Senior mens Nationals may see light again

The tourney, which was kept in the cupboard since a long time, is looking for a revival

Joe Williams

The Senior National Hockey championship, which has been kept in the cupboard for long, will be soon reopened, if everything goes well, according to the newly appointed ad-hoc committee member of the Indian Olympic Association.

“There are many tour lined up especially for the juniors. After the Argentina, Europe and the four-nation series back home, we will try and accommodate this prestigious Senior National championship, which has been forgotten for over years,” said Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee while talking to DNA.

The championship which was to be held in the month of December 2008 has now been differed to January and will be played at the newly laid poly gras stadium in the renovated Shiv Chattrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi which is located in front of the badminton stadium.

“We did speak about the nationals, and the IOC chief Suresh Kalmadi has confirmed that the nationals will be held in the month of January,” said the secretary of the Maharashtra Hockey Association, Ikram Khan.

This will turn a new leaf for the national sport as the former Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) had completely ignored this championship. Though, the IHF which was headed by KPS Gill, claim that the last championship was held in the year 2006, there was no participation from all the states.

Recalling his 20 years of run at the Senior Nationals, Ajit Pal Singh, the captain of the World Cup winning team said that because this championship couldnt see the light, many youngsters lost the chance to make their careers, as this was one of the qualification criteria for them to get jobs.

“It was a graduation of a sort as a national player automatically gets qualified for job in both government and private sectors,” said Ajit Pal Singh.