THE ALL-INDIA Ahmad Sher Khan Hockey Tournament will begin at SAI Centre Bishenkheri from Saturday. The Ahmed Sher Khan Hockey Tournament Society will organise the tournament. The tournament is for the under-21 age category.
Ahmed Sher Khan, father of Aslam Sher Khan, was among the first hockey Olympians of Bhopal who participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. India won the gold medal that year.
Talking to the journalists here on Friday, organising committee president and former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan said that 14 leading teams of the country including Steel Authority of India, Vidarbha XI, SAI and MP XI will participate in the ten-day tournament.
The inaugural match would be played between the team of Vidarbha XI and SAI XI Lucknow. Khan said that the objective of the tournament was to provide platform to the talent of Bhopal. “This tournament will help the local players to face renowned teams”, said Khan.
In reply to a question, Khan said that at the international level India and Pakistan should come together to counter the domination of European countries in hockey. “Both countries have a long history of hockey. The representation of south Asian subcontinent would be better in the Federation of International Hockey (FIH)”, he said.