KARACHI, March 22: While several teams will be missing the 54th National Hockey Championship which rolls off on Friday at two venues, dilapidated and uneven pitches will be posing serious injury threats to the players.

Not only the absence of teams such as PTCL and Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) has taken the gloss off the championship, the synthetic surfaces at Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP) and UBL Sports Complex might well prove to be a nuisance for the players.

A visit to both the venues showed that surfaces are not suitable for the matches of the prestigious event as HCP has uneven and worn-out turf, especially at the penalty corner spots.

The HCP pitch laid in 2004 is defective and has uneven patches at several places. The uneven surface was also criticised by the Indian coach Gerhard Rach when the arch-rivals came to play one of the matches of the Pakistan-India series. The same surface also caused injuries to players during the inaugural Super Hockey League.

As for UBL Sports Complex surface, it is also defective having faulty civil work. The worn-out pitch is now in a bad shape and is certainly not suitable for the premier event.

Tournament director Hanif Khan admitted that the two surfaces were not suitable to host the prestigious event, saying the pitches were indeed uneven and could cause serious injuries to the players.

“I fully agree that both HCP and UBL Sports Complex have defective pitches which are uneven and there are chances of injuries to the players. The two surfaces are absolutely not suitable for the national championship,” the former Pakistan captain told Dawn.

“I went to inspect the two pitches along with assistant tournament director Jawaid Iqbal and umpires manager Shamsuz Zaman. I have also informed organising secretary Islahuddin Siddiqui that matches should not be played at these pitches. Islah also agreed but said we can’t do anything and have to organise the event since Pakistan Hockey Federation has provided the two venues,” Hanif said.

When asked why he was allowing the championship to take place on the sub-standard surfaces, the tournament director said, “we can’t stop it.”

While pitches might be causing trouble to the participants, the championship has lost some of its competitive value due to the absence of key outfits. Apart from PTCL, POF, other teams not taking part are ABL and Higher Education Commission (HEC). PIA will be defending their title in the event but, interestingly, Pakistan Customs despite being the hosts will not be featuring in the championship after being eliminated in the qualifying round.

Surprisingly, draws had to be prepared again when Azad Jammu and Kashmir refused to play at the last moment citing rains as the reason. However, Hanif said he would not be recommending any penalty on the team for refusing to play at the eleventh hour.

According to schedule, matches of most of the district teams would be played in the morning, while teams such as SSGC and Karachi would be enjoying privilege of playing most of the their matches either in the afternoon or in evening.

Schedule:

March 23: Quetta v Sargodha at UBL at 9.00am; HBL v Hyderabad at UBL at 10.30am; Karachi v Rawalpindi at UBL at 12.00pm; Army v Abbottabad at HCP at 10.00am; NBP v Peshawar at HCP at 12.00pm; Steel Mills v Wapda at HCP at 4.00pm.

March 24: Army v Hyderabad at HCP at 12.00pm; HBL v Abbottabad at HCP at 2.00pm; Steel Mills v Sargodha at HCP at 4.00pm; Pakistan Navy v SSGC at UBL at 2.00pm; Wapda v Quetta at UBL at 4.00pm.

March 25: Pakistan Navy v Karachi at UBL at 4.00pm; SSGC v Rawalpindi at HCP at 2.00pm; PIA v NBP at HCP 4.00pm.

March 26: Abbottabad v Hyderabad at HCP at 10.00am; Steel Mills v Quetta at HCP at 12.00pm; Wapda v Sargodha at HCP at 2.00pm; Army v HBL at 4.00pm.

March 27: Pakistan Navy v Rawalpindi at HCP at 12.00pm; PIA v Peshawar at HCP at 2.00pm; SSGC v Karachi at HCP at 4.00pm.

March 28: Winners of pool B v runners-up of pool D at 10.00am (E); winners of pool D v runners-up of pool B at 12.00pm (F); winners of pool A v runners-up of pool C at 2.00pm (G); winners of pool C v runners-up of pool A at 4.00pm (H).

March 29: Rest day.

March 30: Semi-finals:

March 31: Third place playoff at 10.00am. Final: 4.00pm.