Raipur to get Chhattisgarh's 2nd international hockey stadium on Aug 29

New Delhi: The city of Raipur will become the latest hockey destination as a new international stadium will be inaugurated at the capital of Chhattisgarh on the occasion of National Sports Day on August 29, the birth anniversary of legendary Major Dhyanchand.

With a capacity of 4000 spectators, this is the second international hockey stadium with a blue astroturf to come up in Chhattisgarh after the stadium in Rajnandgaon which was inaugurated earlier this year.

The stadium will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh and Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, Gauri Shankar Agarwal.

On the occasion of the inauguration, an exhibition match will be played between two teams of 16 national players each, including members of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medal winning Indian men's side.

Speaking on the occasion, Hockey India secretary general, Narinder Batra said: "I am thankful to the Government of Chhattisgarh for building the second hockey stadium in the state within a span of almost six months. These initiatives will go in a long way to develop hockey in Chhattisgarh."

The Team 'A' will be led by Sardar Singh and Team 'B' will be led by Vickram Kanth. The players will arrive at Raipur on August 28.

Teams:

Team 'A': P R Sreejesh (goalkeeper); Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, V R Raghunath (defenders); Dharamvir Singh, Sardar Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Manpreet Singh (midfielders); Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, S V Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Nikkin Thimmaiah (forwards).

Team 'B': Harjot Singh (goalkeeper), Gurmail Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu, Gurjinder Singh, Vickram Kant, Vikas Pillay (defenders); S K Uthappa, Jasjit Singh, Devinder Sunil Walmiki, Satbir Singh, Harjeet Singh (midfielders); Affan Yousuf, Yuvraj Walmiki, Mandeep Singh, Talwinder Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (forwards).