Two turfs. One amazing World Cup
A unique Women’s Hockey World Cup played out on Poligras
Poligras Provides the Stage for a Masterclass in the Modern Game
This year’s Women’s Hockey World Cup was like no other. Uniquely held across two countries, both the Netherlands and Spain staged another chapter of hockey history on Poligras turfs.
In the end, the story played out as the World Rankings would have predicted with some electrifying hockey from the world’s best four teams in the semi-finals.
Argentina beat Germany with an amazing show of skill led by Maria Granatto and the Netherland’s stole victory from Australia’s HockeyRoos, leaving the top two teams in the FIH World Rankings to battle it out in the finals.
An electrifying tournament with a classic ending
Netherlands clinched victory from Argentina in front of a packed stadium at the Estadi Olímpic de Terrassa in Spain saving their best performance until last. A true team effort was epitomised by their final goal of the game. The break-away score which began in the Dutch defence was tucked away by 19 year-old Felice Albers to secure their emphatic 3-1 victory.
The tournament was a huge success, with Chile emerging as the unexpected darlings of the event, finishing 3rd in their pool to qualify for the cross-over matches in their first ever World Cup.
Star players shone, in particular María José Granatto (ARG) who has player of the tournament and won the winner of the Poligras Magic Skill Award, which was voted by hockey fans around the world.
The event was notable for the phenomenal come-back from injury of Netherland’s legend Eva de Goede, who returned at the 11th hour to play in her home World Cup which is her 4th World Cup tournament. Her awesome reverse stick goal in the pool match against Chile set the Wagener Stadium alight.
World Cup turf technology is Bluer. Greener, Better.
With a total of 149 goals across 44 games, there was no shortage of action on the Poligras Platinum GT turfs which contained Green Technology originally developed for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
This Green Technology uses sugar cane in the manufacture of the turfs, which provides an environmental performance that was unimaginable when the Wagener Stadium hosted its last World Cup on a green Poligras synthetic surface in 1986.
“We are delighted to have been chosen by the FIH for another major event and to be trusted by so many of the participating teams as their training surface of choice.”
Top Ranked Women’s Teams in the World Choose Poligras
Where coaching teams are constantly looking for the edge on their competition, 10 of the 16 teams who battled it out for World Cup glory in Terrassa and Amsterdam this summer stepped out onto familiar ground.
Finalists Argentina and semi-finalists Australia and Germany as well as England, Spain, India, Japan, Korea, Ireland and China all train on Poligras. In a tournament of more variables than usual, the surface provided the majority of the teams with the consistency of their training ground.
Marginal gains apply to the teams behind, as well as on, the surface
Just as the coaching teams need to be myopic about the detail, so too is the Poligras team that developed and laid the World Cup’s surfaces. Paul Kamphuis has captained the development and installation of the hockey surfaces for 5 Olympics and 4 Hockey World Cups and oversaw the delivery of the Poligras surfaces in this year’s two World Cup venues.
“We work closely with the athletes, facility managers, coaches – the whole hockey family – to innovate in ways that enhance the sport and help grow the game without negative consequences.
“The Poligras Platinum GT pitches at this year’s World Cup adopted the green technology developed for Tokyo2020 and have been laid with a deep understanding of the local construction practices in each World Cup venue to ensure they perform as well as possible. We are delighted to have been chosen by the FIH for another major event and to be trusted by so many of the participating teams as their training surface of choice.”
The Women’s World Cup showcased the women’s game on another level. As eyes turn towards the 2023 Men’s World Cup in India, Poligras will set the stage for another heartbeat moment for the game in what is set to be another great piece of hockey history. The bar is high and the future is exciting.
2022 Women’s World Cup courteously of World Sport Pics.
