Anita , Australia , 8 October : When the best hockey players in the Commonwealth battle for glory in Delhi, they’ll be playing on an Australian designed and manufactured pitch.
Sports Technology International (STI), Australia’s leading supplier of artificial turf and sports surfaces, installed the elite hockey pitch at the Major Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium in Delhi.
This historic stadium, which has been completely refurbished, was the main site for the FIH World Cup 2010 earlier this year. The new Poligras Olympia surface was widely praised and lived up to its reputation as the elite player’s surface of choice.
The turf is made with a low sliding resistance micro-fibre yarn built on an elastic layer that provides excellent shock absorption.
Using new-generation adhesion technology, the surface provides unmatched athlete and ball surface characteristics.
The Delhi pitch was completely manufactured at Sports Technology’s Dandenong, Victoria facility.
Sports Technology International is part of the Advanced Polymer Technology Group, a global company which develops high performance materials and coatings using advanced polyurethane technology.
The company designs, manufactures and supplies soccer pitches tested to the FIFA Football Quality Concept, AFL pitches, tennis courts, bowling greens, running tracks, indoor gymnasium flooring, outdoor netball and basketball courts and multi-purpose school playgrounds.
Sports Technology International holds accreditations with all major sporting bodies around the world, including FIFA, World Bowls, the International Rugby Board, the International Hockey Federation, the International Tennis Association and the International Amateur Athletics Foundation.
Dr Martin Schlegel, Managing Director of Advanced Polymer Technology, said, “The contracts for supplying World Cups and Olympic and Commonwealth Games products and services are hotly contested by organisations all around the world.
“Austrade helped Sports Technology at various major sporting venues over recent years, particularly with networking and introductions to key representatives for future events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 FIH World Cup.
“These relationships were cemented through Austrade’s Business Club Australia (BCA) program during the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and again in China for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,” Dr Schlegel said.
Business Club Australia (BCA) is the Australian Government’s official business networking program at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It is a platform for boosting business connections against the backdrop of the Games.
Manager, Ashley White said, “During 22 industry events over 11 days of competition, we expect more than 2000 business people to get together to do business at BCA events. Key sectors include advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, sustainable building, mining, ICT, creative industries and healthcare, among others.
“Since its inception at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, BCA has helped generate $1.7 billion in international business outcomes for Australia,” Mr White said.
Sports Technology International is one of 47 Australian companies that are delivering on contracts worth over $83 million for the Games. These companies are providing a range of services such as pyrotechnics, design of Games venues, IT consultancy, logistics and coordination of the Queens Baton Relay, security and broadcasting.
The introduction of Australian suppliers to international games and events has been a joint effort of Austrade, Industry Capability Network (ICN) and the Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat (AISES). This initiative has the support of the Australian Government’s Supplier Access to Major Projects (SAMP) program and the state governments of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.