Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the much awaited India vs Pakistan hockey match during Asian Champions Trophy is likely to be held in Jalandhar on November 1 which is celebrated as Punjab Day and the announcement came during a large sports felicitation event where Punjab Government honoured hundreds of athletes and unveiled major sports development plans for the state.
The India-Pakistan match is expected to become one of the biggest sporting events to be hosted in Punjab in recent years and CM Mann said Punjab will host the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time calling it a proud moment for the state and its long sporting history. He added that Jalandhar is likely to host this high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan which always attracts massive attention from sports fans across the world.
While addressing players, coaches and sports officials CM Mann said Punjab has always produced top athletes for the country especially in hockey but earlier governments never worked seriously to bring major international sporting events to state and said Punjab Government has now changed that approach and is working to place Punjab at centre of Indian sports.
CM Mann also highlighted Punjab’s strong contribution to Indian hockey and said more than 50 Punjabi hockey players have won Olympic medals for India over the years and villages like Sansarpur, Mithapur and Khusropur have produced many Olympians and international hockey stars. CM Mann also recalled that several Punjabi players were part of India’s bronze medal-winning hockey teams at both Tokyo Olympics 2021 and Paris Olympics 2024.
Along with the India-Pakistan match announcement, Punjab Government also announced one of the biggest sports promotion drives in state’s history and during the event 87 Maharaja Ranjit Singh Awardees and 1,070 medal-winning athletes were honoured with prize money worth ₹32.05 crore.
CM Mann said Punjab Government has allocated a record sports budget of ₹1,763 crore for 2026-27 and also announced that 3,148 rural sports grounds are being developed across villages at a cost of ₹1,300 crore to support young talent at grassroots level.
CM further said the government has started giving financial support to players before tournaments instead of rewarding them only after victories and according to him ₹8.61 crore has already been provided to 220 players for tournament preparation while more than ₹15 crore has been released through a sports portal for training and sports equipment.
The event also honoured many top athletes from Punjab. Indian Women’s Cricket Team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and cricketer Amanjot Kaur received ₹1.50 crore each for their achievements while Indian hockey stars including Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Hardik Singh and several Olympic medal winners were also honoured during the ceremony.
CM Mann said Punjab is focusing on building world-class sports infrastructure from villages to international stadiums and added that hosting India-Pakistan match in Jalandhar would be a major moment for Punjab and would showcase state’s sporting culture before the world.