Sounds strage but true. A petty condom could have provided the much-needed thrust to Indian hockey.
The renewed vigour in India’s men and women hockey teams currently fighting for laurels in their respective Asia Cup tournaments could well be sourced from condoms that have gone into shaping the hooks of their hockey sticks.

After all, it is the hockey head that provides all the power thrust on the ball. And it transpires now that this tip could be laced with a condom.

That is exactly the claim of Sanjay Kohli, Managing Director of Jalandhar-based R K Sports, the manufacturers of renowned ‘Rakshak’ brand of hockey sticks.  He has hit upon the novel idea of using condoms to impart strength and a smooth finish to the hockey head.

Now consider for a moment, the latest exploits of three Tirkeys — Dilip, Prabodh and Ignace — on the hockey field in the ongoing men’s Asian Cup hockey tournament at Chennai. Mind you, all three use hockey sticks with condom as one of the ingredients.

Leave the men aside, at least 14 members of the national women’s hockey team currently playing in the Asia Cup at Hong Kong use the condom-powered hockey sticks, Mr Kohli confirmed to Deccan Herald.

Tough and strong
The players were feeling troubled by the increasing instances of blade-splitting and hood breakage in the hockey sticks when they played in freezing temperatures abroad. Kohli said the existing process of using a plastic net to piece together seven different pieces of mulberry wood to make the hook was not yielding desired results.

“The fact that hockey head takes the maximum impact when the ball is struck means that it has to be tough and strong,” he said, while explaining the intricate process for making a hook. The process  includes boiling, drying and binding wooden pieces on a machine before subjecting these to a refining process of sawing and polishing. The handle is then added to the hook.

“Initially, the idea of using condoms to piece together the wooden pieces seemed funny and embarrassing even to the workers in my factory. However, it clicked and showed results,” Kohli told the paper. 

He added that it gave a smooth and shining look to the hook, besides adding to its strength.

“We starting purchasing 100 to 500 condoms to be used in the factory”, Kohli said. This made the neighbourhood chemist highly suspicious of his motives.

An alarmed chemist actually landed at Kohli’s factory one day to inquire about the mushrooming demand for condoms inside the factory.

He returned satisfied only after Kohli showed him the process of manufacturing.