Hockey
tour to
IndiaT
he following are extracts from
the tour diary written while on
tour to India in August this
summer. We took a young
development squad of 17
players, and won three of the
six matches in tough humid conditions.
Sat 14 August 2010 Charles Marshall
On Saturday we started our journey to
Heathrow. With such a long plane journey we
found the on-board films entertaining and plane
food interesting - curry! We eventually arrived
in Delhi feeling tired, all except Taylor Buller
who had inexplicably managed to get upgraded
to Business Class!
Sun 15 August 2010 Nuno Akarapongpisak
Stepping out of the air-conditioned airport, the
warm humid air hit us, and everyone started to
complain how much worse it was going to be
during training. Little did they appreciate I'm a
keeper and how it was going to kill me!
Having checked into the City Park Hotel, we
dropped off our bags before leaving for a quick
tour around the Tomb of Humayun (a Moghal
Emperor).
Mon 16 August 2010 Dougie Denton
After breakfast, a few of the party were
measured by a local tailor for suits, while the
rest went to investigate the local shops. To the
Motilal Nehru Sports School for a practice
session, which actually turned out to be a
rehearsal for the opening of their new astro the
following day! As the guest team we were
treated to singing and dancing displays before
playing a practice game. Afterwards we did
some skills with the youngsters, and they
called Corbett Sykes-Moore "big momma"
because of his goalkeeping kit!
Tue 17 August 2010 Taylor Buller
The afternoon saw the opening of the MNSS
hockey stadium by the Minister of State for
Hayana. The first half was not a success as
we went three down by half-time, a result of
having had to stand for ages in the hot sun for
the pre-match ceremonies. Unfortunately, with
King's fighting back strongly, the game was
abandoned due to torrential monsoon rain.
Hearts and pride were intact however as the
crowd chanted "UK", before every team
member managed to shake hands with 300
schoolboys in the stand!
Wed 18 August 2010 Matt Harden
Having dragged each other out of bed at
5.30am, we headed off for revenge at MNSS.
Fortunately all the team's pre-tour fitness paid
off as we fought back twice to draw 5-5. We
then headed for our second breakfast of the
day, enjoying a traditional Indian repast with
the players in their school refectory. It was
good to share stories about our different school
life and swap email addresses.
Thu 19 August 2010 Rob Ellis
Our guide explained that the Taj Mahal was
built by Akbar the Great as a memorial to his
third wife. We were all impressed with the
white marble building, and our guide showed
us how to take photos of the reflections in the
fountains. Lunchtime was spent waiting for AS
and A2 results, but congrats to skipper Owen
Davies who is now off to study medicine. After
lunch we set off to Agra Fort built of red
sandstone by Akbar; we were impressed by
the various palaces - one especially for his
concubines.
Fri 20 August 2010 Owen Davies
We went to Akbar's Tomb, a spectacular
symmetrical building. Akbar was famous for
his tolerance of other faiths - he successively
married Christian, Muslim and Hindu wives.
On the way to lunch we visited a Sikh
Gurdwara (Temple), which our warrior Sikh bus
driver proudly showed us around. Our third
game was on grass at the Delhi Public School
Aluredian
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