HOCKEY

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25089, 22 January 1947, Page 2

HOCKEY

TOUR OF INDIAN TEAM POSTPONED HOCKEY ASSOCIATION’S DECISION After final arrangements had been almost made for the tour of an Indian all-services hockey team in New Zealand, the difficulties of organising transport from Australia to New Zealand for such a team had been so extreme that the tour had had to be postponed, said the secretary of the New Zealand Hockey Association (Mr W. H. Down), at a meeting of that body last evening. Two cable messages had been received from India, he said, asking for help in transporting the team; but exhaustive inquiries into the possibilities of booking passages for such a number of persems had proved abortive. Before the Wanganella suffered her mishap, arrangements had been set in train for the Indians to travel on that ship, she being the only connecting sea-link between Australia and New Zealand, said Mr Down, and* if she were out of commission then no hope could be held 'out for alternative transport. The com-mander-in-chief, India (Viscount Wavell), had cabled to the New Zealand Association regretting that circumstances prevented the Indian hockey team from visiting New Zealand. The association decided to take no further action in the matter until another exchange of letters had taken place between the Indian authorities and themselves A proposal from Australia that an Australian team be sent to the Dominion had been considered by the association last year, said Mr Down, and the Australian authorities had been informed that, since an Indian team was expected, it would not be possible to undertake a series oi matches with an Australian representative team. Since then, he said, the Australians had organised a Commonwealth competition at Perth, and those Australian players who lived as far away as Brisbane would hardly be in a position to visit this country at the conclusion of the tournament. Another letter from India, this time from the Indian Hockey Federation, which had its headquarters in Lucknow, was read to the meeting and was favourably, reviewed. The federation sought assistance in urging upon the governing body of the Olympic Games organisation the importance of including hockey in the events open for international competition, and asked that representation be made by the New Zealand Hockey Association to the New Zealand Olympic Games Committee, that players who were considered to be competent should be eligible to represent their sport at the games in 1948. It was decided that the New Zealand Olympic Games Committee should be approached on this subject.