Abacus were delighted to be selected to floodlight the prestigious new National Hockey Stadium in India, at Chennai (formerly Madras).

Radhakrishnan Stadium is regarded by the International Hockey Federation as one of the best in the world for its state-of-the-art infrastructure. In 2004, the stadium was redesigned and upgraded by the Sports Authority of Tamil Nadu to prepare the venue for hosting the 2005 Champions Trophy in December. After the renovation drive, the stadium features a re-laid synthetic hockey surface and floodlights of international standards.

Mayor Radhakrishnan National Hockey Stadium in Chennai, IndiaThe stadium boasts a Class I 500lux floodlighting scheme, delivered by the superb flat glass optics of the Challenger® 1 floodlight and 2kW lamp. The IP66 rated unit, with its class leading reflector system and internal baffle further reducing player glare, is ideally suited to the often harsh climate of the region.

A fiesta awaits hockey aficionados of Chennai when the Champions Trophy competition rolls on at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Saturday. Acknowledged as the premier annual event of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the annual championship, featuring the best six teams in the world, returns to this metropolis after a hiatus of nine years to the same venue.

Hosting a championship of this magnitude is undoubtedly a Herculean task. And the agencies involved, notably, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), had to counter enormous challenges to refurbish a facility which is accepted as one among the best in the world.

Until the late Fifties, competitive hockey never had a fixed venue; in fact the game was spread over several areas from the Madras United Club, Madras Cricket Club, Rajaratnam Stadium and then to the Rajindresinghji Stadium, adjacent to the Island ground. The present abode, the Egmore Stadium, was more a milestone for the tennis courts encompassed by cement galleries.

Incidentally, the tennis facility here had echoed to the treads of some of the stalwarts of that era like Ramanathan Krishnan, Ken Rosewall, `Tony' Trabert, `Pacho' Segura, Alex Olmedo, Neil Fraser and Manuel Santana. Old timers still recall the epic battle between Krishnan and Fraser in the final of the All India Hard Court Championships in 1961. The only set played was stretched to 19-17 with the Indian finishing as winner even as twilight engulfed the stadium.

Progressively, however, hockey made its debut behind the tennis stadium in the late Fifties with minimum facilities. The shadow of huge trees around served as make-shift changing area where players quickly slipped into their shorts and vests. A small cement gallery came up, and the space underneath it became an office-cum-dressing room. Still, it was the venue for popular tournaments like the Murugappa Gold Cup and league competitions, even for matches in the National Championship of 1977. The modernisation of the Egmore Stadium came about when Chennai went in for a massive development of sports infrastructure thanks to the initiative of the Chief Minister, J.Jayalalithaa, who gave the green signal to host the South Asian Games in 1995.

Abacus Lighting are proud to be associated with such an institution as this.

Photo by : TimboGB in flickr

Photo by : Adithya Anand in panoramio