MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup: Malaysian junior hockey team to arrive on July 10; Video referral introduced for all matches

The Malaysian national junior team will be arriving in Chennai on Thursday for the 96th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium from July 10 to 20.

This is the first time an international team is taking part in the prestigious tournament which will see the participation of 10 teams. Malaysia will take on Indian Navy on July 12 in its first match.

Three new teams — Indian Navy, Malaysia and Central Board of Direct Taxes — have been included while Odisha, BPCL and Central Secretariat, which took part in the previous edition are not participating.

Speaking to the media on the launch of the tournament, S. L. Rajiv Reddy, Organising Secretary said, “We have raised the bar by having an international team and this time we have introduced video referral for all the matches.”

Arun Murugappan, Executive Chairman, Tube Investments of India, said Murugappa will continue to support the tournament “as long as we can”. Hailing the tournament as a great success, Vivek Kumar Reddy, president of Madras Cricket Club (MCC) praised Murugappa for its steadfast support. Niranjan Mudaliar, Secretary of MCC, also spoke.

The traditional inaugural match will be played between MCC and Mercara Downs Golf Club (Coorg) on July 9 at 6 p.m.