The Hindu : Sport : BSNL is official title sponsor for Asia Cup

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 30, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

BSNL is official title sponsor for Asia Cup

S. Thyagarajan

Tamil Nadu CM is chief guest on final day

Chennai: The countdown began even as the happy news floated in confirming BSNL as the official title sponsor for the seventh Asia Cup hockey championship set to roll on August 31 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.

Quite understandably, the final touches have reached the stage of a feverish fervour what with the officials showing palpable relief of having found the title sponsor for the prestigious competition. Every detail has been attended to enhance the profile and facilities at the stadium thanks to the initiative and drive of the member-secretary of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Atulya Misra.

The secretary, Indian Hockey Federation, K. Jothikumaran was the first to acknowledge the value and quantum of support from the SDAT and its officials in giving the venue a facelift.

The aroma of a fresh coat of paint lingers within and outside the venue. Even the heavy downpour on Wednesday morning was not a dampener in the real sense of the word.

Finally, one can say that everything is in place for the competition where the entry for public will be free.

Live telecast on DD

Mr. Jothikumaran also announced that Doordarshan will telecast all matches live. More importantly, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, has agreed to be chief guest and present the trophies on the concluding day, September 9.

Unveiling the plaque and the logo at the opening of the Media Centre, sponsored again by BSNL, M.P. Veluswamy, chief general manager, BSNL, said that his organisation was proud to associate itself with an event of this magnitude and wished the organisers success in their endeavour.

Mr. Atulya Misra pointed out how important the Asia Cup could be for this metropolis, which boasts of an excellent infrastructure for sports, especially for hockey. He listed the facilities as being good enough to stage world-class competitions, and was optimistic that the show would bring in a huge turnout daily to witness top teams like Pakistan, Korea, India and Malaysia. Meanwhile the teams had arrived and were going through their practice sessions on both the grounds. The Pakistanis figured in a practice game against the State XI.

The Koreans had their training in the afternoon. The Korean coach, Seung Tse Song, felt the tournament would be a booster before the Champions Trophy at Lahore.

The tournament director, Brian Fernandez of Malaysia, arrived on Tuesday and inspected the facilities. It is learnt there would be no third umpire (video umpire).

Mr. Brian will be meeting the managers of all the teams on Thursday to finalise the technical details.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail