Poligras Tokyo GT – GT being "Green Technology" – is the name of the new synthetic turf system for hockey that has been developed by Germany-based outdoor sports surface supplier Polytan GmbH as official Global Supplier to the FIH (International Hockey Federation) for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The Gerd Wellen hockey facility at Crefelder HTC in Krefeld, Germany is the world's first installation of Poligras Tokyo GT.
Tokyo GT artificial turf with 60 percent biobased plastic used in the turf fibre (photo courtesy Braskem).
The hockey players at Crefelder HTC are delighted with the world’s first Poligras Tokyo GT, which was installed at the Gerd Wellen hockey facility in Krefeld in September 2018. Not only is the dark-blue playing field faster than ever before, but the turf fibres also consist predominantly of a biobased synthetic from Brazilian petrochemical and biobased major Braskem.
Renowned club
Crefelder Hockey und Tennis Club 1890 e. V. (Crefelder HTC) has nearly 600 active hockey players and is one of the most successful hockey clubs in Germany. The men’s field hockey first team has played continuously in the top division since 2001, winning the German championships in the 2005/2006 season and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 2006/2007.
Top-flight hockey tournaments are regularly held at the club’s own Gerd Wellen hockey facility, the most recent one being the German Field Hockey Championships (FINAL FOUR) in June 2018. The club, the city, and the state have jointly invested around EUR 500 000 in a new hockey pitch to ensure that the next round of the FINAL FOUR 2019 is also a resounding success in May 2019 and, because, the existing Sidney synthetic turf had become outdated and worn after 15 years of service.
Poligras Tokyo GT, which has been developed by Polytan with a view to the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, was the system of choice for the new pitch.
Poligras Tokyo GT is currently the best hockey turf in the world and we are delighted to be the first ever venue where it has been installed. We expect that many national teams will want to hold training sessions at our facility, said Crefelder HTC Club Manager Robert Haake
Two more pitches with a Poligras Tokyo GT system have since been planned and completed, in Mönchengladbach, Germany and China respectively.
According to Polytan, forward-looking investment in its sports facilities is a long-standing tradition at Crefelder HTC. The first synthetic pitch was installed as early as 1990 and it has since been replaced twice – in 2003 and 2018. When Poligras Tokyo GT was installed in 2018, the shock-absorbing base had finally worn out after 28 years and it was replaced with a 35 mm thick PolyBase GT elastic layer.
Lower environmental impact
The PolyBase GT elastic layer is the most recent arrival in the Green Technology product family of Polytan. The product PolyBase GT owes its sustainability to a newly developed binder for the permanently elastic bonding of granules whose manufacture produces lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The Poligras Tokyo GT turf achieves a better environmental balance by using the biobased plastic “I’m green” by Braskem, the world market leader in this field. Renewable raw materials make up 60 percent of the polyethylene (PE) base material for the filaments.
It is possible to increase this proportion to 100 percent PE base material, but at a higher cost.
TV friendly colour
Not only does the new material improve the eco-balance of the synthetic turf, but it also optimises the playing qualities of the surface: the ball roll distance increases by up to 25 percent compared with the predecessor product. This promises to make games of hockey even faster and more dynamic, with even more precise moves.
The blue colour of the new Poligras Tokyo GT hockey pitch has also a purpose. The blue playing surface has been all but standard practice at top-flight hockey competitions since the 2012 Olympic Games in London, UK. It sharpens the contrast with the yellow hockey ball and makes it easier to follow the progress of play. This benefits players, spectators and, above all, television viewers.
Crefelder HTC has even designed a playing field that exceeds the required dimensions of 100 x 60 yards (91.4 x 55 m) for the purposes of television coverage, which means LED perimeter systems can also be set up for television broadcasts.
