1st Cairn Junior Hockey Cup to kickstart tomorrow

NEW DELHI: With an eye to promote the game at the grassroot level, the Hockey Citizen Group, an NGO, will organise the NCR edition of the inaugural Cairn Junior Hockey Cup 2015 at the Shivaji Stadium from January 15 to 21.

The Rs 3 lakh prize money tournament has been organised with an objective to provide a competitive platform for school children of Delhi and NCR region to showcase their talents on the national platform.

The tournament will be held in two age groups -- Under-14 and Under -17 where a total of 24 teams, 12 each in both categories, will participate.

The 12 teams in each age categories have been further divided into three teams of four pools each. Top team from each pool will progress to the semifinals.

Speaking at the launch of the tournament, K Arumugam, Founder and CEO of Hockey Citizen Group said: "It has been our constant endeavour to develop the game of hockey at the grassroot levels in India. The tournament is the first step in this direction and I am confident that this initiative will go a long way in encouraging school children to play hockey."

Apart from Arumugam, who is a journalist-turned renowned hockey historian, India's only World Cup-winning captain Ajitpal Singh, Olympians Harbinder Singh and Brigadier HJS Cheema were also present during the occasion.

The prominent schools of Delhi and NCR participating in this tournament are Govt. Boys School, Saket; Modern School, Barakhamba Road; SS Mota Singh Janakpur School; Manavasthali School; Balbharti School, Noida; Anglo-Arabic Senior Secondary School, Ajmeri Gate; Govt. Boys Senior Secondary Scholl, Ashok Vihar; DTEA, Mandir Marg; Delhi Public School, Safdarjung; Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan and Govt. Boys Senior Secondary School, Mehrauli.