Pune: 11th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship Pimpri Chinchwad 2021 Begins Tomorrow
Pimpri, 10th December 2021: Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Rupinder Pal Singh and India Junior World Cupper Abhishek Lakra highlight a mix of generations showing of their defensive capabilities as curtains draw on the 11th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship Pimpri Chinchwad 2021 from Saturday.
Representing Hockey Punjab, Rupinder for many will be the one to watch out for his drag flicking exploits in India’s successful medal-winning campaign at the Olympics where he contributed four goals (three coming off penalty corners).
Upcoming defender Abhishek, representing Odisha, will be the next generation India player to be seen in action and likewise give the star value to the tournament.
With a spruced up Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium, Nehrunagar-Pimpri set for action on the morrow, the tournament has been reduced to 29 teams with Hockey Andaman and Nicobar doing a no show. Organising Secretary, Manoj Bhore informed, “they have called off their trip.”
As a result of the “pull out,” Group-D will now be a three-team affair contested between Hockey Punjab, Hockey Andhra Pradesh and Hockey Uttarakhand.
Among the other former Olympians who have assembled in Pune in various capacities include 1996 Olympian Sanjeev Kumar, accompanying the Hockey Punjab team as manager and Balwinder as a coach.
Other noteworthy players of teams include M Dhanachandra Singh of Manipur who was shortlisted for the 20-man probable squad for the Junior World Cup at Odisha and Mohammed Amir who donned the national colours at the Asia Cup.
With the Nationals being conducted after a gap of two years the teams have enthusiastically ensured to make it to the city ahead of time.
For Hockey Maharashtra, this will be the third time out of 10 instances that the Senior Men’s National Championship is being held. Earlier, Pune hosted the 3rd and 5th editions back in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
In a bid to give spectators a floodlight experience, the hosts have decided to conduct the knockout phase (quarterfinals, semifinals and finals under lights).
Bhore informed, “we’ve seen matches on television under lights but with this opportunity that we have to showcase the best in India, we want the fans to have an ultimate spectator experience.”
The opening day of the championship has a 6-match schedule beginning at 7 am.
SATURDAY’S MATCHES
Pool-C: Hockey Karnataka v Hockey Jammu and Kashmir – 7.00 am; Pool-C: Le Puducherry v Hockey Arunachal – 8.30 am; Pool-D: Hockey Punjab v Hockey Uttarakhand – 10 am; Pool-D: Hockey Andhra Pradesh v Hockey Andaman and Nicobar – 11.30 am; Pool-E: Hockey Chandigarh v Hockey Rajasthan – 1 pm; Pool-E: Manipur Hockey v Tripura Hockey – 3.30 pm
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