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The prestigious 48th Mumbai Gold Cup hockey tournament commences at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium today.
The tournament attaches special significance this time around given the fact that it is being revived after a gap of four years.
“We are elated to hold the Mumbai Gold Cup after a gap of four years. We are sparing no effort to make it a big success,” Mumbai Hockey Association secretary Ram Singh Rathor said in an informal chat.
As many as twelve teams are taking part in this year’s edition. Punjab & Sind Bank, riding high after winning the 40th Surjit Singh Memorial hockey crown, will be one of the strong contenders alongside reigning champions Army XI, Air India, Indian Oil and ONGC.
Other outstation teams taking part in the tournament are SAIL, Bhopal XI and Punjab National Bank. Four teams from Mumbai – Western Railway, Central Railway, Union Bank and Indian Air Force – are also participating in this year’s edition.
It may be worth recalling that Army XI had won the Mumbai Gold Cup when it was last held in 2009 when they put it across Air India by a solitary goal. In fact, Army XI had also won the 2008 edition pipping Bharat Petroleum.
The organizers have scheduled two to three matches a day with one of them to be played under floodlights. The semifinals are slated to be held on October 26, while the final showdown is scheduled for October 27.
The inaugural edition of the Mumbai Gold Cup was held in 1995, when Lusitanians SC cornered glory beating Nagpur-based Bhawnagar in the final.
BSF Jalandhar have won the Mumbai Gold Cup on most occasions – eight times, while Railways collectively have bagged this winning trophy seven times. Punjab Police have won it five times while Indian Airlines have won it four times.
Central Railway, Indian Airlines and Punjab & Sind Bank have been runners-up on most occasions – each finishing second best three times.
Surprisingly, Indian Oil, touted as one of the formidable sides in the domestic circuit, have never won the Mumbai Gold Cup – they only once finished runners-up in 2003 losing to Indian Airlines in the final.
