Oltmans to SAI: Get Bhopal Centre ready by March for WC preps

To prepare the senior men's national team for next year's World Cup, Hockey India's High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans and chief coach Terry Walsh have requested SAI to replace both the synthetic turfs at its Bhopal centre by March next year.
Both Oltmans and Walsh have expressed their desire to hold the senior team's final preparatory camp at the SAI's Central Regional Centre (CRC), Bhopal immediately after the second edition of the Hockey India League (HIL) in February before leaving for the World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands from May 31 to June 15, 2014.
The coaching staff comprising Oltmans, Walsh and coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik have also informed the Sports Authority of India that the final selection of the Indian team for the 12-nation event could happen after the conclusion of the preparatory camp.

The national coaching camp for the men's team is currently underway at the Bhopal centre till December 16. The coaching camp, which started from November 15, was being organised at the centre after a gap of five years by Roque Dias, Regional Director, SAI Bhopal.
The coaches have suggested that GREENFIELDFS TX synthetic surface, which will be used for the World Cup, and the Astroturf System 5 Synthetic surface should be laid in place of the existing two fields to get the team acclimatised with the new surface, which the top hockey playing nations have been using for years.