Hockey in Nabha deserves astroturf

Sunil Narula

The Liberals Hockey Tournament was held in this town for the first time in 1976. Since then it has been an annual affair and most of the top players of the country have played here at one point of time or the other. For 35 years now the tournament has been one man’s show. His dream of seeing the game grow in his hometown has egged him on to keep the flag flying despite little or no support from those who are supposed to nurture the game in the State. This man is 73-year-old GS Bains.

Even today, his eyes light up when it is mentioned that he is running a great show here. Twenty-three teams from all over the country are taking part in the tournament this year and tight games are on display.

“The trophy that you see is the heaviest you will see anywhere. It takes about four people to lift it,” says Bains pointing towards the gigantic winners’ cup. “The names of all the previous champion teams have been engraved on it. Punjab Police have won it the maximum number of times.”

But this die-hard hockey enthusiast (he’s a retired IAS officer who was the Director of Sports, Punjab, from 1987-90) has one lingering regret. Despite his best efforts the State has not set up an artificial turf at Nabha. “This is the oldest hockey tournament in the State. Older than Surjit Hockey in Jalandhar. Astroturfs are being put up elsewhere and I have no issues about that. We need one here too. But no one seems to care,” says Bains.

His view is shared by the president of the Liberals Hockey Tournament, Gurkaran Singh. “This year some top players did not come to play here because we don’t have an astroturf. Bharat Petroleum and Oil India opted out because of this reason. Slowly other teams might also start pulling out if we cannot get a turf soon,” says Gurkaran.

In the past teams from Pakistan and Bangladesh have come and played in this tournament. Punjab Public School, Nabha (PPS) and local Ripudaman College have supported this tournament all along. “PPS Nabha have always been very helpful. During this period the school has vacations and they always give us rooms in the hostel for the players,” says Bains. It is the indifference of the State sports authorities that he finds baffling.

The State Sports Department has said in the past that it will be setting up astroturfs in various parts of the State. This is one venue that thoroughly deserves an astroturf, to keep the 35-year-old legacy alive.

PNB enter semis

Punjab National Bank (PNB) and EME entered the semifinals of the Liberals hockey tournament being played at the PPS Grounds here. PNB beat BSF Jalandhar in a keenly-contested match 2-1, while EME defeated Western Cerntral Railway 3-0. In the other quarterfinals, Punjab and Sind Bank beat UP Police 3-0 and Rock Rovers, Chandigarh went down to Western Railways 1-0. The semifinals will be played on Saturday.