Punjab Gold Cup hockey from September 22 to October 2
CHANDIGARH: The second edition of the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament will be held from September 22 to October 2.
After reviewing the progress of construction work of stadia on Monday, deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhvir Singh Badal said that all the six floodlit hockey stadiums in the state would be ready by August 30 before the commencement of the event.
Apart from hosts India, arch-rivals Pakistan, New Zealand and Argentina are the other three participating teams who have already sent their confirmation, he said.
The hockey venues in Government Barjindra College stadium, Faridkot; Olympian Prithipal Singh stadium in PAU Ludhiana; GNDU stadium, Amritsar; stadium in Rajindra College, Bathinda; and Sports Complex, Mohali would be ready by August 30, while the remaining multipurpose stadiums in Bathinda, Sangrur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Mansa, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana would be in proper shape by September 30.
Stressing upon the need for providing proper facilities to the spectators, Badal said all stadiums should have proper canopies, fiber glass or steel seats, big screens on all the four sides of grounds, proper parking, toilet facilities and fire fighting arrangements.
Underlining the need for creating an unified maintenance authority for all these stadiums, Badal asked secretary sports PS Aujla to put the proposal for creating a statutory self financing body.