Mumbai : Twelve leading teams – eight outstation and four local challengers will battle it out for supremacy in the 51st All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, which is scheduled to commence at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium from Monday, November 28. This “blue riband” event is organized by Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) and is being conducted under the auspices of Hockey India.
The tournament will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis and grand finale, is scheduled for Wednesday, December 7, 2016.
Last year’s runners-up CAG (Comptroller & Auditors General), former champions Indian Oil, Bengaluru; Army XI, Delhi; South Central Railway, Chennai; Punjab & Sind Bank, Delhi; Punjab National Bank, Delhi XI and Hockey Karnataka are the eight outfits from outside Mumbai that will be seen in action in this prestigious hockey tournament. The local challenge will be come from Mumbai Super League champs Indian Navy, Western Railway, Central Railway and Bombay Republicans.
MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi pointed out that defending champions, BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) will not be participating. “BPCL have withdrawn from the competition. Their management cited that since maximum of their players are on National duty; some with the Indian senior team participating in a 4-Nation tournament in Melbourne, Australia and many are in the Indian junior squad that will take part in the Junior World Cup scheduled to commence early next month in Lucknow as the reason for their non-participation,” Bhakshi mentioned.
Oft-crowned champions Air India are also not participating in this event and the reason is due to some domestic issues.
The 12 teams have been divided into four groups of three each and the top two teams from each pool will qualify for the quarter-final (knockout).
