Hockey Club Pakistan’s green turf to turn blue next year

MoU signed as officials promise to complete work in 18 months.

KARACHI: A new addition to the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP), the blue turf, has been promised by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and Sindh sports authorities after an MoU was signed for the task.

The Sindh Sports Department will bear the total cost of the installation of the new turf as well as the upgradation of the venue.

Sindh Sports Secretary Mohammad Siddique Memon, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government, conveyed that the complete project will cost around Rs57 million.

“Our target to complete the project is 18 months and hopefully we will be able to achieve it,” Memon told reporters at the HCP yesterday.

The PHF secretary Asif Bajwa termed the addition a beneficial boost for the game.

“We are thankful to the Sindh government for supporting the national game so strongly,” said Bajwa. “The new turf and upgradation will help revive international hockey at this venue which has hosted many major tournaments in the past.”

He said the spread work at the HCP include extension of seats, introduction of parking lot and repair-work on the sewerage.  To a query, the secretary said it would be good for the country to have three to four venues accommodated by the blue turf besides green-turf stadiums.

“We will not face any issue in future like we suffered in Olympics when we had no blue-turf to prepare our team. We will have enough options for both the surfaces.”

In return for the government’s support in the venue’s installation and upgradation, the PHF will provide the facility of HCP to players of Sindh, especially those from Karachi. It will also train coaches of the province as per the agreement.

Bajwa defends team’s progress despite Ipoh failure

Bajwa downplayed concerns shown by former Olympians after Pakistan finished
last in the Azlan Shah Cup last month in Ipoh, Malaysia.

“Our target is next year’s World Cup and we are on track. As far as this event is concerned, we already said that there will be experiments.

“We must not panic and be patient. From 1995 to 2000 we failed to win a single medal and that continued later on.

“But if you assess things after 2008, we have won two gold medals and a bronze medal in major events that shows our progress. We are confident that the team will achieve the target of World Cup 2014.”

The former Olympian also defended youngsters who failed to perform in Azlan Shah Cup.

“To criticise players on the basis of one tournament is not appropriate. The same players won bronze at the Champions Trophy and a gold medal at Asian Champions Trophy last December.”

Meanwhile, the secretary said no consideration was being given to revive the selection committee, saying the current selection process which is headed by the team management will continue.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2013.