There was a construction boom of synthetic hockey pitches all over the world, except, that is, in India and Pakistan. Indian hockey is a funny story. But as far as Indian hockey was concerned it was dealt a tremendous blow on the synthetic turf of Montreal 40 years ago. A pre-Olympics tournament was held in 1975 that, Boria Majumdar noted in India and the Olympics, India decided to skip at the last moment. The decline of Indian hockey may be largely down to two factors: the weather in Montreal, and the chemical manufacturing prowess of a major American company.

Source: Mint August 09, 2016 03:11 UTC