The fifth Asian School Hockey Championship 2017 will be organised in Bhopal from April 3 till April 12.
The championship is being organised by School Education School Education Department, Directorate of Public Instructions and School Games Federation of India. The matches will be played at Aishbagh Stadium, Bhopal.
While addressing the media persons here on Tuesday, Minister of School Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh Vijay Shah said that the matches will be played by the school students under 18 years of age.
He further informed that the teams of the countries including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri lanka, UAE, Bangladesh, China and India will participate in the championship.
While informing about the international championship, he said, “Two pools have been made for the countries for the participant teams. In one pool the teams from China, Malaysia, UAE and Sri lanka will play and in another pool teams from India, Thailand, Singapore and Nepal will play.” Besides, the accommodation facilities for all the teams have been made at Hotel Palash and Hotel Residency, he added.
He also informed that for the successful execution of the competition, central committee along with different committees is formed for organising the championship. The committees will keep an eye on the execution of the championship and will hold review meetings on a regular basis so that the championship can be held successfully. Special arrangements for hygiene and cleanliness, medical facilities, changing rooms and other facilities have also been made at Aishbagh Stadium.
It is to be noted that the championship preparations for the competition are being done in the coaching camp at Major Dhyanchand Stadium, Tulsi Nagar. Moreover, the selection for the Indian team was held on March 8 and 9 by School Games Federation wherein the players under 17 years and 18 years participated. About 53 players were selected during the selection session.
After the final selection, 18 players have been selected for the Indian team. The team includes four players from Orissa, four from Uttar Pradesh, Three players from Madhya Pradesh, Three from Chandigarh, two from Punjab and two from Haryana. Four players on the other hand have been selected as stand-by players.
The Indian team will be coached by international hockey coaches Narendra Sen and Subodh Khandekar from Sport Authority of India. Besides, Shakeel Qureshi has been selected as assistant coach for the team.