Bhubaneswar:Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, which was the venue for the prestigious Hockey Champions trophy in 2014 and World Hockey League finals in 2017, indeed had a ‘faulty’ turf.

The issue had first come to the fore during the Hockey World League finals when the Indian hockey had mentioned that a particular portion of the turf had ‘bumps,’ which has obviously affected the penalty corner conversion process for every team.

“Yes, the turf had humps and bumps. It might have been there from the time it was laid out. There was problem in the base,” Shaun Goudie, General Manager of sportsgroup told stick2hockey. His company is now engaged in laying new turfs.

Skipper Manpreet Singh and coach Sjoerd Marijne had pointed out the fault in one of the press conferences held during HWL Finals. There were reports of small water puddles being formed on the pitch.

Though no official complaint had been filed, Hockey India CEO Elena Norman had then confirmed the turfs will be changed ahead of the Hockey World Cup.

“The new turfs are being shipped from Germany. We are installing the shock pad. The stadium turf should be ready by June, at least before the rain starts,” said Shaun.

The turfs on both the main pitch and the practice pitch is being changed. The old turfs which have been removed are likely to be laid down elsewhere.

“Since the previous ones are not very old, they can be put to use,” said Shaun.

Kalinga Stadium, meanwhile, is going through a revamp as two additional galleries are being put up to meet the swelling crowd.

The Hockey World Cup scheduled to be held from November 28 to December 16 in Bhubaneswar.