Trial for Punjab team to play in Hockey India Masters Cup to be rescheduled

Less participation was witnessed today during the selection trials for the Punjab team that will participate in the first Hockey India Masters Cup (Men and Women).

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The trials that started at around 10 am were held at Surjit Hockey Stadium. Notably, it is for the first time that the Masters Cup is being organised by Hockey India. It will be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from June 18 to June 27.

When The Tribune reached the stadium, only 14 men and nine women players were giving their trials. So, the organisers have now decided to hold the trials on another day, for those who couldn’t come today.

Amrik Singh Powar, general secretary of Hockey India, said that the trials will happen again after two days. “It is happening for the first time by Hockey India, so there must be some confusion. Those who still want to give trials will be given another chance and we know that more players are going to come as we already have queries,” he told The Tribune.

From govt school teacher to massage therapist. Women above the age of 35 participated and men who were above 40 were eligible to appear in trials.

Interestingly, while there were women who are already in sports department — one of them was a coach in Punjabi University and Khalsa College —- some were government school teachers and also massage therapists who had played hockey at some level.

Saniya Sharma, a massage therapist, was accompanied by her family, including her husband and two sons, who were there to cheer them up. They had come from Amritsar.

Forty three-year-old Manpreet Kaur, a government primary school teacher from a Hoshiarpur village was also there to appear in the trials. Manpreet Kaur said that around two years ago, she participated in a tournament and won a bronze medal. “When I joined the Education Department as a teacher, I missed hockey. So, I worked hard with my students and created a hockey team of boys and they have been winning medals as well,” she added.