Lucknow gears up for the biggest sporting extravaganza

Lucknow, 27 November: The prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium here at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College is getting final touches as it’s being transformed to a world-class facility ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Junior World Cup Men’s, Lucknow 2016. The stadium, which will host 44 matches and serve as the main venue, will witness 16 teams from across the globe slug it out for supremacy.

The stadium, situated in the heart of the Sports College campus which has produced international greats, is almost three decades old and is in the midst of lush greenery. The stadium, however, was given a fresh lease of life when the young and dynamic Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the renovated multi-crore worth blue-colour astro turf last year and thus setting the preparations for the world cup in motion.

With just 10 days to go for the mega event, the stadium today wears a swanky look with 4000 new chairs being added to the existing spectator gallery to ensure better experience for general spectators. This will also be the first time that the city is hosting International Hockey matches under flood lights.

The facilities in the stadium also includes a newly built, well-equipped media center which can accommodate over 100 journalists and for the first time, Lucknow will host international media to cover hockey the international media personnel would start  arriving  in the city  by first week of December onwards. The entire stadium will also be WI-FI enabled for the Officials & management staff and the stadium boasts of one-of-a-kind video towers that can accommodate 16 video analysts at a time. There will be four newly-built dressing rooms designed keeping in mind players’ comfort and is equipped with ice bath facilities, massage tables etc.

Two giant LED screens within the stadium will keep the spectators engaged with the state of the art graphics & match telecast. The UP government has taken the initiative of setting up a “Mini Mela” at the stadium to give a feel of Lucknow’s culture, tradition, handicraft & cuisine to visiting teams & spectators for having a unique experience.

Also over 100 volunteers from across Uttar Pradesh professionally trained by Hockey India will join the organising team on November 30. There will also be 20 liaison officers attached to participating teams to ensure they have no difficulties. “It brings us immense pride to host such a mega event in Lucknow city and the stadium is equipped with world class facilities which will put Lucknow city on the world hockey map. This stadium has hosted Hockey India League matches over the past four editions but this is the first time a world-class event of this magnitude is taking place in the state and this is also the first time any International hockey match is being played under flood lights in Uttar Pradesh. It’s a moment of honour and pride for us to be part of this event and with this development, we hope to inspire many young hockey aspirants to take up the sport,” stated Dr RP Singh, Sports Director, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Come December 8, hockey buffs will be treated to high-intensity action as the world’s rising stars battle it out in what will be one of the most competitive hockey events of the year.

Online ticket details: http://ticketgenie.in/Details/Uttar-Pradesh-Hockey-Junior-world-Cup-Men-Lucknow-2016