The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium and its enduring love with hockey
The Hindu
The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium situated in the centre of Chennai city holds a special place in the hearts of hockey fans, players, and officials alike. Earlier called the Corporation Stadium, which used to have hockey gravel ground, tennis courts, basketball and volleyball, it was rebuilt and renamed as the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.
The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium situated in the centre of Chennai city in Egmore holds a special place in the hearts of hockey fans, players, and officials alike.
Earlier called the Corporation Stadium, which used to have hockey gravel ground, tennis courts, basketball and volleyball, it was rebuilt and renamed as the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.
Constructed for the SAF Games in 1995, the complex now has hockey (artificial turf), tennis and volleyball.
The stadium attained international fame for hosting quite a few international hockey matches — like the SAF Games (1995), two editions of the Champions Trophy (1996 & 2005), an Asia Cup (2007), the India-Pakistan series (1999) and the India-Belgium series (2008). It has also been the venue for numerous domestic tournaments including the MCC-Murugappa All India Gold Cup and innumerable Chennai Hockey Association league matches.
More than the epic matches, strong rivalries among teams and players, it’s the spectators’ love for the National sport that has played a huge part in hockey’s popularity in this part of the region.
“When we played for the senior Tamil Nadu team or the Railways team, be it practice or tournaments, there would always be a set of elderly people who used to come to watch us. They were hardcore fans who used to honour players if they played well and would not hesitate to criticise if they played badly. It was an ambience we enjoyed,” says C.R. Kumar, coach of the Indian junior men’s team which won the Asia Cup recently.
The best part, according to former national captain V. Baskaran — who was part of the committee entrusted in laying the artificial turf along with another Olympian Munir Sait among others for the SAF Games — has been the spectators who continue to turn out in huge numbers for the finals of both domestic and International tournaments.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.