It’s official. The cream of Indian hockey will play at the Karnataka State Hockey Association stadium. After pondering for a while, common sense prevailed as the KSHA decided to conduct the  Tier I of the State Super Division hockey league at the KSHA stadium here.

“In the wake of demand from the public, teams as well as the media, we have decided to conduct the  tier  I here itself.  Moreover the logistics involved in travelling as well as in conducting matches at the SAI Centre were too taxing.

Earlier, we were planning to hold the tier I at SAI on the outskirts of the city as some top teams had expressed reservations about playing here. But with the ground conditions improving, the teams now have no qualms whatsoever in playing here. There are only a few rough patches in the turf and we will get it corrected soon,’’ said KSHA secretary K Krishnamurthy.

Focus  on  BPCL

With the Tier I matches being moved back to  KSHA, it remains to be seen whether one of the top notch teams Bharath Petroleum Corporation Limited, at whose instance the second leg was moved to SAI Centre will take part.  However Krishnamurthy sounded optimistic about BPCL’s participation.

“Initially they had pulled out of the tournament before changing their mind and making themselves available after the second leg was shifted to SAI Centre. Now, I have convinced them about the necessity of staging the second leg at the KSHA and I am hopeful of their participation.”

IOCL , Army Red, Canara Bank and KSP are the other teams which have been seeded directly in the tier 1, which is slated to commence on September 14th,  a day after the conclusion of the Tier II.