DUBAI The United Emirates Hockey Club (UEHC) tour to Singapore yielded fruitful ties that promise more tours in the future which will benefit players from the UAE.
An inspiring performance saw the travelling team finish third in the tournament and they certainly caught the attention of other teams which led to negotiations about more tours in the future.
“There was a school team which had come from Zimbabwe. Hockey has been inactive in that country for almost a decade but they are now in the rebuilding phase. When they saw our boys play they immediately approached us and were keen to host us in the future,” said UAE Hockey Federation coordinator Raza Abidi.
“We are happy to promote hockey in the UAE and Zimbabwe and having tours in the future can strengthen our ties,” he added.
Looking further ahead, Abidi said the federation was planning to invite school teams from Zimbabwe and Singapore in December giving the UAE junior teams a chance to play against more international teams.
“During our way back from Singapore, the Zimbabwe youth team coach visited Dubai and we had some fruitful meetings in which the focus was to promote hockey at the junior level,” Abidi said.
Captain of the visiting UEHC team to Singapore, Ahmad Al Sayegh said he was disappointed with the result after finishing third in the one-day tournament.
“It was a disappointing result as our boys could have achieved a higher finish. But we lost to the eventual champions Singapore Police Club.
“The positive from the tour was that there are more teams wanting to invite us and also come over to the UAE.
“So we hope we can see more tours that can help in honing the skills of our boys at the international level,” he added.
A total of 16 teams participated in the tournament hosted by Balestier Lions Hockey Club based in Singapore and all the matches were played on astro turf.
“The format was five-a-side which was relatively new for us and our boys have not played on astro turf on a regular basis.” he said.
