Shaheed Smriti hockey sans champs

Shaheed Smriti Hockey Tournament gets underway at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium tomorrow sans the defending champions Sadharan Bima.
Only five teams are taking part in the tournament, which was eight last time. “Other teams are busy for the upcoming players' transfers which is why they cannot take part in the tournament,” explained Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Khaza Rahmatullah at a press conference at the BHF office yesterday.
The participating teams are Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Police and Abahani with Army and Navy playing the opening match on Friday.
Exim Bank and Nurjahan Group are jointly sponsoring the tournament as they will provide Tk 2 lakh each. The champions and runners-up will be awarded Tk 25,000 and Tk 15,000 respectively.