JOIN USIndian hockey team’s chief coach Terry Walsh lashed out on Thursday as the national probables’ preparatory camp for the upcoming World Cup is being held here instead of cooler confines in any other part of the country.
Walsh indirectly took a dig at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and said his first choice for the camp was always SAI’s South Centre in Bangalore.
Asked if it made sense to hold a camp in conditions where the maximum temeperature is 43 degrees, Walsh sarcastically retorted: “Is there a choice? It’s not in my hands. I always wanted the camp to be held in Bangalore but for that we needed to put in place a new turf.”
“Bangalore’s climate is much more plesant. But in the end it’s all about inefficiency, poor plannning and poor management,” an angry Walsh said after the team’s training session in sultry conditions at the Major Dhyan Chand national Stadium here on Thursday.
“It is not us who suffers, it is the players who suffer,” he added.
The camp of the senior men’s team was shifted out of Bangalore in August last year because of a worn-out astro-turf at the SAI (South) Centre, which resulted in injuries to key players like Gurmail Singh, Harbir Singh, Rupinderpal Singh, and SV Sunil among others.
This year’s hockey World Cup will be held from May 31 to June 15 at The Hague, Netherlands where temperatures won’t be expected to cross 20 degrees celcius.
Walsh also rued the absence of an astroturf at places which are situated at higher altitude.
“Do we have turfs in hilly places? I would have loved to have the camp in such places but for that we need turfs. As far my knowledge, we have a turf in Manipur but all the facilities which modern day hockey demands are not there,” he said.