As the hooter blew when captain Vicky Verma failed to tap in a loose ball twice, the curtain on the third edition of the Nehru-Dhyan Chand Cup came to a happy end.

One Thousand Hockey Legs supported Vicky’s Shapurjat School — which defeated fancied teams such as GBSSS Mahrauli in the league and the defending champions GBSSS Saket in the semifinals – won their Silver, with newly formed but traditionally known Union Academy School taking the crown at a deserving score of 1-3.

Delhi based Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society’s season opener thus threw up reasonable fare in front of somewhat surging crowd.

The tournament in question is significant for Delhi Schools hockey, as it seeks to fulfil a long felt need.
This warrants a bit of background portrayal.

New Concept: One thing certain about any kid taking up sport is to play in the competitions. Tell them a target tournament they will punctually come and practice, and will excited to getting selected for the team. Else, regular training and fitness things hardly do not enthuse.

Local hockey in general and schools hockey in particular suffered exactly on this count. Hardly do any tournament exist for the schools kids to make enough fun.

For instance, how many tournament opportunities are available for school kids in Delhi. Few and far between. Private schools play among themselves not more than two tournaments. Education Department of Delhi offers a Pre-Nehru and Inter-Zone events. The departments twin events has so much in stake that only Academy or State Centre team win.

Against the bleak contemporary scenario, the concept of Nehru-Dhyan Chand Cup comes as a whiff of fresh air.

The efforts put in by the Society’s Secretary Kukoo Walia is worth mentioning.

The idea behind the Cup is to provide fresh faces their first competition.

Growth: It started three years ago.

Just 8 teams, all from One Thousand Hockey Legs, took part in the first year, which GBSSS, Begumpur won in style defeating fighting GBSSS Saket (3-2). Brothers Rohit Gharai and Rahul Gharai, backed up with a strong midfield did the trick for them.

Second year witnessed quantum jump in terms of size and duration. A girls’ section was added. Boys teams increased thrice. Teams other than OTHL also given entry.

GBSSS Saket won SBV Ashok Nagar in the final. The impregnable defence consisting of Sushil Chauhan and Pawan, and the guile centre-forward, nimble footed Nakul (he struck two goals) sealed the Cup for them.

Highlight of first and second edition was that each participating team members were given a jersey, which proved out to be a great development.

It is gathered the organizers have to bite their purse to manage the increased needs, and it necessitated downsizing the Cup for the third edition.

Year 2015 Sum Up: This year only twelve teams were invited: seven from OTHL and five from general pool.

Three teams of four pools battled out in their quest to top the pool, and it threw up exciting results.

It was heartening to see each match in every pool turned out to be close affair except matches involving newly formed Union Academy, a team almost like Hockey India League, as best of talent scouted from National Stadium regulars.

The surprise was the rise of Shahpurjat team. The team from Mahrauli which had the likes of Baljeet Singh and Rupinder Singh at the defence was expected to top the pool, but the crack outfit Shahpurjat had different idea.

The team jelled well in decimating pre-tournament favourite Mahrauli, the 4-0 defeat was totally unexpected.

The Shahpur Jat team that wore a particular jersey were adamant to wear the same for the final, as it proved ‘lucky’ against Mahrauli.

The semifinal against the defending champions was the icing on the cake.

When the team was trailing 2-3, lanky Vicky struck through a penalty corner to level and then, getting adequate help from inside forward Ram, the thundered the match clincher just seconds before the hooter.
The same fashion, Ajay, all of 14 years, in 8th standard, scored a goal in the final, but it came too late, as the dominating Union Academy had already amassed three goals despite their goalie Gaurav holding the fort firmly.

Right winger Kesav Tyagi, who won the Man of the Match epithet subsequently, made all the difference between the teams and got his his team winning the eluding Cup.

Visibly over-aged Arpit Yadav and Ankit Tamta too struck a piece.
The Highlight: This year event marked a few new strides. Firstly, a stick manufacturing company ‘Alfa’ presented a composite stick for each Man of the Match. The announcement of which was anticipated with pin drop silence and the winner getting full claps. The company also put up a stall for first five days. I think it went well.

Secondly, the political class took note of the Cup. A local Member of Parliament and even Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia turned up during the tournament, which is appreciable considering the fact that the event is not mass based.

Future Focus: Age control. Refreshment for teams. Enlargement of field without compromising on quality, wider audience and broader outlook.