NEW DELHI: Holders Bombay and runners up Uttar Pradesh are placed in easier pools for the 54th edition of the National Hockey Championship starting at Jammu from December 14,

In all, 32 teams are taking part in the championship, being sponsored by Lifebuoy. The teams have been divided into eight pools,

Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) president R. Prasad told newsmen here Nov 29 that the sponsors would give cash prizes of Rs 5,000 to the “Player of the Match” from the quarterfinals onwards. In addition, they would also give Rs 10,000 to the “Player of the Tournament”. A panel of judges comprising former internationals would be formed to select the players.

Mr Avtar Singh, secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association, who also addressed the press conference, said the league matches would be played on three grounds,

From the quarterfinals onwards, the matches would be held on only one ground.

Pool matches would be played on a round robin langue basis. The winners of each group would qualify for the quarterfinals; The quarterfinals would be played on knockout basis. The semifinals would be December 21 and the final on December 23,

The groupings are: Pool A Railways, Bihar, Vidarbha, Kerala, Pool B Bombay, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana. Pool € Uttar Pradesh, combined Universities, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Poo! D Services, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Manipur. Pool E Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal, Andhra Pradesh, Pool F Madhya Bharat, Maharashtra, Patiala, Goa, Pool G Karnatake, Bengal, Hyderabad, Assam. Pool H Indian Airlines, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Pondicherry,

Mr Prasad said though the IHF had earlier decided to hold nationals only at those places where facilities of Astroturf were available, this decision had to be changed because at present only four places had Astroturf. “We just cannot keep on holding nationals at these places, depriving other states from hosting the championship.” He said Jammu and Kashimir has been asking for the nationals for a long time and the IHF had decided to allot it to them this time to “promote the game and take it to a state which has never before hosted it”

Article extracted from this publication >> December 14, 1990

 

Article extracted from this publication >>