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The MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament has returned to Chennai after four years with a total of 10 teams split across two groups of five teams each.
The Gold Cup was on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak and was last held in 2019. Upon the return of the tournament, the tournament's Organizing Secretary B.M. Bopanna spoke to The Sports Nexus:
"We are very excited to have the tournament back in Chennai. I think the Asian Champions Trophy is the right platform. It gave us free publicity for the game. So a lot of people came and watched hockey so it’ll continue that. We are very happy to have the tournament back."
The MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup 2023 commenced on August 24 and will conclude on September 3. The league stage matches will be held till August 31 followed by a day's break. The semi-finals are scheduled for September 2 (Saturday), while the summit clash will take place on September 3 (Sunday).
Pool A consists of the Indian Navy, Indian Railways, Indian Oil Corporation, Central Secretariat, and Hockey Karnataka. Meanwhile, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Army, the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Punjab National Bank, and the Indian Airforce are pitted in Pool B of the competition.
When asked about the process of selecting the 10 teams for the Gold Cup, Bopanna told The Sports Nexus that the teams are chosen based on their performance over the last year or so:
"Unfortunately, we don’t have much data of the last 12 months because of not many tournaments. These days luckily we have teams calling us to say come we want to play. So we have a choice but we choose the best 10 teams based on the last 12-14 months."
Teams from all over India take part in one of India's oldest Hockey tournaments ever. Mr. B.M. Bopanna was all praise for the newly laid turf at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium after the friendly match.
"The good part is that this is the same turf that we’re going to play Paris Olympics next year. So for all the teams that’s good exposure to see how international hockey is being played," he told The Sports Nexus.
The MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament has seen some of its best players make it to the national team as well as the national camp in the past. However, over the last few editions of the event, we haven't seen so. Bopanna touched upon the same and concluded by saying:
"That’s because the international calendar is too cramped these days."
MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament Fixtures
Here is the full schedule of the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup 2023:
