The Junior Men Inter-District Hockey State Championship for Suguna Trophy 2026 – a tournament under Hockey Unit of TamilNadu organized by Coimbatore District Hockey Association (CDHA) began in Coimbatore and Tiruppur simultaneously on Tuesday.
The tournament began in Coimbatore at City Corporation’s international standard Hockey Stadium in R.S.Puram.
35 teams from various districts of TamilNadu are competing in the tournament which is being conducted in league come knock-out basis. The quarter-finals will be held on May 1st and the Semi & Grand Finals will be held on May 2nd in Coimbatore.
Rajesh B.Lund, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore took part as the Chief Guest of the inaugural ceremony. He met the players from Coimbatore and Kanchipuram District who were set to face each other on the inaugural day along with V. Lakshminarayanasamy, President, CDHA and other special invitees.
At the end of Day 1, a total of 11 matches were played. In the final match of Day 1, Coimbatore defeated Kanchipuram with the score of 8-1.
During an interaction with The Covai Mail, Rajesh Lund, the chief guest said that watching players play in this stadium is a real feast to the eyes. He called the stadium “a big boon to our hockey lovers and youngsters”, and congratulated CDHA and organizing team for conducting this event of such a scale. “With the facilities available in the hockey stadium, Coimbatore can surely host national and international hockey events,” he opined.
V.Lakshminarayanasamy said that this is the first state-level hockey tournament to take place in Coimbatore after a gap of nearly 3 decades. Appreciating the Coimbatore Corporation for giving such a wonderful sport facility, he said CDHA is immensely happy to conduct the very first state-level tournament in this stadium. “We thank all the sponsors who have helped us conduct this tournament in an excellent way.,” he remarked.
Senthil Rajkumar, Gen Secretary – Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu said that this tournament holds significant importance as it will serve as the selection platform for identifying talented players who will represent Tamil Nadu in the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026, which will also be held in Coimbatore. “This event will help us find the next set of talents for the Indian team,” he said.
It is important to note that Thirumavalavan, Hockey Olympian participated as the Special Guest of the event. Uma Maheswari, Principal, Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan International School; Thirunavukarasu, IFS, Principal, Central Academy for State Forest Service, Coimbatore; Dr.Parameswaran, Founder, Sre Iswarrya Hospital; K.Muthukumar, Sr.Manager, Thangamayil Jewellery took part as the Guests of Honor.
