Olympic Veterans Feel Turf Changed Art Of Hockey, Say 'Govt Must Use Our Experience To Improve The Game'

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In 1900–2000, Bhopal was a nursery for hockey, and the city produced around eight Olympians. The Free Press interacted with the veteran Olympians of the city to know what changed for them when they took part in the Olympics and what has changed in the game since then.

‘Govt should use our experience to improve hockey’

Olympian Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi said, "We had a lot of power when we had hockey in our hands, but when an athlete holds a pen after retiring from hockey, all the games we have played turn into experience. The government should include us in policy-making for Hockey and use our years of experience to improve this game for the youths and maintain the hockey culture here. When we used to come back without a medal, we had to hide ourselves as the public was not ready to accept that the Indian team could lose a medal in hockey. They always expected gold."

‘Turf changed hockey’

Aslam Sher Khan said, "Hockey changed after the 1970s when the turf was introduced. It killed India’s hegemony in Hockey. I wrote several times to hockey officials that we should not add turf to hockey as it’ll become hard for developing countries to install such infrastructure and it'll kill the game in their areas. My father, Ahmed Sher Khan, was a hockey Olympian too. He played in a team along with athletes like Dhyan Chand and Roop Singh.Till now, when people who watch hockey meet me, even after so many years, they recognise me. It feels good to get that recognition from the public." He added.