Stage set for maiden 5-a-side Sr hockey nationals in UP

LUCKNOW : Two-time champions Hockey Karnataka men would be eying for a hat-trick of titles when they begin their campaign in the 4th 5-a-side Senior National Championship, beginning in Kanpur on Sunday with their opening match against Hockey Punjab.

Karnataka emerged victorious on the previous two occasions, brushing aside Haryana 4-3 in identical fashion, but in the women’s section, Hockey Maharashtra had turned the table on Hockey Karnataka with a 5-4 win at Bengaluru in the final.

Being the hosts, Uttar Pradesh women, who had a semi-final loss in the last edition, would also be looking for a podium finish this time. Uttar Pradesh Hockey’s men also have high hopes to do well on the home turf as they have been practicing at the newly laid turf at the Green Park Stadium for the last one week.

Studded with players like junior international Simran Singh, who is now in National Hockey Academy, and Railways’ experienced duo Ritu Singh and Komal Sahani, UP women are ready to give a good fight to their opponents.

“Our girls have done well in all the previous three editions. In the Bengaluru event, we lost in the semi-finals and since then we have been working on our game,” team’s coach Neelam Siddiqui said. “We have the home advantage too, but we can’t any of the rivals lightly in this fatafat style of the game,” she added.

Besides the men and women team events, the six-day hockey extravaganza will also see eight teams vie for top honours in the most exciting combined men and women. So far, the past two editions of the mixed format have garnered great interest not only among the players, but also for the fans too.

The combined event is pegged as the most exciting category of the tournament and will put both men and women on an equal platform to showcase their talent. A team participating in this

category will feature a minimum of either four men or women in their team of nine-member squad.

Besides hosts Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Karnataka form Pool A in the combined category, whereas Hockey Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Odisha are in Pool B.

In the men’s category, defending champions Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Odisha are placed in Pool A. Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Haryana and hosts Uttar Pradesh Hockey will lock horns in Pool B.

In the women’s category, Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Odisha and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu are slated in Pool A, whereas the Pool B consist of Hockey Haryana, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

“Hockey has been in the hearts of the people here. The state has produced a number of great stars for the Indian hockey. This style of hockey would create a different kind of craze among fans and we are hoping for a huge turn-out of fans for the matches here,” UP Hockey secretary, RP Singh said on Friday.

“We have successfully held the Junior World Cup Hockey in 2016 at Lucknow and are also trying to hold India’s first-ever international tournament of 5-aside in 2020 at Kanpur, if we get a good response here in our maiden effort,” he said.