Glittering start to Hockey Championship at Jamia.

A glittering inauguration ceremony marked the commencement of the North Zone Inter University Hockey (Men) Championship 2015-16 at Jamia Millia Islamia today. Inaugurating the event, Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, JMI welcomed the participating teams and hoped that the event would boost the promotion of the game in different universities in India by attracting young and best talents. These young talents would shape the future of Indian hockey in the country and would make their presence felt in the international arena, he said.

Padmashree Zafar Iqbal, Olympian and former captain of Indian Hockey Team emphasized the significance of such tournaments for nurturing young sporting talents in the country. He felt that universities and educational institutions provided the base for the development of the game as youngsters receive maximum motivation and encouragement at such places besides a top-class infrastructure to back them up.

Earlier Prof. Sanjay Singh, Honorary Director, Sports, JMI and Prof Iqtedar Mohammad khan, Chairman Sports Committee, JMI felicitated the Chief Guest Prof. Talat ahmad and Padmashree Zafar Iqbal and presented them tokens of remembrance.

There are 34 teams participating in the Championship. Jamia is hosting the \Championship for the 6th time. In the past, Jamia has hosted All India Inter University Hockey (Men) Championships twice and was the winner in 2011-12. Jamia has an excellent record of producing International hockey player who have played for the country with exemplary success. Over 30 players hitherto have represented the Indian National Hockey Team, 5 have been Olympians, 4 have captained the Indian National Hockey Team and 3 have received the coveted Arjuna Award.

The opening match was between Jamia Millia Islamia and Bundelkhand University. Jamia won the match 12-0.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *