Chandigarh, September 25
For the first time, the Sub Junior National Hockey Championship has been inaugurated in Chandigarh by Governor Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh, Shri Gulab Chand Kataria. Guests of Honor at the event included Shri Rajeev Verma, Advisor to Administrator, Shri Hari Kalikat, Sports Secretary, Shri Sanjay Tandon, Chairman of the Sports Committee and Shri Saurabh Arora, Director of Sports. The chief guest , Sh. Gulab Chand Kataria praised the efforts of Chandigarh Hockey for organising the sub junior hockey championship. He said that Hockey has always been close to hearts of all Indians and India had won 13 Olympic medals in hockey till now making all Indians proud. Sh. Kataria said that sports brings people together and awakens team spirit. He further added under ‘Khelo India’, young generation is being motivated to join sports. Treading the path of ‘Viksit Bharat2047’, the sports infrastructure is being improved in whole nation including new synthetic hockey turfs. Sh. Kataria remembered hockey legends like Baljit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Rajpal Singh, Inderpal Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurjant Singh, Maninder Singh, Sanjay and other players who horned their skills with support of Chandigarh Hockey. A Rs. 20 Lakh grant was also announced by Administrator UT to Chandigarh Hockey. Hockey India has chosen Chandigarh to host the 14th Hockey India Sub-Junior Men’s National Championship, taking place from September 23 to October 3, 2024. Approximately 650-700 players and officials from 28 state teams are participating in this prestigious tournament. Shri Anil Vohra, General Secretary of Hockey Chandigarh, expressed his gratitude to the Chandigarh Administration and the Sports Department for their full support and cooperation in ensuring the success of this national championship. He also thanked the Municipal Corporation for joining hands in the cleanliness drive with the slogan, “Dream of hockey, keep the city clean.” The ‘Man of the Match’ for every game and the best players of the championship (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward) will be awarded with gifts. The winning, runner-up, and third-place teams will also receive trophies and souvenirs.
