Singapore Sojourn: Tit Bits Here and there
Part II

Chile is one team here that draws lot of sympathy. It took almost 48 hours journey for the team to reach here via Frankfurt. The day they reached they had to play a match. And then the draw was also unkind. Within four day, three matches over, and they played Australia, Germany and South Africa in that order.

Chile coach Diego Amoroso is perhaps the youngest coach here. When I pointed out this to him, the team’s manager came qickly to add, “But, he is most experienced as well. He was assistant coach with us for the 2001 World Cup and was coach for the last junior world cup as well”. Diego is from Argentina, where he played for many Clubs”. This manager’s added duty is English translator during the press breifings.

Indian team manager Anupam Ghulati is a freelance journalist. He has been with the junior teams twice as manager this year, touring Argentina and Johor Bahru. So, I thought it fit to take his comment on the team, its prospects. “We will go match by match”, he said. Come on Anupam! Enough of diplomatics. Now that you are holding an official post, something is expected from you as well. Incidentally, same happened with another journalist in Kuantan. Indian manager Dhanraj Pilllay flatly refused to comment on match or any other aspect for the reasons only known to him. I think sometimes familiarity leads to contempt.

There are five London-Indians here. They stayed in Singapore for the first day, and then moved to Johor Bahru. Why? Says Baldev Singh Kalsi, “Singapore is costly”. They had come with a long plan to stay, but India’s early exit did disappoint them. “But we won’t cut short our stay. Watch all India’s remaining matches, however we will visit many places of interest to make up for the turf losses.

One active old man you often see in Seonkang Sports Complex is Ajit Gill, the 80 plus gentleman, who represented Singapore at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. “Clean food, no drinks, no overeating are the secrets behind my fitness. I look fitter than my son-in-law you know”, says Gill. MS Gill or KPS Gill, it looks all these Gills are always fitter. He says, “There are five of those Olympics are still alive. None of them comes to hockey because, you know, they don’t think this is hockey the sport they know. One fellow is house-bound as his wife is sick”.

There are lot of people who are on visit to Singapore and found time to visit and watch hockey. One such is Kuldeep Singh. He works in USA, and now on visit to Singapore. He is happy about Indian team despite the early exit from the competition. “They are really talented, just they missed the medal round does not mean they deserve any condemnation, I will like to tell India, let this team continue”, Kuldeep says.

From Sengkong MT station to LRT where you change lines to reach the hockey stadium, one often see lot of school kids traveling with you with all sorts of sporting equipment. They come to Sengkong Sports and Recreation Centre, not for the hockey. Their interest is swimming pool and basket ball. On one occasion I spotted four boys with hockey sticks as co-travellers. These boys are from Sengkong Higher Secondary School, their school has 25-boy School Team. I asked to name one hockey star they like. Pat came the reply: “Jaime Dwyer”. I asked how to you know him, did you see him play?. The 12-year old said, “No, I saw in YouTube, he is fast”. The kids are high-tech, undoubtedly.

To be continued