed to call out our names before taking a catch, Anant accidentally shouted out ANOOP instead of his name. When it came to batting, The very first ball saw me clean bowled. It was so weird wearing all the padding that I was actually unable to even get close to playing my usual style. Well I did learn something from all of this though, there is no such thing as an easy sport (Except Curling of course!).

Basketball. The One Sport of Woodstock

Its been a while. There have been departures and there have been arrivals. There have been players fulfilling all their promise and players just waiting for a chance to shine. The moment Mr. Mark hands over that jersey to anybody in Woodstock, they know its their one shot to make a mark on Woodstock's strong basketball history. Ladies and Gentlemen, Basketball season is here and is off to a flyer!

After some dedicated practice and hard work, the Woodstock boys basketball team has started their season by winning their first three friendlies. The first game was against the surprisingly short Welham boys team. Though they were quite short, They were full of surprises. When the game started it seemed that it was going to be nothing more than a straightforward walk in the park for the boys as they raced to an early 9 point lead. As the game wore on Woodstock never seemed like they were going to relinquish their lead. They were constantly attacking the opposition with one fast break after another. It was all smooth sailing until the 3rd quarter when out of the blue, Welhams suddenly became a lot more accurate. After trailing by almost 15 points throughout the first half, Welhams suddenly were only 7 points away. This brief scare was easily pushed aside as Woodstock regained their initial bravado and continued to decimate their opponents. The game ended 42-26 in the favor of Woodstock. The second game was against the "mighty" WybergAllen team. After I missed the game I asked P.E teacher Mr. Luukkonen how the game was. His reply was "it was a tight game, the team barely won. It ended 55-11." The third and final game was against Woodstocks main sporting rival. Doon School. The game was always going to be the most intense of the lot and consequently had the largest turnout of fans. The moment the game started, the fans realised that they were definitely getting their expectations met. With injuries to Tadit and Captain Kakivi, the game had a very aggressive edge to it. The Doon School even had five of its players fouled out after they constantly failed to deal with Woodstocks speedy players. The game finally ended with a score line of 42-21, with Woodstock outscoring Doon by double their score.

These results were definitely good news to a team so heavily unfavored to win anything this year that people are actually predicting Woodstock to finally lift the Win Mumby trophy after missing it the last 5 years. If these results are anything to go by, then we will have a great season to look forward to!

The Controversial Sport of Woodstock

Ahh time for a little tour down conspiracy/controversy lane. This weekend midlands played host to Woodstock's all time most controversial game. The one game that never ever ever ends with all parties happy...Dodgeball. The night began on a sour note when teams began stealing players to join their own teams. After an initial period of frustration, the game finally started. The first game was contested between the 12th graders B teamand the 11th grade all korean team. After a long drawn out game, the 11th graders managed a comfortable victory with the game eventually ending with 3 juniors against 1 senior. The next game was between the 12th grade A team and the 11the grade A team, definitely the most anticipated game of the evening. After an amazingly tight game, the seniors managed to snatch victory in a match which was seemingly impossible for them. the controversial moment of the game being when 11th grader Gaurab Adhikari was declared out 3 times in the space of a minute. This fueled the 11th graders to become extremely aggressive. Making them just throw the ball without aiming. Basically playing like a bunch of blind kids in a shootout. The Night ended with the same game as both of the teams reached the finals. In a dominant display, the 11th graders, with the help of senior Pranit Budhathoki destroyed the 12th graders in a one sided affair. After the game, The 11th graders were furious with how the refereeing was conducted. There was even a moment when an 11th grade spectator had to be held back from attacking the Ref!

Inter House Sports and All That Jazz

Bonjour mes amis,
Finally we have had some sort of sports. It's been a while.
Inter house cricket finally took place. Though unsurprisingly, it ended with all three teams winning one game and losing the other. The Merlins seemed to be the team to beat and technically, they did have the highest run rate meaning they should have won(no shock there) but sadly, the rules never said it was going to consult the run rate to decide victory.(The Merlins victory blockade still in effect I suppose.) As good as the Merlins might have played, the best player of the day was without a doubt Tejaskar Rana of the Condors. His knock of 57 was highly entertaining for the spectators and highly infuriating for the "Mighty" Eagles bowling attack. It seemed as though they simply did not know what to do as Rana was hitting them all over the park. The other entertaining point of the game must have been the amount guys playing who didn't have a clue of what they were doing.(Not really surprising in Woodstock.) There were some talking points in the game regarding certain LBW (leg before wicket) decisions and players getting frustrated at each other, but I guess that's the beauty of the "Gentleman's game" in Woodstock. Inter house basketball was also an interesting affair, with the condors simply mauling everyone in each division. There were games such as the inter boys Merlins vs Condors which stand testimony to their destruction. In a game which seemed to be pretty evenly contested, the Merlins ended up losing 14-48, more than triple of what the Merlins were able to score. The Merlins were at least able to salvage the top spot in the inter girls division, giving them second place in the end of it all. The Eagles on the other hand were wrecked by one poor performance after another. Quote fitting for the team which sniped the sports day trophy from right under the noses of the Merlins. Well hopefully these sports are just a sign of things to come.

The Misfortunate Underbelly of Sports

Today is a very sad day in the world of sports. It's one of those days that people wish never happened. It's one of those events that one can actually call a tragedy. Yet with all this, it can only be classified as an accident. During an intense soccer game between Stoke City and Arsenal, young Aaron Ramsey was on the receiving end of a career threatening tackle, which left his foot practically in another zip from his body. The tragic part of this whole ordeal is also the fact that the player was only 18 years old. I believe that no matter what team one supports or what beliefs they may have, we as human beings should react to such a situation not with heckling and laughter but with remorse and pity for the young player. The fact that the player was so young and had already established a name for himself in the sport shows not only that he is an amazing talent but also sadly someone who hasn't been able reap the full benefits of complete education. This leaves him with two options, the first being to remain mentally strong, recover over a year or two and then try to return to the sport or to find the closest burger joint in town and start learning how to flip patties. In the context of Woodstock, I feel this is an important lesson. In a community where soccer is definitely the most followed and most played sport, one must understand the possible consequences of sports and the value of an education. Sure the injury can be written off as a one off thing but can the gravity and future repercussions of the situation be really ignored? Heres hoping to a speedy recovery for Aaron Ramsey.




Thanks to MW2Funnies for the video.

Here's a picture for those with slow connections.




Picture courtesy of goal.com. Thank You!

BEASTLY!

There are times in life and video games when one must do something different to achieve happiness. Today my friends, I am going to do something different, monumental, legendary... I am going to talk about Sachin Tendulkar's monumental 200 run performance. This was something the whole world should have seen, an aging Tendulkar creating records never thought possible, especially at the ripe age of 36! 200 runs by one man is definitely something to remember. The other record which he created almost went unnoticed, most boundaries in one inning, a massive 25 boundaries... that's a hundred runs from from boundaries alone!!! After such a performance, the pavilion in the Gwalior stadium was named after him. In the context of Woodstock, it comes right in time to inspire hidden cricket players to try out for the team. The performance was definitely something to marvel and will definitely be remembered for ages to come. Hopefully, our team will be replicate something even half as good!



Thanks to tkmondal for the video
Picture Courtesy of BBC

Sportless...

This week seems to be clearly one not for sports. Quite depressing. There were meant to be basketball team tryouts but it turns out they were just a hoax. Apparently, these basketball tryouts were held just for the Korean Television Station. Its cases like these that just leave me wondering why. The Cricket team tryouts were also held this week but was met with a much higher turnout, meaning many more clowns trying for the heck of it. Student X was so enthusiastic about it that when he had to do some Fielding practice, he tried to field without using his hands. Also, when he had the chance to throw the ball back to the bowler, he decided to throw under-arm. Though this seems very gloomy, there was some good news. My sources have informed me that the moment hostel opens up, the new and improved HPL will start as well. The HPL, Hostel Premier League for those unaware, is basically an expanded version of last semesters RPL. The last time the HPL was held, it ended in disarray with people accusing the referee's of being biased. This time around let's hope its nothing like that. Anyway, that's all from this sad week, hopefully there will be sporty days on the horizon.

The First Post

Welcome all to a first-of-its-kind blog. A blog solely about sporting events in Woodstock. First off, I would like to congratulate the boys soccer team for once again proving why soccer in Asia is constantly improving. Their 9-3 dismantling of the staff team was definitely one for the enthusiasts and everyday spectators. The game itself started on quite a bright note for the staff team who raced to an early two goal lead with goals coming from teacher/dorm parent Mr. Tim Raby and Mr. Suman Mitra , they had definitely been practicing and were clearly up for it. This initial setback only served to spur on the boys as they tried to fight back immediately. The boys fought back with a goal coming off the boot of sensational rookie Benjamin Thapa. The goal put the staff under immense pressure as the boys continued their relentless attacking. Their attacking play was soon rewarded as midfield machine Gaurab Adhikari snatched a well taken goal to equalise. The game then took an intense turn as Thapa managed to grab another goal to give the boys a well deserved lead. The staff, now trailing by a goal, decided to go for the jugular and put the pressure on the boys. Their efforts immediately bore fruit as they struck back with a super effort from Mr. Raby again. At this point it seemed as though the staff were going to begin fighting hard to assert their supremacy, but it was simply not be. Charismatic midfielder Temjenmoa Jamir apparently then decided to start playing serious by opening his account with a well taken goal, giving the lead back permanently to the boys. With the scores now 4-3, the boys were in cruise control and began scoring for fun. Thapa scored right after Jamir for his hat trick, he was clearly enjoying this. Jamir followed Thapa's example by scoring his second goal of the night. He was to end the game as the highest scorer with 4 goals. The last goal came from the tireless MinJae Park who completed the rout with a superb goal. Fair play to the staff though, nabbing three goals is probably the best they could have hoped for. On another note, combat sports seem to be on the rise. Both Boxing and Karate have been labeled as the "fun" things to do during the weekends. In an environment with vicious monkeys and dangerous dorm parents, I think this is probably the best way to keep ones self safe. The Boxing itself is actually an improvement on last semesters efforts. The team now has a punching bag and 5 pairs of gloves with wraps. Well that's all for this post, watch out for the next post... We might be hitting the Cricket Pitches!