Dhyan Chand National Stadium gets blue turf ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics
With an eye on the surface Indian hockey teams would be playing on in Tokyo, top officials have decided to replace the worn out green turf with a new blue one at Dhyan Chand National Stadium. After missing out on gold in Asiad 2018, the Indian men and women will have to qualify for the Olympics now.
As per IANS reports, the decision was taken by a committee made of officials from the Sports Authority of India, the sports ministry and Hockey India in order to give the players proper practice ahead of the gala event.
"It was unanimously decided that since the turf is being changed, it is better to use one which will make the experience of players more in sync with the upcoming Olympics," an official told IANS.
It has also been reported that the official said while Hockey India didn’t ask for the change specifically, the committee decided to go with it. Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams have been gearing up for the FIH Series Finals that have been scheduled to be played in Bhubaneshwar and Hiroshima, Japan, respectively.
After they missed out on a qualifying place in the Olympics through the Asian Games in 2018, the teams would now have to reach Tokyo by making it through the Olympic qualifiers scheduled to be played in October and November.
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