DOHA (Qatar): The demolition of Al Rayyan Stadium, which housed the only synthetic turf in Qatar, in 2014 has brought outdoor hockey action to a halt.
But there is good news for hockey lovers in the Qatari capital as the Qatar Hockey Federation (QHF) has received a land on the Doha outskirts for a proposed synthetic turf that would revive outdoor hockey in the country after 2014.
“There’s a hope as QHF will have a synthetic turf again for hockey besides there will be facilities for cricket and rugby also. We received the confirmation in April this year,” one senior QHF official told Khel Updates on Monday.
QHF organised its last league in 2014 after which the original site was demolished for the purpose of FIFA 2022 World Cup stadium.
In 2016, the QHF, which was formed in 2009, started the indoor league at the German International School.
The Qatar national team played their first-ever Tests against Oman and Brazil in 2012, and subsequently also hosted
several international competitions.
Hockey developed a lot in the last one decade with several Qataris showing a lot of interest while the national team did reasonably well at the regional tournaments.
Qatar won a bronze at the West Asia Cup in 2013, and also finished runners-up in the Qatar Friendship Cup, which also
featured Pakistan, India and Malaysia.
