Camp cloud over league

Bangalore: The second phase of the Super Division hockey league began at the Sports Authority of India on Saturday amid apprehensions that any decision by the sports ministry to allot the men’s camp to the south centre may put the tournament into jeopardy.

The Karnataka State Hockey Association is seized of the issue although it has few solutions to bail the tournament out in case the men’s camp is scheduled in Bangalore. In fact, officials are clinging on to the hope that even if the campers come calling, it will be only during mid-October.

“The final day of the league is October 12. We have packed our fixtures in such a way that all 45 matches will get over in quick time. We hope the start date of the camp is around October 13, it will help us a great deal,” KSHA secretary K Krishnamurthy told TOI.

The SAI South Centre too has made it clear to the KSHA that the league will indeed be affected if the huge group of probables head southwards. “We already have the women’s hockey camp here. Once the men land, it will be a question of allocating turf time to three parties. That won’t be possible,” South Centre director Shyam Sundar said.

Bangalore and Patiala enjoy top priority during allocation of preparatory camps only because they house well equipped sports medicine centres. But in this case, Bangalore will be the best bet because a huge majority of the probables are already in the city, playing for top teams in the KSHA league.

“That is another reason why the camp should be in Bangalore,” said Krishnamurthy. “But it would be ideal if it comes immediately after the league. Right now, we are in touch with the Indian Olympic Association. We have urged them to consider our request. We will be following it up further.”

Whether KSHA’s request will be acceded to will be known on Monday after a meeting between the sports ministry and ad hoc committee. As it is, the committee feels it has devoted considerable amount of time to select the coach and probables as it gears up for tournaments next year, one of them being the double-leg four-nation in Chandigarh and Jalandhar in February.

Hence, camps and training are the panel’s focus, even if it means riding roughshod over the interests of the national-level tournaments that have been slated in the coming months.