The second Men's Senior National Hockey Championship would be held from September 23, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that the matches will be played at the city hockey stadium and MEG Grounds, Hockey Karnataka Secretary and former India goalkeeper A B Subbaiah told reporters.
Haryana had won the inaugural edition held at Bhopal last year. As many as 36 teams, including defending champions Haryana, have confirmed their participation in the championship, Subbaiah said. The teams also include five teams from institutions like Air India, Services, Indian Universities, Indian Railways, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Hockey Bhopal, Subbaiah said.
Meanwhile a report in Deccan Herald says that the profile of hockey is at an all-time low after London 2012, where the eight-time champions lost all their matches and ended up at the bottom of the 12-team competition.
“In such a context, it would be ideal to start the process of building a squad with a long-term perspective and Senior Nationals offer that chance, with finding fresh talent being the main goal.
As such, Hockey India selectors and government observers will keep a close watch on the players here, with the Champions Trophy in Melbourne (December 1-9) and the second Asian Champions Trophy in Doha (November-December) being the upcoming tournaments for the national team,” says the report, adding that a mix of promising youngsters and the stalwarts of Indian hockey will be in action in the 10-day meet which concludes on October 2.
“Defending champions Haryana will be fancying their chances along with Punjab, Air India, Services and hosts Karnataka,” adds the report.
According to a report in The DNA, the serious title contenders are expected to be defending champions Haryana, last year’s runners-up Karnataka, Air India, Services, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Hockey Bhopal and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana will have in their ranks ace Indian midfielder Sardara Singh but Sandeep Singh is not well and will most likely not play. Karnataka will be led by drag-flick specialist VR Raghunath and will have among others Vikramkanth (vice-captain), SK Uthappa and Pundalik Bellary. The other internationals expected to turn out are SV Sunil, Ignace Tirkey (both Services), Sarwanjit Singh (Punjab), Tushar Khandekar (UP), Shivendra Singh (AI), Gurvinder Singh Chandi (Punjab) and PR Sreejesh (TN).
On the opening day, the mouth-watering clashes include Haryana vs Hockey Bhopal (Pool A) and Odisha vs Tamil Nadu (Pool G). Both matches are crucial for the teams and a win is most likely to see the team top the group.
