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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, August 5: Twelve teams which qualified from the regional-level tournaments have been divided into four groups for the national-level second Independence Gold Cup Sub-Junior Hockey Tournament (under-14) which gets under way at the National Stadium, here, on Thursday.
A cash prize of Rs 21,000 and Rs 11,000 will be given to the winners and runners-up respectively. The coach of the winning team will receive Rs 5,000. They also informed that 22 most promising players (two per position, as suggested by Ajit Pal Singh) will be given Rs 1,000 each.
“The main purpose of holding this tournament is to give the sub-juniors a feel of the astro-turf. SAI has taken a lead in the right direction to spot talent at grass-root level,” Ajit Pal Singh added.
The selection committee will be headed by Ajit Pal Singh and will include Olympians Harbinder Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Rajinder Singh.
Medical tests for age verifications had been carried out to ensure that the players are within the stipulated agegroup.
In fact, one team Madhya Pradesh had been disqualified at the regional-level tournament as eight of its players were found overage. One team from East Zone was disqualified for fixing the match.
As many as 43 teams from various states had competed in regional-level tournaments. Winners and runners-up from each participating state qualified for the main tournament.
The two teams emerging on top from each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals to be played on knockout basis. The final is slated for August 13.
Orissa and Punjab had finished winners and runners-up in the inaugural tournament last year.
Pool A: Orissa, Rajasthan B, Uttar Pradesh A.
Pool B: Assam, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh B
Pool C: Haryana, Karnataka, Manipur
Pool D: Nagaland, Rajasthan A and Tamil Nadu.
