Indian duo to officiate at HMs Cup hockey final 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Two senior Indian umpires, Pankaj Tyagi and Naved Zia, will officiate in the 42nd His Majestys Cup Hockey Championship final, to be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Tuesday.Tyagi and Zia joined the tournament during the semifinal stage, which concluded last week with defending champion Ahli-Sidab and Muscat Club booking their berths for Tuesdays title showdown.Tyagi and Zia were invited by the Oman Hockey Association (OHA) to officiate in the closing stages after another experienced Indian pair of R V Raghu Prasad and Javed Nuruddin Shaikh conducted the first-round games.Tyagi, who is affiliated with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and is an Indian Railways employee, officiated at the 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup before coming to Muscat. He said, It is the first time I am officiating in Oman. I found the semifinal matches competitive, the standard of hockey is good here. So far, we havent had any problems with any player or coach.Zia, meanwhile, works for Air India. Both the officials started their careers as umpires in 2006 after having played hockey at the national level in India. Tyagi represented the state of Uttar Pradesh during his playing days while Zia, an Aligarh Muslim University alumni, played for Combined Universities and Air India.Zia said, Though I have officiated in many international friendlies, I am yet to become an international umpire. The Oman experience will certainly help me.Meanwhile, in the double-round semifinals, seven-time winner Ahli-Sidab defeated Al Nasr 3-2 and 2-1. Muscat Club defeated Seeb 4-2 before losing 0-1.Despite the second-round loss, the 2004 champion progressed on better goal difference.Al Nasr will play Seeb in the third-place playoff match on Monday.