By Troy Peters
The national men’s Under-21 squad will participate in this year’s Diamond Mineral Water (DMW) Hockey Festival and they will collide with Malvern of Trinidad and Tobago in the opening match of the tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The opening day’s action will feature four matches with the first scheduled to bully off at 3.30pm. The umpires for the day’s opener are Devin Hooper and Damon Woodroffe.
The other matches on the opening day will pit defending ladies’ champions Raiders of Trinidad and Tobago against their countrywomen Malvern at 16:20 h followed by Everest Hikers against Old Fort men at 17:10 and GCC versus Notre Dame at 18:00 h.
With the inclusion of the junior nationals, currently preparing for the Pan American Under-21 championships next year in Trinidad and Tobago, the number of men’s teams for the Festival has increased to six.
The other teams are Malvern and Notre Dame of the twin-island republic, Georgetown Cricket Club, Everest Hikers and Old Fort.
The ladies’ teams are Raiders, GCC, Everest Hikers, Malvern and newcomers Harvard Maritime Checkers.
Defending champions Fatima and Malvern of Trinidad and Tobago, Carib Degenerates of Guyana and Old Old Fort of the United States will contest the veterans’ tournament.
Matches will be played in two sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the finals in all three divisions set for Sunday.
Officials of the Guyana Hockey Board disclosed that teams will begin arriving in the country tomorrow evening with Malvern and Old Old Fort expected to be the first to arrive.
The winners in the men and ladies’ tournaments will each take home $1000 US while the winner of the veteran competition will receive $500 US.
The tournament’s main sponsors are Demerara Distillers Ltd., bottlers of Diamond Mineral Water and Ansa McAl Ltd., distributors of Carib Beer.