Enhanced prize-money and introduction of the new green card rule (automatic two-minute suspension) will be the new features of the 86th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament starting here Thursday.
The field for the tournament, which concludes July 25, is much the same as last year when Army XI beat Bharat Petroleum in the final. The two losing semi-finalists, Indian Oil and ONGC, are also among the 10 teams who have been divided into two groups of five for the preliminary league with the two top finishers advancing to the semi-finals.
Arun Murugappan, Managing Director, Murugappa Group, kept his promise by hiking the winner’s cheque to Rs.2.5 lakh, up from Rs.1.5 lakh, making the tournament among the richest in India.
Mohammad Muneer, making his debut as the tournament director, announced that the new green card rule as per which the player receiving the card is automatically suspended for two minutes, will be in effect.
Yet again, the tournament will be without the top players, most of who are either in various training camps or touring abroad with the national team.
{{/usCountry}}Yet again, the tournament will be without the top players, most of who are either in various training camps or touring abroad with the national team.
{{/usCountry}}Groupings:
Pool A: Army XI, ONGC, Karnataka XI, Indian Railways and Namdhari XI.
Pool B: Indian Oil, BPCL, Southern Railway, Hockey India Juniors and Punjab National Bank.