Hockey players put up with meagre facilities at hostel

Madikeri: Ignace Tirkey has played his heart out in many a hockey match for India. Tirkey, who is playing for Army Red in the Super Division Hockey League matches here, had to sleep on the floor for four days at the old Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel at the District Stadium here since April 12, until his “luck” changed on Friday.

Winner of many awards, including the Padma Shri, Tirkey had to put up with the meagre facilities at the hostel. Not many knew who Tirkey was.

If he had been a cricketer he would have been mobbed by crowds for autographs, said Uthappa, who plays for Army Green and is staying in the same hostel.

Wait for water tanker 

Tirkey, like Uthappa (who hails from Kolakeri near Napoklu), had to wait for the water tanker to arrive in the morning every day to take bath.

 Kuimanda Kiran, one of the umpires officiating in the Super Division League, alerted Siddu Chowshetti, owner of a private hotel here, about the plight of Tirkey and also of Sunil Ekka, another Indian international playing for the Army Red. Mr. Chowshetti invited Tirkey and Ekka to stay in his hotel for free, near the Raja Seat Gardens.

 “I hope other players too get similar treatment from the organisers,” said Malettira Srinivas, another umpire officiating in the matches.

 “Give the players better accommodation and food during tournaments and it will result in better performance from them,” Tirkey told The Hindu while watching the match being played between Fortis and the Army Green on Friday. “All my other friends (players) too should have got better accommodation and food,” he added.

 Hopeful

 However, these days facilities are definitely better than what they used to be, said Tirkey, who is nursing a knee injury. “I hope to get back into the Indian team soon,” he added.

Jeevan Chinnappa

 -The Hindu

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ASC, COE teams win hockey matches

The ASC team has defeated HAL team, which was heading towards leading position by achieving hat trick victories, at the State-level Super Division Hockey Leage at Madikeri on Thursday.

The ASC team scored 2 goals against 0 to win the match against HAL at the League being organised by Coorg Hockey Association and Karnataka State Hockey Association. Due to the strategy of both the teams, both could not score a goal till the half time. HAL had a penalty corner which was transformed into a goal.

Centre of Excellence (COE) team defeated Army Green team by 2-1 in another league tournament.

Meanwhile, MEG team defeated Central EXcellence team in a league tournament earlier by 4-2. Sahayam took two goals for MEG, which played a decisive role for the victory of the team.
-DH News Service

National level hokey league match in madikeri

The national level hokey league match began here today with a happy note.

Players and empires from all over India have gathered at Madikeri. The astro turf ground is decorated with a temporary gallery erected to hold a gathering of ten thousand. MLC M.C.Nanaiah today inaugurated the first match played between Central excise team and Central team of Excellence. Second match was played between MLI and HAL.

The Hockey league matches would be played till 25th of this month. The winners would receive bountiful prizes and trophies.The first prize would be a cash prize of rupees 1.5 lakhs and a 5.5 feet high trophy, second would be rupees one lakh and third would receive rupees fifty thousand.

Hockey association state president Krishnamurthy and district president Mohan Aiyappa and others were present.

– ShakthiDaily

Move to shift hockey turf project opposed

The president of the Government Junior College Development Committee at Ponnampet, Addanda C. Cariappa, on Friday opposed the move to shift the synthetic hockey playing surface project from the Government Junior College Ground in Ponnampet to a private school in Gonicoppa.

He was speaking to presspersons here. Mr. Cariappa said that the Government had sanctioned Rs. 2 crore each to four districts for laying the artificial hockey playing surface in the State, including Ponnampet in Kodagu, in the previous budget.

Funds promised by the Government should be utilised only to lay the turf at the government college, he added.

The zilla panchayat-run sports school functioned at the Government Junior College premises and the students could use the synthetic turf there unlike other locations. Some people were making efforts to take the project either to Virajpet or Ammathi, which had caused confusion resulting in the delay of the project, he said.

He had apprised Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah and Madikeri MLA M.P. Appachu Ranjan of the issue, who too had supported his idea, Mr. Cariappa claimed.

Ponnampet is a major hockey centre in Kodagu. Many Kodava hockey festivals are held here.

This spoke of the popularity of hockey in and around Ponnampet, Mr. Cariappa said. Efforts being made by certain political leaders and a senior official from the Department of Youth Services and Sports to shift the project to Gonicoppa was unfortunate and the Government should ensure that it was not shifted from Ponnampet, Mr. Cariappa said.

He appealed to sports lovers to protest against the move to shift the project to Gonicoppa and said the committee would organise a protest if the move was not dropped within 15 days.

 -The Hindu

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Maneyapanda family to host 14th Kodava Hockey Festival

The 14th annual Kodava Hockey Festival “Maneyapanda Twenty 10” will be hosted by the Maneyapanda family at Ponnampet starting mid-April, according to a release issued by the family organising committee here on Tuesday.

The release said that 250 teams are expected to participate. The month-long hockey festival will be held at the two playgrounds located close to each other at the Ponnampet Junior College.

The logo of the festival will be that of a hockey player in yellow colour standing against a green background.

A core committee has been constituted to ensure that the festival is a grand success with men and women of all ages participating in the tournament. Over 3,500 players will be seen in action. The Maneyapanda family has approached the State Government for financial assistance as the festival involves a huge expenditure, the release said.

The 27-member core committee is headed by Brigadier Maneyapanda A. Devaiah (retd.) and Maneyapanda A. Ravi Medappa is its secretary.

The release said that the committee was trying to get several private companies to sponsor the event. Besides, it is expected that women of the Maneyapanda families who are now married into other Kodava families will also contribute substantially for the event.

In the Kodava Hockey Festival a large number of people belonging to a particular clan take part and it involves a huge expenditure.

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-The Hindu

Virajpet will have synthetic hockey turf: Bopaiah

AMMATHI (KODAGU DISTRICT): The State Government has approved laying of a synthetic hockey playing surface in Kodagu and it will be laid in one of the centres in Virajpet taluk, Pro tem Speaker K.G. Bopaiah said here on Sunday.

He was speaking at the Sixth Kodagu District Football League finals here. The tournament was instituted in the name of the late M.M. Chengappa, a renowned doctor, sports lover and educationist.

Mr. Bopaiah said that the place for laying the synthetic surface would be decided in consultation with all concerned.

Kodagu had remained a sports district and it was heartening to note that football too was getting importance here, he said.

The Government was committed to improving the standard of sports and games by creating infrastructure. The District Stadium — General K.S. Thimayya Stadium — was being developed and an indoor stadium too was coming up near it, he said.

Of late, all communities in the district had taken to organising sports and games activities, he said, and termed it as a positive sign for promotion of sports in Kodagu.

Mr. Bopaiah, N.U. Mohan Aiyappa, the former president of the Kodagu District Football Association (KDFA); M.C. Cariappa, son of M.M. Chengappa, and other guests were introduced to the two finalist teams before the commencement of the finals.

Kollira Dharmaja, Kodagu Zilla Panchayat member; Bose Devaiah, president of the Ammathi Sports Club; B.C. Dinesh, secretary of the KDFA; and Jagdish, treasurer of the association, were also present.

In the finals, Milan Boys from Ammathi scraped past Chetana Youth Club from Chettalli by 1-0 margin with the goal coming from Siraj in the 80th minute. Goalkeepers of both teams put up a good display. Winners carried home cash prize of Rs. 10,000 while the losers took home Rs. 5,000.

-The Hindu