TOREX to sponsor Nehru Cup this year

“Am not used to public art of speaking. But, for me, it is suffice to say that hockey needs corporate support to come out of its sluggish phase, and we at Torex are happy to associate with the brand called Nehru Hockey, which has its own history and tradition as that of our national game itself”.

Thus spoke Mandeep Singh Chhatwal, CEO of Chandigarh based Torque pharmaceuticals, which produces TOREX brand of products, a company that has come to title sponsor the Nehru Hockey Society’s flagship event, Senior Nehru Cup, this year.

Incidentally, this year marks the Golden jubilee of the senior cup, which is culmination of chain of other age group tournaments that dot the sporting horizon of Delhi in October-November each year, a tradition that started in 1964 and goes on unstinted even now, quite contrast to Indian hockey which had passed through many lean patches and sometimes even halted.

Mandeep Sigh was correct when he said it was for the first time that a private corporate came to be Nehru Cup’s sponsor. Till now public sector giants like ONGC pitched in.

So, it’s a big tonic for the financially constrained Society if not palm in pain times.

PS Chhatwal, the Managing Director of Torque pharmaceutical private Ltd, elaborated in a statement, while appreciating Nehru Society for its vital role in promoting young hockey talent, further elaborated:

‘Hockey is a fast game. It’s a game full of excitement and energy. Any move, any minute may change the game. The thrill and positivity of this game is overwhelming and dazzling. To inculcate these qualities in our lives, we wish to promote this game and restore it to its unparallelled glorious past’.

The statement is all about brand identify of both the game and their products that ranges from herbal health care to cosmetics.

The quantum of sponsorship was not disclosed but the subsequent announcements largely bear out that it is fairly good, as it evident from doubling prize monies for each category of tournament.
The highlight of which is Rs.5 lac to the Senior Nehru Cup winners which was just half of it last year.

However, the management of Nehru Society seemed happier on the impact of Nehru Society on national scale.

Elaborated Kukoo Walia, the Secretary, of the Society: ‘Each state’s education department conducts Pre-Nehru Cup tournament involving schools of the whole state, and the winner is sponsored by the Department to play in our Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments’.

“Last week Maharashtra Minister for sports, while inaugurating one such tournament at Kolhapur assured the district that his government will shortly initiate moves to set up a synthetic turf in the district stadium”, he let the audience know of it in the press conference held at Royal Plaza hotel in New Delhi.

About 40 schools took part in the Sainik School Pre-Nehru Cup, out of which Bijapur won the honour to come to Delhi for our Cup”, said the beaming secretary.

“We get sponsors for senior Nehru cup, but not much for the age group categories which in fact is backbone of our program. However, we resolve to hold on to the age group tournaments as it really serves the broader perspective and objective of our Society”, said Kukoo Walia.

Fittingly enough, the Nehru Society, in collaboration with New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) will form what is now believed to be the Nehru-NDMC Hockey Academy.

Though no firm details were made, it is gathered that the Academy will be to utilize the Shivaji stadium turf that the NDMC owns at the central Delhi.

“The Chairman of NDMC Jalal Srivastava will be the chief guest tomorrow for the Under -15 Girls tournament, which is held under floodlights. Perhaps, we will be able to throw much more light on the Academy tomorrow through him,” felt Kukoo Walia on a specific querry from the press.

At the start of the event, three captains of medal winning school teams of recently held Nehru Dhyan Chand Sports Day Cup were presented with their certificates.

Abhisek Rana (Govt. Boys Sr. Sec. School Begumpur, Gold), Kishore Arya (GBSSS, Saket, Silver) and Vikas Awasti (GBSSS Saket Junior, Bronze), all below 15 years presented a fresh look amidst the vastly elder-crowd.

Two foreign teams, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will be part of Under-21 Boys tournament.

At the beginning of the press conference, a power point presentation was made to highlight past achievements of the Society, which included vintage images of Cup presentation ceremonies, where past Presidents and Prime Ministers seemed to be regular chief guests.

One discordant note in an otherwise meaningful and thoughtful function is presence of a leading public school’s principal on the dais, whose school does not have a hockey team!