JULY 15: Scotland and golf seem synonymous. Today, the first gentleman we meet before boarding the flight from Chennai to Heathrow is a golfer, an avid one at that, and an administrator too. To Dilip Thomas golfing is a mission. He is flying with us up to London to watch the British Open. Not surprisingly, he recalls the history and tradition of golf courses in Scotland where we are headed for the World Cup qualifier hockey championship. It is a long haul, nine hours and 45 minutes to be exact, on a British Airways 747-400 in which a large proportion of passengers is heading to the United States, Chicago in particular. Almost everyone we interact with talks about a son or daughter employed lucratively there.
While waiting for a connecting flight to Edinburgh, we chance upon the Director of International Office in the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Tom Barron. He is returning to base after interviewing students at Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai for admission at the University. He is simply amazed by the sharp intellect and grasp of Indian students and tells us about how Britain is now opening the doors to software professionals. " The Blair initiative," he says, is what has prompted educationists and industrialists to seek Indian expertise. The Scots believe, at least that's what Dr. Tom Barron tells us, that golf as a sport began in Scotland in St. Andrews.
At the Edinburgh international airport we are in for a shock. One of the two boxes of our photographer, containing the scanner and lenses is missing, lost somewhere in Heathrow. Formalities connected with drafting a complaint with the British Airways office are gone through but we are pleasantly surprised to learn from the lady at the desk that the box has been found and will be delivered at the hotel. We drive to the centre of the town, the Calton Hill, to the Parliament House Hotel, an old, typical British structure, with a fireplace and antique furniture. Unable to locate our names on the computer, the lady at the desk, Elizabeth, is apologetic about the mess up by the travel agency but agrees to take our voucher downloaded from the internet as evidence and lets us have a splendid twin room.
Planetfieldhockey.com.July 16: The lady driver of our taxi is unable to locate the Sports Centre at the Edinburgh University in Peffermill. A chance sighting of the Indian tricolour ends what seems an ordeal - the meter ticking away - and we locate the arena. Fortunately for us, the Indian team is at a training session in sunny weather, with Cedric D'Souza, the coach, shouting instructions in a penalty corner drill. The Indians seem happy and in good spirits. We run into Nick Irvine, the Media Officer, who explains the features of the Media Centre, located about 50 metres outside of the ground's fencing. Nothing seems to be in order, less than 24 hours before the start, but officials assure us everything will be ready by 2 p.m. We ensure our internet connections are in place and then stroll through the throbbing Princess Street. Tourist coaches criss cross the roads which are full of men, women and children. With daylight available till 9 p.m. the streets are crowded. We see at every street corner a bagpiper in colourful costume entertaining curious tourists. After all what is Scotland without a bagpiper? On return from the Sports Centre, our taxi driver, again a lady, not being able to follow our Indian accent, drives us straight to the Parliament Building. It takes quite a while for us to explain that we stay at Parliament House Hotel and not in the Parliament!
July 17: We arrive early enough at the Media Centre. Everything there is chaotic. Inadequate space, the photo-copier and even the telephone lines are not working. Tension builds up as the Media Officer begins to field questions. The organisers are sympathetic to the needs but the technology, new to many, of using a sim card gadget to be connected with the PCs proves to be complicated. Our photographer has to rush back to the Hotel in a vehicle provided by the host to file a picture to Chennai well ahead of the deadline. We run into Patrick Rowley, perhaps the oldest living hockey writer, at the Stadium. He is in Edinburgh just for the love of hockey, and not particularly on assignment. We also meet George Brink, who runs the Field Hockey site and doubles up as a videographer for the Canadian team. We see a row of videocameramen shooting every piece of action in the ground. Almost every team has a video equipment, and we find trainer Shaju shooting the action assisted by C.R.Kumar. The Indian players watch every match till late in the evening along with the coach who celebrated a quiet birthday on Monday. Things improve palpably at the Media Centre, but communications continue to be dicey.
July 18: The Scottish Hockey Union offers us the facility of transport to and from the ground after the day's programme. Toby Careless, a computer programmer and a qualified hockey umpire, is our Good Samaritan. He notes down the time we want him at the hotel and the time for the return. It is a great blessing, in the light of the weather conditions and the difficulty in hailing a cab or finding any other means of transport late in the evening near the University, located in the outskirts of Edinburgh. We have a friendly visitor to our room, and that is none other than Paul Lissek, the German theoretician and now coaching Malaysia. He is here to observe all the 16 teams. He joins us as we leave for the ground. Equipped with a video-camera, he spends the whole day shooting. He is happy that Cedric is back at the helm of coaching and predicts an India-Spain final. We reach the Media Centre early enough but the chaos continues. The new technology of sim card insertion into an egg-like contraption to establish a dial tone does not work for many. A photographer from Belgium struggles the whole day to send a few pictures to a group of newspapers back in Brussels. A pair of former players from Canada, Hari Kant and Andrew Griffith, give every match live on their web-site, Planetfieldhockey.com, which has a tie up with the International Hockey Federation. India turns in only a mediocre performance in the first match, but Cedric remains optimistic that the team will peak.
