KUALA LUMPUR: Defending champions Argentina have found themselves in a sticky situation.
The Argentines arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Buenos Aires on Nov 28 for the Junior World Cup (JWC) without their hockey sticks. Their equipment was stuck in transit flight from Amsterdam.
However, they trained at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil by borrowing hockey sticks from the Chile team. Argentina open their Group A campaign against Australia on Tuesday.
Argentina head coach Juan Ignacio Gilardi said they are frustrated at not receiving their equipment for the JWC.
"Our players have been using a set of special sticks in all our tournaments, and we really need them to play properly.
"I have been a player before and never experienced such a situation in my 20-year career.
"In the past, we had a situation when one of our players' luggage went missing but not all the equipment.
"Even our journey from Buenos Aires to Paris was not smooth as our transit from Paris to Amsterdam was too long.
"We contacted the airline, and they have promised to deliver the equipment but so far nothing from them.
"Argentina Hockey Confederation has helped us to purchase new equipment. And it cost us a lot of money. The airline should compensate us.
"However, we will not let this affect our team. Our players know how to adapt fast with the new sticks. We played a friendly game against Netherlands (Saturday), using the new sticks and we won 4-1 in the match that was played in three quarters.
"We are not sure when we are going to get back our hockey sticks but some players feel comfortable with the new sticks.
"We are happy to use the new sticks to train and start our tournament," said Gilardi, who was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2016 Olympics gold.
Argentina captain Inaki Minadeo said their performance would not be affected by using new sticks.
"I told my teammates to forget about what had happened (to the sticks) and just focus on the JWC," said Minadeo who scored six goals to help Argentina win the Pan American title. They beat Brazil (11-0), Chile (7-0), the United States (7-0) and Canada (6-1).
The other players to watch in the Argentina team are Bautista Capurro, who scored four times in the Pan American final and Joaquin Toscani, who was named Pan American Cup Player of the Tournament.