Speaking on the prize distribution ceremony of the 25th Nehru Sub-Junior Tournament, Joe Sebastian, Director (Sports), Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, suggested introduction of penalty corner tie-breaker before straight away giving the 5-stroke penalty shoot out to decide winner of the matches that end evenly scored. “This will have more meaning than directly going for tie breaker shoot outs. More players are involved when the team gets five penalty corners. After all hockey is a team sport. Secondly, we have been traditionally weak in penalty corner conversion, and this might give motivation to penalty corner experts to do better, besides additing excitement to the specators. He requested Olympians on the dais to consider the suggestion.

Citing sports have to evolve with times, Joe quoted how five day Test matches led to 60-over One-Day cricket, 50-over ODI and now into Twenty20 version. “Our ministry recently got a proposal for Ten10 cricket format where the match is expected to finish within one and half hour. Therefore I wish hockey also catches up with innovations”.

Considering the fact that the teams here by and large struggle to score through penalty corners, he emphasized that the novel idea should be tried on experimental basis at junior and Sub-Junior levels before it is taken to senior and international levels.

Joe also invited people to come up with projects which the ministry can take for funding consideration. “We actually don’t get many good proposals”, he lamented.

Highlighting the work done by the Nehru Society, he said: “This Nehru Sub-Junior Cup could well be called Nehru Sub Junior National Cup because the field is truly national in character, with almost all States representing”.

Pic Captions:

1. Joe giving away the winners Cup to Jallandhar School team which defeated Orissa in the tie-breaker.
2. The runners up Orissa team
3. Nehru Society’s veteran and Olympian Nandy Singh giving Joe a meonto, as Shiv Kumar Varma Varma, the Society’s Secretary, looks on.
4. Winners Jalandhar team