July 19: Another long and monotonous day at the Sports Centre. Early morning rain relents when the programme begins. Amidst expectations India takes the field against the Kiwis. Despite a creative performance in the midfield, a snap goal pushes the favourite into the arms of defeat raising doubts of the team making the grade even. Cedric remains unperturbed, plans the next move encouraged by his close friend and guru, Paul Lissek. At the Media Centre, there are apologetic letters from the Media Officer and the Chairman of the Organising Committee about the failure in the area of telecommunication and the reasons for it. The letter states the lack of time to take permission from the local authorities to dig the road across the ground to lay landphone cables. The letter expresses hope that the situation would be set right by the week-end. Among the sidelights noted is the interesting fact of a father, Shiv Jagdey, former Canadian coach, who is now with the U.S. team. His son, Ronnie Jagdey, dons the Canadian colours in the same tournament. And what is more, Ronnie scores twice for Canada against the United States! It is difficult to sum up the feelings of the coach. Is Shiv happy that his son scored twice or is he unhappy because the team he coaches lost?
July 20: A fairly bright day with white clouds spread all over as we drive to the ground. The newspapers are full of golf news from St. Annes, where the local icon, Colin Montgomerie plays a fantastic round of golf. The focus continues to be on Tiger Woods' form, or the lack of it. In such a situation hockey takes a back page, only a filler so to say, detailing the defeat of Scotland against Japan and how the team will not be there in Kuala Lumpur. Roger Self, the Tournament Director, feels sad for Scotland not making it despite all the efforts and resources thrown in to get the team in. The Executive Board of the FIH meets for the first time in a full business session. President Els van Breda Vriesmann and Secretary, Peter Cohen, visit us at the Media Centre, after getting a full briefing from the Media Officer about the problems faced in telecommunications. Happily, the landphone lines are getting ready, five days after the start of the event. We run into Ku Ku Walia, former International and now a member of the Umpires Committee, and he recalls his days as a player and umpire. His father, Gian Singh, at 94, still enjoys reading about hockey. Bangladesh earns the gratitude of the Belgian team for losing 2-4 against France. This has helped Belgium to the second stage. The Belgians have come thoroughly prepared for cooking their own food with the assistance of two nutritional experts and a portable gas cooker. At the Pollock Halls, where the teams are lodged, cooking inside the campus is prohibited. However, Toby Careless, the most energetic of officials among the Scottish Hockey Union steps forward and accommodates the gas stove in his home kitchen. However, that does not work out as the Belgians prefer to make their own arrangement. Meanwhile, the superstition of the Russian coach, who refused to stay in Room No. 13, fearing a bad result for his team, makes no difference as Russia eventually finishes at the bottom of Pool D.
July 21: Damp weather following heavy overnight rain give a lethargic mood. There is tension in the Indian camp as the team prepares for the crucial match against Egypt. Everyone we meet talks about India's chances, some lament the state to which Indian hockey has slumped. India survives a scare in the first half and then makes it to the second round, yet remains very unimpressive. The injured Lazarus Barla, nursing a fractured finger, is sent home for treatment. As stage one comes to a close there is confusion over the draw of pools for the next. The debate goes on with the chief functionaries of the FIH meeting here for the first time, and finally around 5 p.m. (9-30 IST) the pools are finalised. The TD sends a terse note stating what is published in the official programme stands good. Some coaches are furious that they have to be kept waiting for such a long time not knowing who their opponent will be for Sunday. At the ground, behind the Restaurant tent, children enjoy hitting the ball into the goal contest and earn small prizes.
That goes on for the whole day, children swarming the second pitch to get themselves initiated to hockey on the synthetic pitches. The day's programme over, we take a long walk through the Princess Street in search of a restaurant for a Saturday night dinner. We run into Muneer Sait, one of the FIH judges for the event, who is accompanied by his son, Iqbal, a former state goalkeeper, now based in Chicago. Iqbal commends the performance of Jude Menezes as being the key to India's win against Egypt. The streets are throbbing with life, as people rest and relax in the pubs and move in and out of discos which abound in the heart of the city.
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