Hockey India Senior Men National Championship underway in Imphal

Imphal, Jan. 7 (EMN): The 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 was formally inaugurated at Khuman Lampak Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal on Sunday.
In the opening matches of the 15 days long tournament which was played on Sunday, Sports Authority of Gujarat team beat host Manipur Hockey team by 3-2 goals while neighbouring Assam Hockey also lost to Telangana Hockey (3-8).
In other matches, Food Corporation of India beat Hockey Madhya Pradesh 8-4,Hockey Andhra Pradesh beat Vidarbha Hockey Association 5-2,Central Secretariat beat SAI 3-2 and Canara Bank beat Central Industrial Security Force 3-0.
The Assam Hockey which was led by its coach Rajesh Boro will be meeting Central Secretariat in their pool A match on Tuesday morning. Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the fourth team in pool A.
There are a total of eight pools. Each pool has four teams and their matches were played simultaneously at the hockey fields of SAI, Takyelpat and Khuman Lampak Sports complex both in Imphal. Thus altogether, 32 teams from across the country is participating in the championship which is being organised by Manipur Hockey under the aegis of Hockey India.
The day’s formal inauguration function was attended by the Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar, Jiribam MLA Ashabuddin, Chief Executive Officer of Hockey India Elina Norman, State sports Director N Praveen Singh, Secretary General Sunil Elangbam of Manipur Olympic Association and Treasurer Tapan Kumar Das of Hockey India and officials of Manipur Hockey.
In his address, Deputy Chief Minister Joykumar expressed the need to develop Astro Turf Hockey Stadium at least one each to all the districts so that players can avail the facility to train themselves considering the potentials of Manipur sportspersons. So far the state has produced many Olympians and most of them are from Hockey discipline.