Asian Games: India coach Brasa blasts hockey turf

GUANGZHOU - India’s foreign hockey coach Jose Brasa blasted the turf at the Aoti hockey field after the two-time gold medallists thrashed Bangladesh 9-0 in their Group B men’s encounter here Wednesday.

“I am happy with the performance of the boys here. We had a plan to score six goals, but got more. We missed a few chances, but it was a good performance,” said the Spaniard.

Brasa said that it was a deliberate ploy not to use variations in penalty corner-conversions.

“We knew that the goalkeeper would not have troubled us, so we decided not to use many variations deliberately,” he said.

Brasa also slammed the turf for being more bouncy than normal, and the FIH (International Hockey Federation) saying nylon pitches, as are being used here, should never be used for international matches and the pitches should be given at least a one-year period to settle down.

“This pitch is not good for any game, specially international matches. I don’t know how such pitches are approved for international matches by International Hockey Federation (FIH). Only polypropylene pitches should be approved. Newly laid pitches take at least a year to settle down,” he said.

On the next match against Pakistan, Brasa said: “We will study how they are playing. We still have two days of rest and after that we will formulate a plan.”