All-India Babu hockey sans star attraction begins tomorrow

LUCKNOW : Two junior India teams were the biggest attraction at the last edition of the KD Singh ‘Babu’ men’s Hockey Tournament here last season as it was an exposure event for the junior players, getting ready for the foreign trip.

That attraction would be missing this time when the 39th edition of the state government’s one of the prestigious event begins on Saturday, at the Padamshree Mohd Shahid Stadium in Vijayantkhand here with the participation of 12 teams.

Big names would also be missing from the tournament as top players are already in the Indian squad for the forthcoming Asian Champions Trophy, whereas rest are practicing at Bengaluru national camp as being a part of the Core Group.

Runners-up Punjab National Bank along with South Central Railway, Lucknow Sports College, Indian Oil, Sports Authority of India (Lucknow), North Central Railway, Indian Air Force, UP Hostel Eleven, Eastern Railway, Air India, Sports Authority of India (Bhopal) and Comptroller and Accounts General have confirmed their participation this time.

The teams have been divided into four different pools and the team topping each pool will play in the quarterfinals.

The final is slated to be played on October 6. The winners would get Rs 2 lakh, followed by Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 to teams finishing second and third.

Player of the tournament would fetch a sum of Rs 20,000, whereas best goalkeeper, full back, forward and half would receive Rs 10,000 each. GROUPING

Pool A: PNB, SCR, Sports College; Pool B: Indian Oil, SAI (Lucknow), NCR; Pool C: India Air Force, UP Hostel XI, Eastern Railway; Pool D: CAG, SAI (Bhopal), Air India.

FOOTBALL TOURNEY

Police Boys Black defeated Mamta Sporting 3-0 in tie-break at the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Football Tournament, at the Chowk Stadium here on Thursday.

The two teams were locked in a goalless draw at the end of the regulation time. In other match of the day, Sahara Estates Football Club routed RA Boys 4-1.

CHESS TOURNEY

The 7th Ramkripal Tewari Memorial Chess Tournament will be held on September 30 here.

The tournament will be played under Swiss system and FIDE rules in five rounds.

Total prize fund of Rs 6000 will be distributed among top eight winners in open category and top three players in age category, along with cash prize, trophies will be distributed among top three winners in Open, Under-17, Under-13 and Under-12 categories.

The first round of the tournament will start at 10:30 a.m on September 30.