Field hockey in India
Encyclopedia
Hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

is the national sport of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.
The Indian men's hockey team is the most successful hockey team in Olympic history with 8 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.

New Committee (IOA)

The Indian Olympic Association appointed a new five-member national selection committee. This panel will work in conjunction with the International Hockey Federation in managing hockey in India.
The panel was headed by Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan is an Indian hockey player and a former member of the Indian team. In the 1975 World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, Aslam Sher Khan helped Indian Hockey Team to win the gold medal. He as a member of the Indian team also participated in Munich Olympics held in 1972. Aslam Sher Khan has...

, a former MP and former hockey captain and includes Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar (field hockey)
Ashok Kumar , is a famous Indian hockey player from Jhansi.He is the son of the Indian hockey legend Dhyanchand but for him to emulate his father was a stupendous task...

, Ajit Pal Singh
Ajit Pal Singh
Ajit Pal Singh was an Indian field hockey player from Sansarpur, Punjab. He was the captain of the Indian hockey team. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 1970, and awarded it in 1972. He played at centre half position...

, Zafar Iqbal
Zafar Iqbal (field hockey)
Zafar Iqbal is an Indian field hockey player. He wore Indian blue jersey number 11.-Professional career:Iqbal was a member of the 1980 Summer Olympics field hockey team that won the last Olympic Gold Medal for India...

 and Dhanraj Pillay
Dhanraj Pillay
Dhanraj Pillay is a field hockey player and former captain of the Indian hockey team. He is currently the manager of the Indian Hockey team...

. Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan is an Indian hockey player and a former member of the Indian team. In the 1975 World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, Aslam Sher Khan helped Indian Hockey Team to win the gold medal. He as a member of the Indian team also participated in Munich Olympics held in 1972. Aslam Sher Khan has...

 has now been replaced by Ajit Pal Singh
Ajit Pal Singh
Ajit Pal Singh was an Indian field hockey player from Sansarpur, Punjab. He was the captain of the Indian hockey team. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 1970, and awarded it in 1972. He played at centre half position...

 as the chairman of the national selection committee. Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan
Aslam Sher Khan is an Indian hockey player and a former member of the Indian team. In the 1975 World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, Aslam Sher Khan helped Indian Hockey Team to win the gold medal. He as a member of the Indian team also participated in Munich Olympics held in 1972. Aslam Sher Khan has...

 was highly displeased by this decision, though he remained as a selector.

In a 30 April 2008 interview with India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...

, Khan indicated the impact of the 2007 film about the National Women's Hockey Team, Chak De India
Chak De India
Chak De! India is a 2007 Indian sports films about field hockey in India. It is directed by Shimit Amin, produced by Yash Raj Films, written by Jaideep Sahni, sports action by ReelSports, and stars Shahrukh Khan as Kabir Khan, the former captain of the Indian hockey team. After a disastrous loss...

, on his future strategy by stating that he wants "to create a 'Chak De' effect" within Indian hockey.

National men's team

The Indian Hockey Team is the national men's hockey team of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation
International Hockey Federation
The International Field Hockey Federation is the global governing body of field hockey...

. In 1928, the team won its first Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 gold medal. From 1928 to 1956, the Indian men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics, garnering six gold medals in a row. The Indian team has won a total of eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals in Olympics.

On 9 March 2008, India lost 2-0 to Britain at Santiago, Chile in the final of one of the three qualifying tournaments for the Beijing Olympics. With only the winner advancing to the 12-team event, the Indian men's team was eliminated from the Beijing Olympics competition. This is the first time that the Indian men's team did not participate in the Olympics since 1928.

National women's team

The Indian Women's Hockey Team is the national women's team representing hockey in India. Captain Suraj Lata Devi
Suraj Lata Devi
Suraj Lata Devi is the former captain of the India women's national field hockey team and hails from Manipur....

 led the team to the Gold
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

 for three consecutive years: during the 2002 Commonwealth Games
India at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
India participated in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Notable among the players was the Indian women's hockey team. The team entered the finals after defeating the Australian women's national field hockey team. They went on to receive the Gold after winning the final game against the...

 (the event which inspired the 2007 Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit film, Chak De India
Chak De India
Chak De! India is a 2007 Indian sports films about field hockey in India. It is directed by Shimit Amin, produced by Yash Raj Films, written by Jaideep Sahni, sports action by ReelSports, and stars Shahrukh Khan as Kabir Khan, the former captain of the Indian hockey team. After a disastrous loss...

), the 2003 Afro-Asian Games
Afro-Asian Games
The Afro-Asian Games are a series of inter-continental multi-sport competitions, held between athletes from Asia and Africa. These Games are one-of-a-kind, since no other sporting competition brings athletes from these two continents together for one event, excluding the Olympic Games. These Games...

