The Indian Army who are always made more than a billion people of the Motherland feel safe by guarding India’s International borders with their selfless sacrifice and dedication has also been very prominent with its contribution towards sports helping the country provide some of the best athletes on the global stage.
The 126th Beighton Cup, the world’s oldest hockey championship and also “The Blue Riband” of Indian Hockey started on, 8th November at the “Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Hockey Stadium” built by the Government of West Bengal.
The Final match of 126th Beighton Cup held yesterday 16th November, 2025, from 05.30 pm. onwards. The match played between Army Red & Indian Air Force and Army Red won the match.
Hockey Bengal provided the Winning team – Army XI with a cheque of Rs. 10 Lakhs and Runner team – Indian Air Force with a cheque of Rs. 5 lakhs and player of the tournament – Mr. Manpreet Singh of Army Red with a cheque of Rs. 21,000/-
The unveiling of the Junior World Cup Trophy of FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 was part of this gala event.
Sujit Bose, President, Hockey Bengal & Minister of State (Independent Charge), Fire & Emergency Services, Govt. of West Bengal, Aroop Biswas, Minister in Charge, Department of Youth Services & Sports, Govt. of West Bengal were attended the event. West Germany World Cup Winning Captain Lothar Matthuas, Olympian Gurbux Singh Hockey Olympian and Gold Medalist, Padma Dr. Dilip Kumar Tirkey, President, Hockey India and other dignitaries were also graced the electrifying gala event.
Coach of Army Red Askash Chitke was thrilled to see the spectators and added “Army always trained us to win in every situation and my players just followed this.Boys played super well and as a Coach I am happy with their performance.”
“Army has lots of contribution in Global Sports and our organization has produced lots of sports icon for India like Neeraj Chopra, Jitu Rai and so many others.We performed well and I am proud that I am serving in Indian Army.”
-Manpreet Singh,member of Army XI and Player of the Tournament of 126th Beighton Cup.
Hockey India President, Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey was also happy to witness the electrifying ambience and also congratulated the Army contingent for lifting the Beighton Cup 2025.
126th edition of Beighton cup and FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup made this prestigious championship a grand success.
(Pratyusha Mukherjee, Sr.Broadcast Journalist, British Media)
(With inputs from Hockey Bengal)
