The 61st National School Games Federation of India (SGFI) Hockey Games 2015-16 was declared open on Monday with a total of 15 matches to be played by the 23 states at the Astroturf hockey Stadium in Morhabadi. In the girls’ U-14 category, the winning teams were Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Chandigarh with Uttar Pradesh scoring as high as 24 goals against Uttarakhand’s zero. The girls’ matches took place at the Bariatu Girls High School in Bariatu while the matches for the boys’ U-14 were held at the Astroturf Hockey Stadium and Birsa Munda Football Stadium in Morhabadi.
The SGFI Hockey Games was earlier scheduled to be inaugurated by Amar Kumar Bauri, Tourism, Art & Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister but was later declared open by the department’s Secretary Avinash Kumar. “We are really proud to host 23 teams right from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu here in our city for the National-level tournament. We wish you all the best and please feel at home here in our city and deliver your best,” said Kumar. Both the teams were handed a hockey kit after the tournament was declared open by the District Sports Officer Amitabh Kumar.
Former field hockey players Sylvanus Dung Dung and Manohar Topno were both on the 1980 and 1984 Olympics team representing India for the field hockey team (men) from Jharkhand and are now here at the event to promote the game to a younger generation of girls and boys in mastering the strokes. The Observers for the tournament Wahid Ali and RK Ojha seemed busy interacting with the young field players and giving them handy tips to better their chances. RP Singh, Special Secretary, Tourism, Art and Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Bholanath Singh, president, Jharkhand Hockey Association were also present at the inaugural ceremony.