KARACHI, April 20: Malaysia and Singapore junior hockey coaches on Tuesday also complained about the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP) pitch, saying it was bumpy and uneven. "The pitch is definitely bumpy and uneven from several places. It is because of that bumpy surface that it is difficult to stop the ball during short corners," Malaysia coach Sarjit Singh complained during a post-match press conference.

The complaint from Malaysia was the first as Japanese coach Hideki Numada had also pointed out about the wrinkles and uneven surface of the HCP. Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the hosts of the ten-nation tournament which also serves as Junior World Cup qualifier, is yet to take remedial measures, although the polygrass 2000 surface was laid five month ago.

Sarjit was of the opinion that the defective surface would affect the performance of the team but added he would not make it an excuse for not scoring more against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

"The pitch is definitely bumpy, uneven and of course it will affect teams performances. One can see how Pakistan were deprived of scoring more goals through penalty corner striker Imran (Warsi) against Singapore today.

"It was because of uneven surface that the Pakistanis wasted some four short corners as the ball did not stop due to faulty surface which is at both the ends and at other places," he said.

Singapore coach Ronnie Yeo approved Sarjit's views, saying the surface was uneven and bumpy. "It was our first match and have not played before on this surface. But I think it (surface) is indeed bumpy from few places," Yeo said at a post-match press conference.