Kuantan pitch unsatisfactory, but ...

06/03/2003

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) conducted an inspection and knew
that the synthetic pitch at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium was far from
satisfactory for the MHF-Milo-Admiral-NSC Junior Hockey League, but they
had no choice but to utilise it.
MHF secretary S. Satgunam said yesterday the pitch was worn out, but
since there were no other pitches for Pahang Telekom to play on, their
hands were tied.
"Before the start of the JHL, a team of officials visited all the
proposed venues around the coutntry and we found that the Kuantan pitch,
and the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (PJMC) pitch were poorly
maintained and worn out in some places.
"We decided not to use the PJMC pitch for safety reasons. The Kuantan
Stadium was fit to play, but not up the mark," said Satgunam.
PJMC were lucky because there are many pitches to select from in the
Klang Valley - they now use the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil as
their home venue.
The Kuantan Stadium, built in 1996 for the Malaysia Games, will next be
used for the Malaysian Schools Sports Council's Under-18 and Under-12
boys' and girls' tournament on May 23-29 while the Asian Schools Boys'
championship is scheduled from July 1-9.
"The stadium belongs to the Kuantan Municipal Council so repair works
and maintanance comes under them. We gave them a chance this year because
we did not want to deprive Pahang Telekom of a chance to play in the JHL.
"But if there is no improvement by next year, we will not have any
matches there," said Satgunam.
Pahang Education Department's assistant director (Sports Unit) Amir Abu
Bakar has assured that the pitch, lighting and terraces will be in working
order for the schools and Asian championships, but for now, the JHL
matches will be played on a sub-standard pitch.
Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak-MPK) team manager Joseph de
Silva did voice out his concern after playing at the Kuantan pitch on Feb
15, but he did not put in an official complaint to the MHF.
Now, Tenaga Nasional will travel to Kuantan on Sunday to play a do-or-
die match in their quest for the Division One title. The match will be an
explosive one, but on a sub-standard pitch.
(END)