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The Nehru Hockey Tournament, the national age group competition for both boys and girls, will resume today after a gap of one year due to the pandemic. The calendar’s first competition is being organized in the under-17 girls’ group at the iconic Shivaji Hockey Stadium in New Delhi. The final of the 13-day long U17 girls competition is scheduled for November 10.
Due to the pandemic, the number of teams for the 2021 edition of the Nehru Hockey Girls U17 Tournament has been reduced to 16 from 24.
“Due to the pandemic the number of teams in the fray is 16 only. We also have to strictly follow the government's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines to conduct sports competitions,” said Kukoo Walia, secretary general of the Nehru Hockey Society that oversees the event.
The Nehru Hockey Tournament was last held in 2018, but without spectators. Since then, all tournaments sanctioned by Hockey India have been banned at Shivaji Hockey Stadium due to worn out turf. The old turf has now been replaced, said Kukoo Walia.
“The Shivaji Hockey Stadium has a new turf now. Hockey India has approved the venue for the conduct of competitions,” he said.
Since the Shivaji Hockey Stadium was out of bounds for hockey competitions due to worn-out turf, the Nehru Hockey Society shifted the 2019 edition of the tournament to the National Hockey Stadium. The 2020 edition was canceled due to raging COVID-19 cases in India.
“Since all sports activities were disrupted to avoid the spread of pandemic, the Nehru Hockey Tournament too was canceled. As the situation is under control in Delhi post lockdown earlier this year, we have resumed the annual calendar,” added Walia.
The senior competition (men), however, will be held in Hyderabad.
“Since sponsor for the 2021 men’s tournament is from Hyderabad, we will organize the event in the same city,” said Walia.
