LAUSANNE: The International Hockey
Federation (FIH) on Tuesday named
the Netherlands pair of Robert Van
der Horst and Lidewij Welten as the
2015 Players of the Year in the men's
and women's categories
respectively, while India's
Akashdeep Singh missed out on the
junior player award.
The Netherlands made it a hat-trick
of award wins as Joyce Sombroek
picked up the women's Goalkeeper
of the Year for the second year in a
row, while Ireland's David Harte won
the men's Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Rising Star of the Year awards
went to Germany's Chrisopher Ruhr,
who picked up this award for the
second time in his career, and Great
Britain's Lily Owsley.
"The winners of this year's FIH
Hockey Stars were decided by the
combined results of an online vote
that was open to everyone and a
peer vote from international
athletes," FIH said in a statement.
Netherlands captain Robert van der
Horst, who picked up the FIH Rising
Star of the Year award 10 years ago,
has played exceptionally well
throughout 2015.
While the 31 year-old defender
provided consistently impressive
performances at the Argentina
Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-
Final and Hero HWL Finals, one of the
highlights of his year came in August
when he led his team to the
EuroHockey Championship title in
London.
Van der Horst beat Belgum's centre-
half John-john Dohmen, German
midfielder Tobias Hauke and the
Australian duo of Mark Knowles and
Christopher Ciriello for the award.
Hauke and Knowles bagged the
award for 2013 and 2014.
Also, it is notable that two defenders
-- Knowles and van der Horst -- have
been declared the best in the last
two years.
Van der Horst's compatriot,
midfielder Welten, continued to
impress for the women's team, her
attacking flair and skill wowing fans
around the world.
Her ability to turn matches continues
to contribute to the Netherlands
dominance of women's international
hockey in a year in which they won
the FINTRO Hockey World League
Semi-Final, finished runners up at
the EuroHockey Championships and
came fifth in the Argentina Hockey
World League Final.
Another hugely influential player in
the FIH world number one ranked
team is goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek.
With someone as reliable as
Sombroek standing as the last line of
the Netherlands defence, the
remainder of the team plays with
huge confidence.
Ireland men qualified for their first
ever Olympic Games since 1908 and
no-one will begrudge much of the
credit going to David, the Green
Machine's goalkeeper and captain.
Harte's performances in the FINTRO
HWL Semi-Final ensured both a
fighting chance for Ireland to get to
Rio and his own position as Best
Goalkeeper in that tournament. It
was an accolade that he picked up
again at the EuroHockey
Championships 2015 when Ireland
won a bronze medal, Ireland's first
medal at a major international
event.
Women's Rising Star of the Year --
Great Britain and England's Lily,
emerged as a potent strike force for
her teams in 2015. She played a
hugely important role in England's
EuroHockey Champions victory by
scoring the goal that took England to
shoot-out in the final, which they
went on to win.
Since he first wowed the fans with
his speed and skill at the Junior
Hockey World Cup in 2013, taking the
FIH Rising Star of the Year award that
same year, Germany's Ruhr has not
looked back. The attacking
midfielder was an integral part of
the German team that took silver in
last year's EuroHockey
Championship, was named Man of
the Match in the final of the
Argentina Hockey World League
Semi-Final in Buenos Aires, and was
also joint top scorer at that event.
Ruhr beat Indian striker Akashdeep,
Australian Blake Govers, and two
others for the award. Akashdeep
played kewy role in India winning
the bronze medal in the HWL Finals
in December.
Players will be presented with their
awards in their respective home
countries over the coming weeks.
Along with these awards, the FIH will
also be awarding a Coach of the Year
and an Umpire of the Year Award as
part of Hockey Stars 2015 which will
be announced on Thursday. http://m.timesofindia.com/sports/ho...-best-hockey-players/articleshow/50731854.cms
Federation (FIH) on Tuesday named
the Netherlands pair of Robert Van
der Horst and Lidewij Welten as the
2015 Players of the Year in the men's
and women's categories
respectively, while India's
Akashdeep Singh missed out on the
junior player award.
The Netherlands made it a hat-trick
of award wins as Joyce Sombroek
picked up the women's Goalkeeper
of the Year for the second year in a
row, while Ireland's David Harte won
the men's Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Rising Star of the Year awards
went to Germany's Chrisopher Ruhr,
who picked up this award for the
second time in his career, and Great
Britain's Lily Owsley.
"The winners of this year's FIH
Hockey Stars were decided by the
combined results of an online vote
that was open to everyone and a
peer vote from international
athletes," FIH said in a statement.
Netherlands captain Robert van der
Horst, who picked up the FIH Rising
Star of the Year award 10 years ago,
has played exceptionally well
throughout 2015.
While the 31 year-old defender
provided consistently impressive
performances at the Argentina
Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-
Final and Hero HWL Finals, one of the
highlights of his year came in August
when he led his team to the
EuroHockey Championship title in
London.
Van der Horst beat Belgum's centre-
half John-john Dohmen, German
midfielder Tobias Hauke and the
Australian duo of Mark Knowles and
Christopher Ciriello for the award.
Hauke and Knowles bagged the
award for 2013 and 2014.
Also, it is notable that two defenders
-- Knowles and van der Horst -- have
been declared the best in the last
two years.
Van der Horst's compatriot,
midfielder Welten, continued to
impress for the women's team, her
attacking flair and skill wowing fans
around the world.
Her ability to turn matches continues
to contribute to the Netherlands
dominance of women's international
hockey in a year in which they won
the FINTRO Hockey World League
Semi-Final, finished runners up at
the EuroHockey Championships and
came fifth in the Argentina Hockey
World League Final.
Another hugely influential player in
the FIH world number one ranked
team is goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek.
With someone as reliable as
Sombroek standing as the last line of
the Netherlands defence, the
remainder of the team plays with
huge confidence.
Ireland men qualified for their first
ever Olympic Games since 1908 and
no-one will begrudge much of the
credit going to David, the Green
Machine's goalkeeper and captain.
Harte's performances in the FINTRO
HWL Semi-Final ensured both a
fighting chance for Ireland to get to
Rio and his own position as Best
Goalkeeper in that tournament. It
was an accolade that he picked up
again at the EuroHockey
Championships 2015 when Ireland
won a bronze medal, Ireland's first
medal at a major international
event.
Women's Rising Star of the Year --
Great Britain and England's Lily,
emerged as a potent strike force for
her teams in 2015. She played a
hugely important role in England's
EuroHockey Champions victory by
scoring the goal that took England to
shoot-out in the final, which they
went on to win.
Since he first wowed the fans with
his speed and skill at the Junior
Hockey World Cup in 2013, taking the
FIH Rising Star of the Year award that
same year, Germany's Ruhr has not
looked back. The attacking
midfielder was an integral part of
the German team that took silver in
last year's EuroHockey
Championship, was named Man of
the Match in the final of the
Argentina Hockey World League
Semi-Final in Buenos Aires, and was
also joint top scorer at that event.
Ruhr beat Indian striker Akashdeep,
Australian Blake Govers, and two
others for the award. Akashdeep
played kewy role in India winning
the bronze medal in the HWL Finals
in December.
Players will be presented with their
awards in their respective home
countries over the coming weeks.
Along with these awards, the FIH will
also be awarding a Coach of the Year
and an Umpire of the Year Award as
part of Hockey Stars 2015 which will
be announced on Thursday. http://m.timesofindia.com/sports/ho...-best-hockey-players/articleshow/50731854.cms
