The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Delhi to host Indian leg opener

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Delhi to host Indian leg opener

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 15. Five years after India and Pakistan played in front of a sell-out crowd at the historic National Stadium, the two teams face off at the same venue in the opening match of the Indian leg of the eight-match hockey Test series, on October 4 here.

Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Bangalore were the other venues identified by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) for the Indian leg of the series, scheduled in the second week of October. The series opens with the Pakistan leg, also comprising four matches starting with Karachi on September 25. India last played Pakistan in a bilateral series in 1999, hosting its traditional rival for four matches before playing five away in a one-sided series won by Pakistan

"The series will help our team learn to play under pressure and get into the competition mode,'' said the IHF President, K.P.S. Gill. "We hope to witness hockey of the highest order,'' said Mr. Gill adding that the IHF planned to invite the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, for the inauguration of the Indian leg.

Mr. Gill said that floodlighting of the National Stadium has been sanctioned, but was unsure whether floodlights would be in place before the series opener. "We have a good venue and a new turf. We hope that with floodlights in place it will be able to host more international matches,'' Mr. Gill said.

In fact, the IHF was in a fix over the selection of venues as Pakistan had insisted on playing all the matches under lights. Hyderabad is the only stadium with floodlights.

In this respect, Chennai, the venue of the 2005 Champions Trophy, was yet to witness any work on the stadium. In 2001, the chief minister had promised funds for two turfs and floodlights at the SAF stadium, but the work was yet to begin.

Unlike the previous series, the telecast rights for the 2004 Test series have been sold separately to enhance the returns for the IHF and the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). In India, Doordarshan will broadcast the series on its terrestrial channel while the satellite rights will be with the ESPN-Star Sports.

The itinerary:

Pakistan leg: Sept. 25: Karachi; Sept. 27: Quetta; Sept. 29: Peshawar; Oct. 1: Lahore.

Indian leg: Oct. 4: New Delhi; Oct. 6: Chandigarh; Oct. 8: Hyderabad; Oct. 10: Bangalore.

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