CM applauds players for reviving hockey

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday praised Punjab players for reviving the game of hockey. The CM watched the final match of the Punjab Hockey League 2025 at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here and attended its prize distribution function too.

He said it was a matter of pride that the first Junior Hockey League being started by Punjab Hockey and Round Glass. He said it was the highest prize money league ever started in field of hockey. He said the league was inaugurated in Mohali and the finals were being played in Jalandhar.

An exhibition match was held before the finals in which Legend XI clashed with Star XI. Legend XI was led by former Indian hockey team captain Olympian Gagan Ajit Singh, who is the SSP, Malerkotla, while Star XI was led by the current Indian hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh.

The event was a memorable one as the players, who had won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and those who won the Junior World Cup in 2001 also attended it. Thus, three generations of hockey were seen together.

Mann noted that in the Indian team that created history by winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games, four players—Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Hardik Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh—are from Jalandhar. He said footballs, rugby balls, and other sports equipment made in Jalandhar are used in World Cups and Commonwealth Games.

He added that cricketer Harbhajan Singh, born in Jalandhar, made India proud worldwide, and because of his contributions, he was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member.

The Chief Minister said in the coming days, more than 3,000 sports stadiums will be constructed in the villages to give fillip to the sports. He said Khedan Watan Punjab Dian has already played a key role in this direction, adding that it has acted as catalyst to wean away the youth from menace of drugs.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Mohinder Bhagat, president, Hockey Punjab and vice-president Hockey India Nitin Kohli, Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal and others handed over a cheque for Rs 50 lakh to the Chief Minister as contribution in the Chardi Kala Mission.