Glittering Hero Hockey Junior World Cup Trophy unveiled

World’s future hockey stars assemble in Delhi as the prestigious
FIH Hero Hockey Junior World Cup opens tomorrow
Hero Player of the Tournament to get INR 1,00,000 and a trophy

New Delhi, December 5, 2013: The festive hockey atmosphere in New Delhi, the host city for the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup, reached a peak today with the unveiling of the glittering Hero Hockey Junior World Cup Trophy. The glamorous unveiling took place alongside the announcement of various special awards during a unique function at the Lalit Hotel.

Mr. Kelly Fairweather, CEO, FIH, Dr. Narinder Batra, Secretary General, Hockey India and competing Captains unveiled the traditional Roger Danet Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup competition, amidst the global hockey fraternity.

The 11th Hero Hockey Junior World Cup sees the world’s 16 best Men’s junior national hockey teams, including five-time title holders Germany, fight for glory at the historic Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, from 6th to 15th December 2013.

Title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd. also announced a series of awards to further enhance the competitiveness and highlight the feat of the young guns including Hero Man of the Match, Hero Top Scorer and a Hero Player of the Tournament.

The Hero Player of the tournament will receive a cash award of INR 100, 000 and the Hero Top Scorer will receive a cash award of INR 50,000. A Hero Man of the Match trophy will be awarded after each match and from the quarter finals onwards the player will also receive a cash award of Rs.12,000

The Hero Hockey Junior Men’s World Cup is one the most anticipated events of the packed FIH calendar. It’s a platform where future stars showcase their skills, and fight to secure their progress to the senior national teams. Every National Federation considers this event as a true indicator of their developmental programmes and holds nothing back to see their efforts bear fruit. Truly exciting matches can be expected in the days to follow.

Mr.Pawan Munjal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., said, “I am delighted to see India hosting the Hockey Junior World Cup for the first time. We are happy to be the Title Sponsors of the tournament, which is the perfect platform for aspiring players to showcase their talent in order to be able to move into to their respective national teams. The fact that 16 teams are participating here is a testimony to FIH’s successful global programme to promote hockey and the ever-increasing universal appeal of the game. I wish all the participants at the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup a memorable stay in India and greater outings on the turf.”

“I hope to see the Indian team doing its best, and come out with a medal. The players have worked hard and certainly deserve a podium finish. We at Hero MotoCorp are committed to the development of hockey globally and in India. I wish to reiterate that commitment once again on this occasion of the unveiling of the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup trophy,” he added.

Mr. Kelley Fairweather, Chief Executive Officer, FIH, Said, “the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup is an ideal platform for aspiring youngsters to display their skills – a result of hours of hard work and dedication. We are happy to have this event on such a grand scale with the world’s best 16 teams on board. Like all of you, I also eagerly await to see who will win the title on 15th Dec”.

He further added, “India is an important destination for FIH in its global efforts of growing the game. Whilst hockey already has a large and passionate following in India, we see huge potential to grow this further. The FIH is committed to staging events in India providing live action to the meet the demands and capture the imaginations of this hockey-loving nation. We are working really hard to make the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup as entertaining and inspiring as possible to fans across India. We are excited to see the Junior World Cup live on Ten Sports. Fans can also follow the action on our Twitter account where videos of goals will be tweeted as soon as they happen. Competitions to win tickets and Hero Hockey Junior World Cup goodies will be posted on Facebook and behind the scenes action will be available on our YouTube Channel youtube.com/fihockey. We really take the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup seriously.”

Dr.NarinderBatra, Secretary General, Hockey India, said, “We started the year with hosting Round 2 of Hockey World League, and cap this exciting year with the staging of Hero Hockey Junior World Cup. We have lined up a series of events starting from the Hero Hockey World League Finals in a month from now running up to the Hockey World Cup in 2018”.

He further added: “India should now get behind their team and support them in a big way. Fan support can really make a big difference to the team’s success in a highly competitive event such as this”.

First Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup was held in 1979 in France. Since then ten editions have been held. After Pakistan won the inaugural gold, Germany won it continuously on four occasions before Australia, India, Argentina won once respectively. Germany returned to the podium in the last occasion when Malaysia and Singapore jointly hosted the 10th Junior World Cup.