The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Junior Asia Cup hockey championship from July 8

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Junior Asia Cup hockey championship from July 8

V V Subrahmanyam

This prestigious event features 10 teams
It is a qualifying event for the next Junior World Cup

HYDERABAD: The show has to go on. And Hyderabad Hockey Association, despite the mess that the Indian Hockey Federation landed itself recently, has decided to fulfil it’s commitment to host Junior Asia Cup championship at Gachibowli Complex from July 8 to 18.

This prestigious event, featuring 10 teams, is incidentally a qualifying event for the next Junior World Cup and involves a budget of Rs. 40 lakh.

Contrary to the general perception that it is not just the sport which took a serious beating but also the international calendar, HHA vice-president V. Ramachander Rao says that the Asia Cup will be hosted at any cost. “In fact, all related works are in full swing including hotel accommodation and a high-level team of officials from the world body is also expected to be in the city for the mega event,” he explained.

Though it is not yet clear whether only the winner or both the finalists from this Asia Cup will qualify, the HHA is keen to ensure that the event is a big success. “This is yet another opportunity to showcase our organisational skills and we are doubly keen to sustain our excellent record on this front,” Ramchander pointed out.

Significantly, the HHA is going ahead on the firm belief that the FIH continues to correspond with the Indian Hockey Confederation, which takes care of both men’s and women’s hockey, and not the IHF even now. The logic is here that since K. P. S. Gill continues to be the head of IHC and still the representative of India on the FIH as of now, there should not be any hassles in conducting the Junior Asia Cup. “For us it is a question of pride to host the event,” he asserts.

Not surprisingly, the HHA secretary P. Kantaiah is also not giving too much importance to the developments in the IHF in the wake of Indian Olympic Association decision to appoint an ad hoc committee to run the sport. “We are yet to get any communication in this regard. But for us, what is more relevant is to keep the sport alive by completing our commitments. In fact, our president V. Dinesh Reddy, IPS, is even planning to give cash prize to the winners of A-Division league,” says Kantaiah.

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