The country’s oldest hockey tournament Beighton Cup will celebrate its 125th birth anniversary this year and it will be staged from 9th to 17th December. Hockey Bengal has already started initiating for finalizing the participating teams. 

The state body is trying to invite a top European club side through the help of Hockey India which is yet to take shape. Hockey Bengal is also trying to bring in the Bangladesh national side although a Bangladesh army team as well as a Malaysian team have informally promised to take part in the prestigious competition. Considering plans so far, 12 teams will participate in the main round of the competition including two foreign teams.

The major factor behind Hockey Bengal’s drive to bring a quality European team is a verbal assurance from the state sports ministry of completing the first-ever Astro Turf hockey stadium within the premises of Yuba Bharati Krirangan. 

Hockey Bengal secretary, Istiyak Ali said, “We have been told that the construction of Astro-Turf hockey stadium will be completed in November. So, we should not have any difficulty staging the Beighton Cup there in December." 

Simultaneously, the Hockey Bengal secretary revealed that the state association does not want to set its focus only on organizing the Beighton Cup. He explained, "Once we have the Astro-Turf stadium then we will have to organize activities throughout the year. We have plans to introduce a proper residential hockey school from the grass route level to create a supply line. We also have plans to develop and popularize women’s hockey by introducing a tournament for women where teams from other states can participate. Finance is always our constraint. Still, we have to try." 

Hockey Bengal conducted a tournament with both boys (under 15) and women (under 16) last month at the SAI complex ground last month. The 12 boys' teams and eight girls' teams across the state took part and the boys have been selected from there to represent Bengal in the forthcoming sub-junior national championship, to be held in Ranchi from 24th September. 

Mohammad Khalid Hussain, the joint-secretary of Hockey Bengal was in charge of the tournament and said, “Following directives from Hockey India we are organizing camps across the state and Hockey India is supplying sticks and balls to the districts through us.”