PUNE: National body Hockey India will conduct a 5-a-side mixed-gender tournament at the Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Pune’s Balewadi this weekend.
The format will be tried for the first time in Pune and will be watched by International Olympic Committee observers, the Times of India quotes Hockey India general secretary Manoj Bhore as saying.
The mixed-gender event will be a one-day affair, and the 5-a-side national league matches for men and women will begin from Tuesday. Each team will have nine players, five men and four women. At a time, five players will be at the ground, which will include a minimum of two women players. Top Indian players like Devendra Walmiki, Rani Rampal, Savita Rani and Gurpreet Kaur will be a part of the nationals, the report says.
“The aim is to pitch this format for the 2024 Games. Since many individual sports like tennis, shooting, badminton have been attaining gender equality at the Games, we at Hockey India thought of bringing a concept that is faster and will fulfill the equality criteria. The tournament will be watched by an IOC member as something like this is being conducted for the first time in the world,” Bhore told TOI.
An International Hockey Federation (FIH) official confirmed to TOI that the world hockey body is following the developments closely.
