Lee Valley — This was a crossover weekend when world hockey’s decision makers launched its new 5s format in Switzerland, as another of its flagship competitions, the FIH Pro League, began another round of games in the 11-a-side.
It was hard not to keep a watchful eye over proceedings in Lausanne. A cosy venue, one would assume a hefty marketing and event budget and a first real chance to get to see live Hockey5s at senior level for the first time. The FIH is set to play an expansive long game with its shorter version.
This truly was a new era for the sport, more so given the eye-catching comments made by International Hockey Federation chief Thierry Weil before the Lausanne event pushed back.
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Anyone who has doubts about Hockey5s, please watch the matches on watch.hockey app and make up your mind about this format. I recommend the following replays- India vs Pakistan, Malaysia vs Pakistan, Switzerland vs Pakistan and the final between India and Poland.
Regarding marketing budget as mentioned in the article, I didn’t see anything in this event which I have not seen in almost every other hockey event. The difference however is the enthusiasm of the Swizz. I never expected a non-hockey playing nation to show such interest in our sport even if entry was free.
Watched some of it, not a fan. Lacks the finesse and tactics of the existing formats. Will be happy to see it depart with Batra.
I have also watched some of it. It’s like watching a training exercise rather than a serious sport, fine for a short while but there is far too little ‘content’ to watch very much of it.