THE 27TH edition of the All-India KD Singh ‘Babu’ Invitational Prize-Money Men’s Hockey Tournament, beginning on November 25 here, is expected to be a dress rehearsal of the forthcoming Premier Hockey League (PHL) at Chandigarh in December last.
Almost all the top teams of the country, including defending champions Punjab & Sindh Bank, runners-up Indian Airlines and third placeholders Punjab National Bank have confirmed their participation in the premier tournament of the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate.
The tournament will take place, at the Dhyanchand AstroTurf Stadium at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College here. And the final is slated for December 5. Both the Indian Hockey Federation as well as the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Association have Okayed the conduct of the tournament, which has been identified as Grade One tournament of the IHF.
Organising secretary Ram Prakash Singh, who also happens to be the Regional Sports Officer, told Hindustan Times on Tuesday that besides the top three teams the invitations have been extended to Indian Oil, Western Railway, Namdhari XI, Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Eastern Railway (Kolkata), North Eastern Railway, Air India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Tamil Nadu XI, Andhra Pradesh XI, South Central Railway (Hyderabad), Punjab State Electricity Board (Chandigarh), Northern Railway (Amritsar) and hosts UP Combined Hostel.
“It will be a good opportunity for the hockey players to sharp their skills before the PHL,” said ace defender and former India captain Rajnish Mishra on Tuesday. “This tournament will certainly boost the confidence of the players for a better show at Chandigarh event,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“It will be a good opportunity for the hockey players to sharp their skills before the PHL,” said ace defender and former India captain Rajnish Mishra on Tuesday. “This tournament will certainly boost the confidence of the players for a better show at Chandigarh event,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The tournament offers Rs 2.05 lakh as cars awards, which includes Rs 1 lakh to the winners, Rs 50,000 to the runners-up and Rs 25,000 to the third placeholders. Besides this, the best player of the tournament will get Rs 10,000, while Rs 5,000 each to be awarded to best forward, best full back, best defender and best goalkeeper.