Combined One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL) team, named as Citizen Hockey XI, made a winning start in the 6th Hockey India Sub-Junior Girls National Championship, which started with this match against Bombay Schools, another Hoc-Key member of HI, at Nagaon in Assam.

Nippy forward Manoni Paria (pic), student of Duria Niharkanta Madhyamik Sikshakendra, struck the only goal of the match.

The match was the event opener played in the wee hours of today (the 5th Jan.)

In order to encourage schools hockey, Hockey India has so far given affiliation to two school based teams, Delhi based NGO Hockey Citizen Group’s (this NGO runs widely acclaimed One Thousand Hockey Legs Project) and century old Mumbai Schools Sports Association.

OTHL is being run five cities – Delhi, Chennai, Puducherry, Kanpur and Kolkata since 2008. Since the Nagaon is close to (though 15 hrs train journey) Kolkata, the NGO decided to send a combined team from Kolkata.

Though OTHL has been taking part in the Sub-Junior Nationals for the last two years, its first time girls too entered the fray.

Citizen Hockey XI team is in Pool A, clubbed with teams from Bengal, Himachal and Kerala besides today’s loser Mumbai Schools Sports Association.

Citizen XI will take on biggie in the pool Bengal tomorrow 7.30 AM

The present team is trained by Nashim Uddin and managed by Shukla Ghosh, under the overall guidance of OTHL volunteer Imran Azad.

The team: Bera Sudeshna (gk), Khataun Harjeera, Shree Juma, Dasmal Dipshika, Modi Monisha, Chakrabarti Rima, Soren Safali, Malik Priya, Sheilk Sarmina, Dasgupta Megha, Ghosh Sirsha, Namoni Pariya, Shaw Hritika, Dutta Riya, Parveen Ayesha, Das Hiramani, Das Anuradha, Das Sujata. Coach; Nashim Uddin Manager: Shukla Ghosh