The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Sub-junior Nationals inaugurated

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Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

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Sport - Hockey

Sub-junior Nationals inaugurated

Sports Reporter

VIJAYAWADA: As many as 33 teams are taking part in the DNR 12th sub-junior National hockey championship, which was inaugurated amidst a colourful march past and traditional dance ballets at the DNR College grounds at Bhimavaram on Tuesday.

The tournament, sponsored by DNR College and Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, would be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. During the championship, the selection committee, comprising Olympians M. Kindo, Mukesh Kumar and Balvinder Singh would select the probables for Indian sub-junior team.

Teams have been divided into eight pools and the league matches would begin on Wednesday at the two grounds in DNR College and at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan grounds. Bright sunshine on Tuesday brought smiles on the faces of organisers as unseasonal rains, which lashed the town a couple days ago, had made the ground condition unplayable.

"All the three venues are ready for the championship," said Andhra Hockey Association secretary, M. Niranjan Reddy.

Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association president and MP, Lagadpati Rajagopal, declared the championship open at an impressive inaugural function, in which SAAP chairman Raj Thakur was a guest of honour.

The groupings: Group A: Manipur, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh; Group B: Namdhari, Karnataka, Chandigrah, Delhi; Group C: Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat; Group D: Haryana, Bengal, Patiala, Chattisgarh.

Group E: Andhra, Uttranchal, Vidharbha; Group F: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Pondicherry; Group G: Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Tripura; Group H: Punjab, Hyderabad, Bihar.