CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is likely to host the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup in December next year. The tournament, which was launched in 1979 as a quadrennial event, now takes place once in every two years. India hosted the competition for the first time in 2013 and was awarded rights to host the 24-team mega event for the fourth time in June earlier this year.
"In the past couple of months, the SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu) was in talks with the HI (Hockey India), FIH (International Hockey Federation) and AHF (Asian Hockey Federation) for hosting the Junior World Cup. An agreement has been reached, and the finer details will be discussed as early as possible," sources close to the development told TOI.
It has been learnt that the tournament could be hosted in multiple venues. "Apart from Chennai, we are looking to add Madurai to the list. Madurai already has a ground with a turf, and we will work on its infrastructure to make it eligible for international hockey."
If everything goes to plan, the Junior Hockey World Cup will mark the return of top-level hockey to the state. In August last year, Chennai had successfully hosted the six-team Asian Champions Trophy, which served as a tune-up for the Hangzhou Asian Games. Apart from conducting international events, the state successfully hosted the senior men national tournament last year and bagged the hosting rights this year again.
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