School students from four districts of North Bengal, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Malda participated in this competition. A total of 18 students from four schools each in Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts and six schools in Malda district took part in the field.

Separate matches were held for boys and girls in the U-16 category. After a long time such a hockey competition in Malda can be seen enthusiasm among the sports lovers. Many have expressed hope that through such initiatives, national level hockey players will emerge from Malda in the coming days.

Malda Hockey sub-committee member Dilip Kumar Das said, “In athletics, boxing, volleyball, kabaddi or kho-kho, many players in the district have got opportunities at the national level. But in hockey, that opportunity has not been created. Therefore, this competition has been organized with the aim of finding talent from the school level and developing future national players. There are also plans to organize bigger tournaments in the coming days.”

Krishnandu Narayan Chowdhury, Secretary of Maldah District Sports Association, said, “After a long time, the interest in hockey has started to increase again in the district. In the past, big competitions like the Olympics were also held in Malda. The District Sports Association is providing all kinds of support to take the hockey game forward.