Ghana's hockey giants,Trustees of SSNIT,  have left for Nairobi to participate in the second edition of the Heroes Memorial Tournament which gets underway this Thursday.

The 4-day tournament, which seeks to recognise people who made a mark i the sport, has Trustees as the only international team participating and   will be playing the tournament opener against Impala at the City Park Stadium

Nairobi Hockey Association secretary Tom Olal confirmed the new development but was quick to note there has been a low entrance of the teams this edition unlike the previous year.

“Trustees of Ghana are scheduled to arrive this morning ahead of the event. The number of participating teams this year have decreased compared to last year. This can be attributed to the forthcoming edition of the Eastern Africa University Games (EAUG) set for December 16-20 where most of the local universities will compete,” noted Olal.

He added: “Having said that, we are looking forward to a successful event where we seek to recognise the input of both the living and the dead who in one way or another made a mark in the discipline. We are indebted to the Kenya Hockey Union for giving us the facilities and also the technical aspects of the sport.”

 Trustees of Ghana will, in the opening match on Thursday, play Impala at 6pm as Sikh Union battle Wazalendo Youth in the second and final match of the day.

Winners in both men and women competitions will take home Sh50,000, runner up Sh30,000 and and third place will be worth Sh20,000.

In the draws which were released yesterday, women’s local champions Orange Telkom will launch their title defence against Development XV11 on Saturday in the five team event that will be played on a round robin format.

Other teams include Orange Rovers, sliders and Karate.

The men’s category have attracted 12 teams that have been drawn in four pools.

Pool “A” has Trustees of Ghana, Impala and Wazalendo Academy.

Pool “B” will see Sikh Union come up against Thika Rovers and Wazalendo Youth.

Pool “C” has Kenya College of Accountancy , Park Road Badgers and Veterans XVIII.

Pool “D” has Wazalendo Hockey Club, Axiom and Development XVII Boys.

On Thursday, Trustees of Ghana play Impala in the first match at 6pm as Sikh Union battle Wazalendo Youth in the second and final match of the day.

Winners in both men and women competitions will take home Sh50,000, runner up Sh30,000 and and third place will be worth Sh20,000.

By:Fiifi Abdul Malik