Karnataka hosted the tournament after eight years. This is the fourth time Karnatakais hosting the tournament.
Karnataka state Police kicked-off the 70th All India Police Hockey Championship at the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Hockey Stadium. This is the fourth time after 2013 that Karnataka state police is hosting the championship.
CRPF Jalandhar beat Chandigarh by five goals in the tournament opener. However, highlight of the day wasthe match wherein Tamil Nadu thrashed Manipur by a score line of 11 – 0.
National Empire Suresh said, “The beginning of the match has been very energetic and we can expect some amazing performance from the police departments of the country.”
A total of 30 state teams have participated in the tournament, including six women’s teams. The women’s team viz. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, CRPF and SSB are participating for the first time in the 69-year history of the championship.
All the participating teams are divided into three pools A, B and C and the teams will play other teams in their pool before proceeding to the knock-out stage.
S.L. Sunil, who represented India atthe 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games and also won silver medal for the country was present at the event.
Sunil was excited about the tournament promoting hockey in India. “This tournament holds great importance to the state as it will promote the sport of hockey among the youth in the state. Also the junior world championship is going on in Odisha in which our country is performing amazingly. This adds to the importance of hockey in India, especially after India won bronze atthe Tokyo Olympics. Hockey is now gaining recognition in India and across the globe.”
Karnataka state police have earlier won bronze medalin the 53rd and 63rd edition of the Championship in 2004 and 2013 respectively.
Praveen Sood, IPS, Director General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka State and the chairman of the organizing committee hadlaunched the event’s logoon Wednesday.
Ramesh, Joint Secretary of Hockey Karnatakasaid, “The entire championship hasbeen organized by the police department and nothing has been outsourced. I believe, team Karnataka will surely make it to the finals this time and is all set to win the championship.”
The championship was inaugurated by Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra. Former Captain of Indian Hockey Team, Mr.Arjun Halappa and Film Actor, Sudeep were also present at the event as special guests of the evening.
The tournament will have a total of 32 matches being played across ten days. The closing ceremony is scheduled on December 11, 2021 with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the chief guest and Film Actor, Dr. Shiva Rajkumar as special guest.
