National format: a welcome change

By S. Thyagarajan

CHENNAI, NOV. 13. A welcome change is being effected to the format of the National hockey championship for the Rangaswami Cup. Giving a go by to the monotonous league-cum-knock out format at one centre involving as many as 40 teams and a daily routine of a dozen or so matches, not to speak of the nightmare of logistics for the host unit, the Indian Hockey Federation has decided to spread the championship this time to various centres as to keep the interest alive all over the country.

Needless to say, a lot of spadework had to be completed before giving shape to a new, more pragmatic pattern to the premier competition. The honour of hosting the 60th edition goes to Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association next month. While it remains to be seen how the IHF will co-ordinate the activities at various centres before the qualifiers reach the venue (Jammu) for the final round to be played between December 8 to 16, there is no denying that the new format is the best way to organising a national competition to the satisfaction of all the participants.

The primary purpose of spreading the competition to different venues for the preliminary stage is to ensure that no team is forced to play on a grass pitch. According to the original programme, it was decided to use both grass and artificial pitches in Jammu for the entire championship. But a high-level meeting last fortnight attended by Mr. K.P.S. Gill, President, IHF, Mr. Jothikumaran, Secretary-General, and Mr. N.K. Batra, President, Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association, reviewed the programme and decided in favour of splitting preliminary matches to seven centres so that all the 45 teams, that are likely to take part, will have the benefit of playing on synthetic pitches.

It has been decided to divide the teams into eight pools. Two teams from each will qualify for the round of 16 to be played at Jammu. This is another welcome departure from the previous system, wherein only the top team in each pool entered the quarterfinals. According to the present arrangement, there will be five pools of six teams and three pools of five teams, making a total of 45. The 16 qualifiers who will assemble in Jammu for the trophy round are to be divided into four pools of four each with the top in each pool moving into the semfinals.

Jammu will host two pools in the preliminary round from November 28 and also the final round for 16 teams from December 8 to 16. The IHF hopes to complete the first phase of league before December 2 as to enable the qualifiers reach the venue before December 8. Aside from Jammu, the centres playing host to the preliminary league, are Imphal, Rampur (UP), Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indian Oil, All India Electricity Board and Himachal Pradesh are expected to make their debut this time.

Mr. Peter Menezes of Mumbai has been nominated as Tournament Director for the competition.

Indian Airlines and Tamil Nadu figured in the final of the last National played at Hyderabad. It was in 1990 that Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association played host to the National championship.

Started in 1927, the National championship was played on a knock- out system till 1968 when the switch was made to the league-cum- knock-out pattern. The argument for the shift then was to give each participant a minimum of two to three matches. Barring a brief break in 1984 and 1985 when a zonal format was experimented, the league-cum-knockout remained without a suitable alternative. A change became imperative when the IHF opened the floodgates of affiliation to institutional teams in 1997 after the National championship went into the limbo for two years.

The new system deserves the approbation of one and all but what needs to be monitored is how well the IHF goes to ensure its success without a hitch developing in between.

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