Humphreys (centre) having a light moment with Eu and Ryder (right).
KUCHING: The newly installed artificial hockey pitch to be used for the 2016 Malaysia Games (Sukma) is expected to meet International Hockey Federation (FIH) global specifications.
The turf is located behind Stadium Negeri, Petra Jaya here.
The renowned Acousto-Scan Pty Ltd, an accredited FIH Test Institute from Melbourne, Australia, has given its nod of approval.
Its director Grant Humphreys, who conducted a performance
test on the pitch on Friday, was full of praise for the standards achieved.
“The work is very good. I’ve inspected the seams, the joints and they are all very good and within specifications meeting to FIH standard.
“Repairs done on the penalty spot is fantastic, in fact we can’t even see where the repairs had been done.
“This pitch will pass the global wet field (watered hockey field) standard and specification of FIH,” Humphreys told thesundaypost when met during the inspection.
Humphreys, who has some 20 years of experience in the field testing industry, was here to carry out on-site field testing to the new state hockey stadium for FIH compliance and certification on the newly installed TigerTurf Wett Pro surfaces (the synthetic grass brand used for the pitch).
Also present were the pitch chief installer Steven Ryder of TigerTurf New Zealand and Sunny Eu of Speedtrack Construction (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, the local agent for TigerTurf.
Before FIH could give its accreditation to the new pitch, grass samples and pitch data will be brought for testing at Acousto-Scan lab in Australia.
“Test will include ensuring the right thickness pad, the right materials and grass (carpet) analysing.
“The whole process would take a few days and the result might come out within a week,” said Humphreys who is also the Laboratory manager of Acousto-Scan.
Among the tests carried out were on the pitch’s energy restitution, surface resilience test, ball interaction (ball rebound and ball roll measurement) and play interaction (field grip and friction, slope construction of the pitch, smoothness).
The new turf was completed last Sunday following two months of installation work.
Acousto-Scan is also an accredited Test Institute for various sports governing bodies including the International Tennis Federation (ITF), International Rugby Board (IRB) and Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa).
Ryder, a New Zealander who has been involved in artificial pitch work for the past 19 years, also praised the installation work.
“The pitch is marvelous. The installers from Australia have done a really good job. I’m proud of them,” he commented.
The TigerTurf brand is used in stadia worldwide including the New Zealand North Harbour Stadium and Melbourne Stadium. It is also used at the Sarawak Hockey Stadium and SMK Paku hockey pitch.