The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Nehru tournament put off

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 21, 2005

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Sport - Hockey

Nehru tournament put off

NEW DELHI: The senior Nehru hockey tournament has been put off by a month, missing its traditional start from November 14. The competition will now be held in the last week of December following a decision by the Indian Hockey Federation not to release players for any domestic tournament before the Champions Trophy to be held in Chennai from December 10 to 18.

The Nehru Hockey Tournament organising secretary Shiv Kumar Varma said, "we have no option but to deviate from the normal schedule. But the junior tournaments for boys and girls will be held as scheduled. The postponement will not have any adverse impact on the tournament. In any case, we couldn't have held the tournament without the presence of the top players. The IHF may have taken the decision keeping the interest of the players in mind and we really have no choice."

The IHF decision has compelled the organisers of the Gurmeet tournament in Chandigarh, Surjeet tournament in Jalandhar and Shastri tournament in Delhi to reschedule their ventures. Following a request, the IHF has granted permission to the organisers of the Shastri tournament with a condition that four teams from IHF will have to be accommodated_two senior combinations and two junior selections_along with two foreign teams instead of three.

3-1 win for PNBA

Punjab National Bank Academy defeated Indian Airlines 3-1 after leading 1-0 at half time in the final of the Delhi State institutional hockey league at the Shivaji Stadium here on Saturday.

Gurvinder Singh put the bank team ahead in the 11th minute with a penalty corner convertion and Jitender Singh consolidated the position for the team in the 50th minute. Ravinder fetched a goal a minute later for Indian Airlines but Raminder Singh clinched the issue for the bank team with a penalty corner conversion in the 52nd minute.

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