BANGALORE, May 13: The Senior National Hockey Championships are finally a reality. As the ball rolls in the first match of the 58th edition for the Rangaswamy Cup, between Patiala and Gujarat at the Sports Authority of India (South) Centre on the outskirts of the Garden City on Wednesday, a new chapter in the history of the game, in which India has won a record eight Olympic gold medals, will begin.

The national team, no doubt finished a depressing eighth in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a disappointing fourth at the Chennai Champions Trophy. But what gives the hockey buff of the country a ray of hope is the talent the championship is expected to throw up as the junior India team gets ready to play in the Milton Keynes World Cup.

The championship had faced a jinx after the Mumbai Nationals in 1994, with the parent body the Indian Hockey Federation getting a `no' from every affiliated association to host the tournament, till Karnataka State Hockey Association under the industrious secretaryship of K Krishnamurthy came forward to host the tourney.

Well, all was not hunky dory for Krishnamurthy and his team in preparing for this tourney. Even now, clouds of doubt loom over the completion of the Akkithimmanahalli Hockey Stadium in the City, to where the tourney will be shifted after the artificial surface is laid.

Then came the financial part of the championship. The KSHA entered into an agreement with a Pune-based advertising agency to find the sponsors for the tourney, but here too the organisers were left facing a dead-end with the agency showing more indolence than interest in proving worthy. The nod from Punjab and Sind Bank, who will make their debut in the tourney with five other associate members, to sponsor the championship came as the saving grace.

On the competition front, holders Indian Airlines should start as the odds-on favourite. A look at the Airlines line-up which consists of Ashish Ballal and A B Subbiah in the goal, Dilip Tirkey in the defence, Shakeel Ahmed in the mid-field and speedy forwards Mukesh `Gazelle' Kumar and Brojen Singh, should send shivers in the minds on the opponents.

Runners-up Mumbai too have a formidable side with the likes of Dhanraj Pillay, Sabu Varkey, Sandeep Somesh and Jagadish Ponnappa will definitely put up a strong challenge to the Airlines. Air-India is another side, with players essentially from Mumbai and they too are no pushovers. Air-India are one of the six associate members, who will play as individual sides in the tourney. The other members being Punjab and Sind Bank, Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Steel Authority of India Limited and All India Central Excise & Customs.

Traditional powerhouse Punjab will enter the tourney, a considerably depleted side, with PSB and BSF taking away a chunk of their bank. Yet the side is a force to reckon with players like Ramandeep Singh, Baljit Bullar and Pargat Singh, who will be ending his playing career with this tourney, forming the nucleus.

From the Southern part of the country, Tamil Nadu will spearhead the challenge with an effervescent side comprising of the schemy Mohd Riaz, and a bunch of young and enthusiastic forwards L Prabhakaran, Paul Kirubakaran and Tirumalvalavan. Dinesh Naik in the deep defence will use his international experience to good help.

Hosts Karnataka, apart from the annual `donations' to other states in the country, have to do away with the Central Excise and Customs players. Yet the State selectors have picked a mix of youth and experience under the tutelage of Junior India assistant coach Ramesh Parameswaran for the tournament.

Another team, which will make a determined effort to regain its lost glory are former champions Indian Railways. Wednesday's matches: Patiala vs Gujarat; Railways vs Vidarbha; Maharashtra vs Central Excise & Customs; Madhya Bharat vs TN; Hyderabad vs BSF.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.