New Delhi, Mar. 4 (ANI): The historic Nehru All India Inter Universities Hockey Tournament concluded at the Shivaji Stadium with GND University from Amritsar posting a 4 – 3 win over MG Kashi Vidyapeeth of Varanasi to clinch the top honours.
The 23rd edition of the tournament, which was organised under the aegis of The Association of Indian Universities from February 22 to February 29, attracted sixteen universities.
Chairman of HVR Sports INC Harshavardhan Reddy gave away the cash prizes to all the participants on the final day. This is the first time that each and every participant has received financial encouragement in any tournament.
The sixteen teams from Universities of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab, Delhi and Maharashtra, took part in the eight-day tournament. Each university had fielded 18 students.
JNHTS (Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey tournament) has always been striving to promote the game at all levels and its proponents feel elated when hockey players are recognized by the Government of India. This organisation is working for the last 52 years.
In a similar way, HVR Sports INC, a mega sports company, with a vision to convert passion into sustainable profession, has created a platform not only for a large number of sporting events, but also for sportsmen to come forward and showcase their talent. Both these organization have now come together with an ambitious target to change the face of the hockey in India.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary of JNHTS Kukko Walia said, “I acknowledge Mr. Reddy’s efforts to raise the standard of hockey in India. By awarding the participants with the cash money he is not only encouraging this game but also motivating them to participate and opt for hockey as profession. The association of HVR Sports with us will further bolster our efforts towards promotion of hockey, once the jewel in our crown.”
Speaking on the final day, Reddy said, “Although hockey is India’s national sport, it is rarely encouraged the way cricket is. Actually it’s not hockey alone, not many sports disciplines have been supported as cricket, which attracts huge amounts of corporate funds. The result is that other sports have neither the financial muscle nor the infrastructure to develop sporting icons that spur sportsmen to take up them up profession.”
Reddy hoped that ventures such as these will provide the necessary fillip to sports persons to take them up in the right earnest. “By giving away this token award, I hope these university students will be suitably encouraged to pursue their passion of sports and turn their dreams into reality,” he added. (ANI)