Technical hitch stalls team practice

MUMBAI, August 6: A broken water pipe at the National Stadium disrupted practice session of the Indian hockey team which arrived here tod...

MUMBAI, August 6: A broken water pipe at the National Stadium disrupted practice session of the Indian hockey team which arrived here today from Patiala. With the area around the sprinkler system that feeds the turf dug up, team coach Vasudevan Baskaran settled for a strenuous two-hour workout.

Officials at the stadium said that the repairs will be done tomorrow, so that the team may get some practice. With the junior national team also arriving in the Capital tomorrow, a delay in repairs could affect the training schedules of both the sides. The Shivaji Stadium turf which is in a pitiable condition cannot be used for practice.

The senior team are expected to play practice games against the juniors, the Border Security Force and Air India Academy.

Meanwhile, chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran expressed satisfaction with the month-long camp at Patiala saying: 8220;We are training hard for the Sydney Olympics.8221; He refused to comment on team strategy for the South African tour.

Captain Mohammed Riaz said thatthe focus of the Patiala camp was on 8220;physical fitness and penalty corner conversion. We tried out several penalty corner set pieces. Hopefully we will be able to get some goals.8221;

Riaz also complimented the youngsters in the side. 8220;They are shaping up well; they played well in practice games. It remains to be seen how they fare at the highest level.8221;

He, however, said that the team would be missing defender Dilip Tirkey and forward Baljit Singh Dhillon. 8220;Tirkey gives us a lot of confidence and Dhillon is a class act,8221; he said.

Juniors in visa delay

Story continues below this ad

The Indian Hockey Federation IHF finds itself in a spot as the Netherlands refused visas to some junior players. The youngsters are scheduled to leave for Amsterdam for a four-match Test series on Monday August 9 as they play their first match the very next day August 10.

Sources said that the visa officials wanted to interview some of them as they were going abroad for the first time.

This is not the first instance that the nationalteam has had such trouble. The Dutch embassy had delayed visas for the team leaving for Utrecht World Cup last year, as the departure was timed soon after the Pokhran nuclear test.

The juniors play four matches in the Netherlands before going to Poland for a six-nation tournament starting on August 23. It was learnt that Polish visas will be stamped only after the Dutch give clearance.

Story continues below this ad

Meanwhile, the IHF is already in touch with the Dutch embassy. With Saturday and Sunday being holidays, officials are hopeful of getting visas by Monday evening so that the team can catch a late night flight to Amsterdam.

The officials, sources said, are also working on the possibility of rescheduling the matches in the Netherlands.