IOC, Indian Airlines snubbed for Bombay Gold Cup hockey

Mumbai, Apr 13 (UNI) The 44th edition of the Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament which begins here from Sunday will be shorn off its glitter after the Bombay Hockey Association (BHA) did not extend invitation to two powerhouse club--Indian Oil Coproration (IOC) and Indian Airlines (IA).

Addressing a press conference to give details of the tourney, BHA secretary Kehar Singh, said the two teams were not invited as they had insulted the association by breaking off from the BHA to play in the Bangalore league.

''These two teams had stated that the standard of the game was not upto the mark and therefore they were disassociating themselves from BHA and joining the Bangalore hockey league,'' Singh said, adding, ''when your own person insults you, we do not want to have such teams playing here.'' The BHA secretary, giving details of the tournament said that 33 teams will be taking part in the tourney which will be played on a knock-out-cum-league basis.''All the top teams of the country are taking part with the exception of Punjab and Sind Bank who, after confirming their participation, informed us that they would not be able to send a squad due to injuries and players being called for the India camp,'' he said.

The years's edition will, however, have an international flavour in the form of Bangladesh and Oman national teams.

''The winner would take home Rs 1.25 lakh, while the runners-up will be richer by Rs 75,000. In addition to this, each participating team will get Rs 5000 as appearance fee,'' Kehar Singh informed.

The tournament will be sponsored by Indian Overseas Bank, ONGC, Tata Sons, Bank of India, State Bank of India, Central Bank, UCO Bank and Indian Bank, while financial help has also been sought from BPCL, Air India, Essar Oil, General Insurance Corporation, HDFC, Dr Rizvi and Vijay Mallya.

The tournament will begin on April 16 with the first match between Bombay Customs and NE Railway, while the final is scheduled for April 29.

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