A prestigious hockey tournament that churned out scores of international players including eight Olympians, Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup 2022 got underway in Bhopal on Monday.
As the historical Aishbagh stadium is under renovation, the venue has been shifted to Maj Dhyanchand Stadium in the city where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the tournament.
“Bhopal was once a nursery for Indian hockey and we are trying our committed to get the coveted title back to our city,” Chouhan said while inaugurating the event which features Our players are full of enthusiasm and if they are given proper training and facilities, there is no issue why India can’t be the number one team in the world, added Chouhan.
Started in year 1931 as Obaidullah Gold Cup, the prestigious tournament carried on for decades churning out international players but it could not be a consistent fixture and last time it was played in year 2016 and is being organized after a gap of six years.
Having seen 64 editions, the tournament was to be organized in December 2021 but was postponed by the Dept of Sports and Youth Welfare. Last time, it was BPCL team which had lifted the title pocketing a reward of Rs 25 lakh and CM Shivraj had promised to double up the prize money to Rs 51 lakh.
Earlier the tournament which stopped a decade ago was revived in year 2010 but it could only run till 2014.
To add, the tournament was started in year 1931 with the constitution of Bhopal Hockey Association.
Including Ahmed Sher Khan, Ehsan Mohammed, Latif-ur-Rehman, Akhtar Hussain, Inam-ur-Rehman, Aslam Sher Khan, Syed Jalaluddin Rizwi and Samir Dad, the tournament has produced eight Olympians and 37 international players in the past.
A dozen teams will jostle it out for the cup in the event that will conclude on March 27.
To add, the tournament has been revived after the Men’s and Women’s teams had finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics.
We are preparing five astro turfs in Bhopal and are making every effort to bring back the golden past of hockey in Bhopal, said Sports minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia at the inauguration of the event.
Second time in 93 years, no Bhopal team in tourney
For the second time in the 93 years of history of the tournament, no team will represent Bhopal in the weeklong event. This is perhaps, last year the three associations which represented hockey in Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Bhopal, Hockey Madhya Bharat (Jabalpur) and Hockey Madhya Bharat (Gwalior) lost their membership to Hockey India and a combined unit—Hockey Madhya Pradesh came into being last year. MP Hockey Academy team is taking part in the event. In 2016 as well, the Bhopal team could not feature in the event due to a legal wrangle among hockey federations.
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