Strong contenders Army XI, Bengaluru will open their campaign with a Pool-B league match against MHAL President’s XI in the 13th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament, to be played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Monday. The match will commence at 2.30 pm.
Later in the evening, Mumbai outfit Indian Navy will clash with South Central Railway, Secundrabad in the opening Pool-A encounter at 4.30 pm.
The physically fitter and more experienced Army unit, should not find it difficult to come through against the younger and less experienced MHAL President’s side. The President’s XI comprises talented upcoming players from Sports Authority of India, Kandivali and local players from Bombay Republicans team, which is the nursery of Mumbai hockey.
An MHAL official pointed out, “The only purpose of selecting young players in the President’s team is to groom the youngsters and give them the exposure of big-match situation. That would ensure that we have players with experience who are prepared to face stiffer competitions when they are picked to represent Mumbai in the National Championships.”
This match could be a good warm-up for the Armymen for the tougher matches ahead as they have to contend with former champions Indian Oil and local challengers Central Railway, the other two teams in the pool.
The MHAL defence will have to be at their best and try to arrest the movements of the Army attackers, in particular A.P. Siraju and B.B. Machaiah, who are the spearheads of Army’s attack.
The second match of the day is certain to witness a good contest and Navy can expect a strong challenge from the Secundrabad team, who have always strived hard and troubled the best teams. Once again the fitness of the Naval outfit would be a major factor as the hot and humid conditions are certain to cause problems for all the teams.
Indian Oil will launch their campaign against Central Railway in the first game at 2.30 pm, a Pool-B match on Tuesday followed by the Pool-A match between BPCL and Punjab Police at 4.30 pm. Both BPCL and the Punjab cops are the frontrunners to make it to the semi-finals from this pool.
