Lack of matches, finance & infra constraints impeding growth of Asian hockey

RAJGIR: The ongoing Asia Cup has been a competitive one so far with several results that were unexpected.South Korea playing out a 2-2 draw against India is a case in point. Even Malaysia getting the better of China in the first game of Super4s stage wasn’t something that was foreseen.

China and Japan’s performances against India were also brilliant.

Only by the barest of margins did the hosts — ranked eighth in the world after the latest rankings — were able to grab their wins.

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But for the tournament to become more competitive, the teams will have to improve and it’s only going to happen if they get to play top teams on a regular basis, like India, believes Malaysian coach Sarjit Kundan. “I mean we need to play a lot of international matches.

We are getting some, but not enough,” said the Malaysia coach.“After this, we might go to Australia to play some matches because I have good rapport with them. Even in Europe I get the chance to play with Belgium and Germany, but that’s not easy to get because of the Pro League calendar.”It’s not only the Pro League, but the entire international calendar is quite packed because of which even getting a window for the Hockey India League wasn’t straightforward.

Then there’s the financial constraints. A team like Pakistan, that has got a chance to play in the Pro League for the first time due to New Zealand’s pull-out, hasn’t been able to raise the full amount required to participate in the event. Reportedly, they have also not been invited for the upcoming Sultan Azlan Cup because of outstanding debt.There’s government interference, too, because of which Oman failed to make it to the Asia Cup despite winning the AHF Cup in Jakarta.Despite the challenges, Bangladesh coach Md Rahman sounded hopeful that things are likely to get better if they can get to play more matches even if it's against lower-ranked teams.“If we could have a league like the European Championships where there are different tiers, the weaker teams can play amongst themselves and then get promoted to the top-tier, it will hugely help the smaller teams,” said the coach.While he did rue not getting a chance to play African, South American and Oceania countries, he was quick to admit that a lot of it is also because the Asian countries lack a proper league and infrastructure required for the development of the game.One country that has all this is India and they certainly have raced ahead among the Asian teams in recent years — winning the Olympic bronze medal twice in successive years.Only time will tell whether we can see such a surge among other Asian countries, too. But Pakistan getting a chance to play in the Pro League is a huge positive not only for the country but also for Asia.