Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan will inaugurate the fourth International Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup-2012 Tournament as chief guest at Aishbagh Stadium here on December 19 at 5 pm. The inaugural function will be presided over by Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Shri Tukojirao Puar. Member of Parliament Shri Kailash Joshi, Urban Administration and Development Minister Shri Babulal Gaur, Home Minister Shri Umashankar Gupta, Mayor Smt. Krishna Gaur, MLAs Shri Arif Aqeel, Shri Dhruv Narayan Singh, Shri Vishwas Sarang and Shri Jitendra Daga will be special guests. Colourful cultural programmes will mark the inauguration ceremony.
All is set to organise this tournament on international level for the first time. Team from Auckland (New Zealand) and Malaysia have reached Bhopal. They were cordially greeted on arrival in Bhopal by players of the State Hockey Academy. These teams will participate in the tournament right from league matches beginning from December 19.
Members of the Auckland team enjoyed a match played between Bhopal 11 Blue and Punjab & Sindh Bank today. Describing the facilities available at the stadium, these players termed the tournament as one of the best. Team member Jignesh Kishore said that playing hockey in India is important for us. Bhopal has been a hub of hockey and under such circumstances opportunity to play with international players will be valuable experience.