Vadodara: It is an interesting contest between the leaders of the Legendary Hockey Dhyan Chand and Manpreet Singh, the captain of the bronze medal winning team at the Tokyo Olympics in the city on Sunday.
And it’s Dhyanchand who wins hands in a thrilling contest.
Shocked? Nine hockey teams consisting of junior players and women playing against each other in the VMC sports complex in Manjalpur on Sunday, celebrated as a national sports day.
The teams were named after the Tokyo Olympic medal sport who won from India.
“Our sportspers installed inspiring performance at the Olympics this time and won the US medal.
So, we decided to pay tribute to them,” said Rohan Bhanage, CEO, VMC sports promotion foundation.
The foundation organizes a hockey tournament and named seven teams after seven Olympic medal winners including Neeraj Chopra, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borghain, Bajran Punia and Manpreet Singh.
The other two teams were crowned after Major Dhyanchand and the captain of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team Ran Rampal.
“Our team of women ends in fourth place at the Olympics and they must be respected for their appearance,” Bhanage added.
All teams played a 30 minute match each other at Astroturf in the sports complex.
Each team has a mix of male and female players.
Major Dhyanchand XI reached the final and played against Manpreet Singh Xi.
The Dhyanchand player scored four goals while Manpreet player managed to pass the opponent’s goalkeeper only once.
“We arrange a hockey tournament to promote sports among young people.
Vadodara has always been a hub for hockey and we want to attract more players aspirations for sports,” said Bhanage Toi.