The Thoothukudi team won the championship title in the “Sukuna Trophy-2026” state-level junior men’s hockey championship held in Coimbatore.
Training and competitions are being held continuously at the newly constructed international-standard Corporation Hockey Stadium in Coimbatore’s R.S. Puram area at a cost of about Rs. 10 crores by the Tamil Nadu government with the aim of producing national and international-standard players.
Following that, the “Sukuna Trophy-2026” Hockey Championship for Under-19 Boys was held from April 28th to May 2nd at the R.S. Puram Astro Turf Ground, Coimbatore and Udumalaipettai, Tiruppur District.
Around 700 young players from 35 teams from various districts of Tamil Nadu participated in this tournament. The series, which was held with the approval of Hockey India, served as a major platform to identify young talents and promote them to national and international level competitions.
In the first semi-final match held this morning, the Thoothukudi team defeated the Coimbatore team 4-2 to advance to the final. In the second semi-final, the Ramnadu team defeated the Madurai team 7-0.
In the final match held in the evening, the teams of Thoothukudi and Ramnadu clashed. In this lively match, the Thoothukudi team won by a score of 3-1 and won the championship title. Later, at the prize-giving ceremony, the treasurer of the Indian Hockey Association and the president of the Tamil Nadu Hockey Association, Shekhar Manoharan, the president of the Coimbatore District Hockey Association, Lakshmi Narayanasamy and others honored the winning teams and players by presenting trophies and prizes.
The National Championship Hockey Tournament is scheduled to be held at the end of June. The winning team today will represent Tamil Nadu. 36 states are participating in the National Championship Tournament, and the Tamil Nadu team is entering the field in the A-tier.
Senthil Rajkumar, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Hockey Unit, said that a special coach from Britain will come to train the team from Tamil Nadu as the National Championship will be tough.
