Murugappa Gold Cup tourney from today

By Our Hockey Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 14. History, heritage and hockey combine in an exotic blend to give the annual Madras Cricket Club-Murugappa Gold Cup tournament an unusual significance. Set for launch on Wednesday at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, the 79th edition of the event promises to acquire the contours of a mini-national, featuring as many as 12 State and institutional teams. The final is scheduled for August 25.

To be played in a league-cum-knockout format, the tournament this time promises to provide a fiesta palatable to the discerning spectators of this metropolis. At a media meeting on Monday at the MCC premises, Mr. Sp. Sathappan, president, dwelt at length on the glory and tradition of the MCC tournament since the start of the last century. Now bonding with the Murugappa Group's generous sponsorship, the event stands as foremost among the competitions in the country.

Giving an overview of the tournament, Mr. B. Vijaykumar, organising secretary, said that the 12 outfits would be divided into four pools of three teams with the provision of enabling the top two reach the quarterfinals. The winner would take a prize money of Rs. 60,000, and the runner-up Rs. 40,000. Punjab and Sind Bank leads the 12-team pack and is clubbed with Bengal XI and IHF Juniors. The IHF secretary, Mr. Jothikumaran, who was present at the media briefing, said the juniors who figured in the recent Sultan Azlan Shah tournament at Kuala Lumpur had been instructed to join the IHF Juniors.

Speaking on behalf of the sponsor, the Murugappa Group, Mr. A. Vellayan, director, (Marketing), recalled the features of the event as Murugappa Gold Cup was launched in 1962, and reaffirmed the commitment of the Group to giving the youth content in competitive hockey a strong platform to parade their talent. He explained the efforts taken to bring school children from about seven schools daily to watch the matches. Like last year, the Group will also offer special prizes at the end of each day for lucky winners. Mr. Vellayan also underlined the support received from the Chennai Hockey Fans Association for publicising the event through handbills and posters.

An added significance this time is the direction from the IHF to utilise the event to put to test some of the experimental rules recommended by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Mr. Mohammad Ghouse, acclaimed in his heyday as one of the world class umpires by FIH, serving as the Tournament Director here, explained that the rules relating to scoring goals from within the 25-yard line, mandatory stationing of three players outside the defending zone and reducing the number of defenders to eight in penalty corners, would be experimented and the recommendations would be sent to the FIH through the IHF. He added that the umpires and managers would be briefed about the proposed changes before the competition. The participating teams have already been informed of the experimental rules to be in force.

While proposing a vote of thanks, Mr. N. Ramachandran, secretary, MCC, outlined the importance of the tournament and acknowledged the media support the event had been getting all through. The pools: A: Punjab and Sind Bank, Bengal XI, IHF Juniors; B: Air India, Karnataka XI, Punjab Police; C: Indian Airlines, Bharat Petroleum, TN Colts; D: Tamil Nadu XI, Indian Railways, Hyderabad XI.

Umpires: Alphonse Absolom (Hyderabad), Satinder Sharma (Chandigarh), Claudius de Sales (Mumbai), Gurinder Singh Sanga (Punjab), Dominic (Karnataka) and Mohammad Munir (Chennai).

Wednesday's match: Tamil Nadu vs Hyderabad (4 p.m.).

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