6 rarely-known facts about Indian Hockey
It will not at all be an exaggeration to say that Indian hockey has had a glorious past. While Indians had been introduced to the sport under the British Raj, it came into the limelight in the late 1920s when the men’s national team started making headlines. By 1928, the Indian Hockey team had made its entry into the global scene by participating in the Olympics. However, it started to lose its reputation in and around 2004 when sudden omission of champion players, appointment of a foreign coach and consecutive defeats made it a dark year in the history of Indian hockey. However, in a decade or so, hockey in India earned back its place, and have been winning international tournaments every now and then. In fact, the year 2021 has been a milestone year, with both men’s and women’s national teams making it big at the Tokyo Olympics. Here’s a list of some rarely known facts about Indian hockey.
Calcutta: The origin of Indian hockey
Hockey in India was first originated in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1855 with the foundation of the first hockey club. In fact, The Bengal Hockey was the first hockey association of India that was established in 1908.
1928: The first international appearance of IHF
While the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was formed at Gwalior in 1925, the country made its first global appearance in 1928 by joining the International Hockey Federation (FIH). In fact, India was the first-ever non-European member of the same.
Indian hockey team: The first sports team to do a global tour
Indian hockey team was the first sports team of the country to do a worldwide tour in 1932. They played in places like Los Angeles, Omaha, Philadelphia in the United States, Prague, Budapest, Berlin, Amsterdam in Europe and in leading Asian cities like Colombo, Malaya and Tokyo. By the time the hockey team returned back to the country, the whole nation was basking in their glory.
1947: All-India Women’s Hockey Federation was established
1947, the year of our independence also marked the foundation of the All-India Women’s Hockey Federation. Since then, both the men’s and the women’s teams have shared the responsibility of making the country proud. They even went on to win historic finals at the Commonwealth Games in 2002, Asia Champions Trophy in 2016, and Asia Cup in 2017. In fact, in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, Indian women’s hockey team performed beyond expectations, considering it was their maiden appearance.
Gold in debut Olympics
Indian Hockey team gave a stellar performance in their debut Olympics appearance in Amsterdam in 1928, and went on to win the gold medal for the nation. Since then, India has acquired a total of 12 medals in the Olympics with 8 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.
1971: First World Cup appearance
India first participated in the Hockey World Cup in 1971, in Barcelona, and had ranked third. In the very next world cup in Malaysia, in 1975, they managed a historic win in the finals and had won the Cup.