Bhubaneswar, December 8: The hectic schedule of the ongoing Hockey World League (HWL) Final came in on for sharp criticism from competing teams, especially Argentina whose coach Carlos Retegui said he would take up the matter with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
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Incidentally, the FIH did not keep a single rest day in the entire 11-day tournament, which meant some teams had to play back-to-back matches on consecutive days without getting enough recovery time. Olympic champions Argentina is one such team which was a victim of FIH's poor scheduling. Argentina had to face India within 24 hours after a hard-fought 3-2 quarterfinal win over England on Thursday (December 7).
Even though Argentina won the semi-final 1-0, Retegui was furious with the scheduling of the eight-nation tournament.
Triunfo 1-0 vs India 🇮🇳 partido de Copa Libertadores! Llegamos a la final de la #HWL2017 Impresionante este equipo! Orgulloso de ser parte! Vamos Leones Vamos Argentina 🇦🇷 Gracias por los saludos y el aguante! 💪🏻👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/qLsV5nyZcw
— Juanma Vivaldi (@juanmavivaldi) December 8, 2017
"The Indians had a day's rest and were in better condition than us as we played yesterday.
"Australia, in nine days, has played four matches. We have played four games in six days. It's not fair," Retegui said after the semi-final win on a rainy day in Bhubaneswar.
"This type of tournament format is not fair. Yesterday, at 10 pm we got to know that we are playing the semi-final today. We will take it up with the FIH," he added.
FT! A tight contest goes the visitors' way as India lose to @ArgFieldHockey in the Semi Final of the Odisha Men's #HWL2017 Final in Bhubaneswar on 8th December.#JunoonJeetKa #INDvARG pic.twitter.com/7nYlx0a6FO
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 8, 2017
To make matters worse for the FIH, the decision to continue with the first semi-final between India and Argentina in sub-standard playing conditions due to the continuous downpour has also raised a few eyebrows. Bhubaneswar has been hit hard by a severe cyclonic depression in Bay of Bengal due to which the city has been witnessing relentless showers since Friday morning.
Though hockey is played under rain just like football, the playing conditions at the Kalinga Stadium were far from conducive as patches of water in different parts of the turf made life difficult for players in both the seventh-eight place classification match as well as the first semi-final.
"We were ready and wanted to play today. We don't know why two semi-finals are not played on the same day," said Retegui.
Heartwarming to see such enthusiastic & passionate crowd at Kalinga Stadium for semi-final between @thehockeyindia & @ARGFieldHockey despite the torrential downpour. The spirit of hockey conquered the rain. Thank you #Bhubaneswar for your overwhelming support. #HWL2017 #INDvARG pic.twitter.com/yC5u5FQbVV
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) December 8, 2017
India coach Sjoerd Marijne too said the conditions were tough to play hockey in and hampered the natural game of his players. "Both teams could not play their best game. You have to deal with the circumstances. You can't complain. Both teams had difficulties. It is what it is," Marijne said.
MASSIVE thank you to all of the Hockey fans that came to the Odisha Men's #HWL2017 Final in Bhubaneswar despite the rain! ☔️ 💦
— FIH (@FIH_Hockey) December 8, 2017
AMAZING crowd tonight!! 👏 🙌 @TheHockeyIndia @CMO_Odisha @odisha_tourism @TicketGenieIN pic.twitter.com/cJoec7YLtB
"I don't know the exact rule, but it's good everyone knows when a match can be stopped and restarted the next day. You need to ask FIH that. We have been asked to play and we played."