The fifth National Indoor Hockey Competitions are beginning from Friday, May 30 in the divisional sports center’s indoor stadium near Adgaon, here. National association president and district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal will inaugurate the competitions in presence of state association president Dr Aniruddha Dharmadhikari.
The competitions will be held from May 30 to June 1. Executive president Sachin Mahajan, Secretary Ashpaq Shaikh, divisional sports deputy director Jagannath Adhane, district sports officer Sanjay Sabnis and other dignitaries will also be present for the inauguration. Around 28 teams from all over India have already reached the city to participate in these games.Indoor hockey has also received sanction from World Games Federation and Asian Games Federation. Hence, the association has decided to pass the motion demanding inclusion of this game into School Games, informed Dr Dharmadhikari.
The school games committee has given a sanction for the first time to traditional games like aatya paatya, jump rope and karate. Inclusion of indoor hockey will help take the sport to Olympic level, he said and added that the game began in Europe in 1950 and its independent World Cup was played in 2004, 2007 and 2011.
Although the competitions will begin from morning, the formal inauguration will be held at 5pm. Around 700 men and women indoor hockey players are participating.
The competitions will be held from May 30 to June1. Around 700 indoor hockey players from all over India are participating. National association president and district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal will inaugurate the competitions
