PA/18/10 2 March 2010
Australia and India designate their tie a ‘Friendship Match’
The Australian and Indian teams at the Hockey World Cup have announced that they will designate their 2 March tie as a ‘Friendship Match’.
The two teams want to mark the strong bonds which have linked the two countries for decades, including in hockey and cricket.
As well as playing for World Cup points, the teams will play for the inaugural Ajit Pal – Charlesworth Trophy, named after two of the hockey greats of India and Australia, Ajit Pal Singh and Ric Charlesworth.
Both these champion players will be at the match this evening.
Ajit Pal was the captain of the Indian team which won the World Cup in 1975. He was a member of the Indian team which won the bronze medals at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.
Charlesworth played in 227 international matches for Australia, including at four Olympics. He was a member of the Australian team which won the World Cup in 1986. He has also acted as a technical adviser for the Indian men’s and women’s teams.
The match will be witnessed by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, and India’s Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal. Stephen Smith played in the under-age hockey team for his home state of Western Australia.
The crowd will also be entertained by a half-time performance by William Barton, one of Australia’s leading players of the didgeridoo, an ancient instrument created by Australia’s indigenous people from hollowed out wood. Barton was taught to play the instrument by his uncle, a tribal elder. Barton is performing a fusion piece mixing didgeridoo with electric guitar. He is currently on a tour of India.
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