, and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup
Hockey Asia Cup
The ASHF Asia Cup is an international men's and women's field hockey tournament governed by the Asian Hockey Federation . It was introduced in 1982 for men's competition and the women's competition was added a year later as non-official championship until the official tournament held in...

. They were referred to as the "Jassi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi" or "Golden girls of hockey," after winning the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup
Hockey Asia Cup
The ASHF Asia Cup is an international men's and women's field hockey tournament governed by the Asian Hockey Federation . It was introduced in 1982 for men's competition and the women's competition was added a year later as non-official championship until the official tournament held in...

.

On 24 April 2008, India lost 2-1 to the United States during the 2008 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier. The team was thus eliminated from the Beijing Olympics competition. On 29 April 2008, following the suspension of the Indian Hockey Federation, The Hindustan Times revealed that 16 days before leaving for the games, a report found many of the players to be unfit for international competition. The report was quoted as stating, "Eleven girls are suffering from different injuries and are under treatment and thus not fit for international competition of Olympic qualifying standards."
On June 27, 2009, India became the first winner of the women's Champions Challenge II in hockey history after they defeated Belgium 6-3 in the final in Kazan, Russia.

National tournaments

  1. All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Chennai[T.N]
  2. All India Gurmeet Memorial Hockey Tournament, Chandigarh[Punjab]
  3. IndianOil Surjit Hockey Tournament, Jalandhar[Punjab]
  4. All India Chhatrapati Shivaji Hockey Tournament, Delhi
  5. All India Aagha Khan Hockey Tournament, Mumbai[Maharashtra]
  6. All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Mumbai[Maharashtra]
  7. All India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Bhopal[M.P.]
  8. All India Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament, Delhi
  9. All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament, Delhi
  10. All India Sanjay Hockey Tournament, Delhi
  11. All India K D singh Babu Memorial Invitational Prize Money Hockey Tournament, Lucknow[U.P.]
  12. All India Ramesh Chander Memorial Hockey Tournament, Jalandhar[Punjab]
  13. All India Liberals Hockey Tournament, Nabha
  14. All India Shri Shadilal Rajendra Lal Memorial Hockey Tournament, Shamli[U.P.]
  15. All India Indira Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Jammu[J & K]
  16. All India Beighton Cup
    Beighton Cup
    Beighton Cup is a field hockey tournament. Instituted in 1895, it is organised by Bengal Hockey Association and is usually held on the Mohun Bagan ground on the Maidan in Kolkata in India. The Beighton Cup was presented by T.D. Beighton, Legal Remembrancer of the Government of Bengal, and was run...

     Hockey Tournament, Kolkata[W.B]
  17. All India G.P.Kuppuswami Naidu Hockey Tournament, Kovilpatti[T.N.]
  18. Senior National Hockey Tournament
  19. Junior National Hockey Tournament
  20. Sub-junior National Hockey Tournament
  21. Amarjeet Singh Bola Memorial Hockey Tournament Chakdana,Nawanshahr,Punjab
  22. Bundel Khand All India Hockey Tournament, Mahoba (U.P.)
  23. Republic All India Hockey Tournament, Katni, M.P.
  24. All India Hockey Tournament,Damoh,M.P.
  25. All India Hockey Tournament,Indore,M.P.
  26. All India Hockey Tournament,Mhow,M.P.
  27. All India Hockey Tournament,Ujjain,M.P.
  28. All India Hockey Tournament,Tikamgarh,M.P.
  29. All India Hockey Tournament,Ratlam,M.P.
  30. All India Hockey Tournament,Khargon,M.P.
  31. All India Hockey Tournament,Hoshangabad,M.P.
  32. All India Hockey Tournament,Balaghat,M.P.
  33. Bhagat Singh All India Hockey Tournament,Gwalior,M.P.
  34. Kodava Hockey Festival
    Kodava Hockey Festival
    The clan of Kodavas in the Indian state of Karnataka have a long history of association with the game of field hockey. The district of Kodagu which is the land of the Kodavas is considered as the cradle of Indian hockey. More than 50 Kodavas have represented India in international hockey...

  35. Dr. B.R.Ambedkar All India Hockey Tournament(under-16 Boys),Nagpur
  36. Mahanth Raja Sarweshwer Das memoriol All India Hockey Tournament,Rajnandgaon,C.G.

Premier Hockey League

The Indian Hockey Federation also conducts the Premier Hockey League (PHL), a domestic field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 tournament in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 since 2005, with active support from sports news channel ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 India. The tournament was initiated to revive interest in the sport which was losing spectator interest to cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

in recent times.

External links

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