Field hockey in India refers to two teams, the

India men's national field hockey team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

and the

India women's national field hockey team The Indian women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the ''Nabhvarna'') represents India in international field hockey, and is governed by Hockey India. Nabhvarna are currently ranked 6th in the FIH World Rankings, and are ranked as the b ...

. In July 2018, Indian state

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

wrote a letter to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

urging him to declare

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

as the national sport of India. The state government of

has been supporting India's national field hockey team from February 2018 till next five years. The

2018 Men's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation, FIH. It was held from 28 November to 16 Decem ...

was held in the Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

between 28 November and 16 December and culminated with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

as World Champions defeating

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the finals.

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

was believed to be India's

National sport A national sport is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are ''de facto'' (not established by law) national sports, as sumo is in Japan and Gaelic games are in Ireland and field hockey in Pakistan, while oth ...

but this was debunked by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports followed ...

, which confirmed that it had not declared any sport or game as the national sport.

Management

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 field hockey in India. The panel was headed by

Aslam Sher Khan Aslam Sher Khan (born 15 July 1953) 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 was also a member of ...

, a former MP and former hockey captain and includes

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

Ajit Pal Singh Ajit Pal Singh Kular (also spelled Ajitpal Singh, born 1 April 1947) was an Indian professional 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 ...

, Zafar Iqbal and

Dhanraj Pillay Dhanraj Pillay (born 16 July 1968) is a retired Indian field hockey player and former captain of the Indian national team. He also looks after the Air India Sports Promotion Board as a Joint Secretary based in Mumbai. For the last 5 years, Dha ...

has now been replaced by

as the chairman of the national selection committee.

was highly displeased by this decision, though he remained as a selector. On 30 April 2008, in an interview with ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'', Khan indicated the impact of the 2007 film about the National Women's Hockey Team, ''

Chak De India ''Chak De! India'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, with a script written by Jaideep Sahni. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Kabir ...

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

National teams

National men's team

The ''Indian Hockey Team'' is the national men's hockey team of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was the first non-European team to be a part of the

International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...

. In 1928, the team won its first Olympic gold medal. From 1928 to 1956, was the golden period for the Indian Hockey team. The Indian men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics, gaining six gold medals in a row. The Indian team has won a total of eight gold, one silver and three 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. India finished in 12th place (Last) in the 2012 London Olympics. On 26 Feb 2012, the

qualified for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London after a gap of 8 years. The team had a resounding victory over France in the finals of the Olympic qualifiers by beating France by 8–1. Ace drag-flicker

Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He ...

, starred in the final against France by scoring five goals – including a hat-trick – all from penalty corners (19th, 26th, 38th, 49th and 51st). Indian Men's Team Finished in 9th place in World Cup 2014 held in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. Indian team won silver medal at the

Commonwealth Games 2014 The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, Glasgow. They lost to Australia 4–0 in the Finals. India hosted the 2018 World Cup. India won 2014 Asian Games Gold Medal after 16 years (last won in 1998). India won Asia Cup held in Dhaka in 2017. Indian Men's hockey team won by a record 26-0 margin against Hong Kong in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

pool games. The earlier record was 24-1 made 86 years ago in the 1932 Olympics when India outclassed the USA.

World ranking

National women's team

The ''Indian Women's Hockey Team'' (nicknamed the Nabhvarna) is the national women's team representing hockey in India. It is the national women's team that represents

in international

competitions. The team is currently coached by

Netherland ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

s' Sjoerd Marinje and led by

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Rani Rampal Rani Rampal (born 4 December 1994, born in Haryana) is an Indian field hockey player. At the age of 15, she was the youngest player in the national team which participated in the 2010 World Cup. She has completed her schooling but was not able ...

from

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

and is currently ranked 9th in the

FIH World Rankings The FIH Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in field hockey. The teams of the member nations of International Hockey Federation (FIH), field hockey's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results. The r ...

. Captain Suraj Lata Devi led the team to the

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

for three consecutive years: during the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

(the event which inspired the 2007

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

film, ''

''), the 2003

Afro-Asian Games The Afro-Asian Games were the 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 ...

, and the 2004

Hockey Asia Cup Hockey Asia Cup may refer to: * Men's Hockey Asia Cup * Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup * Women's Hockey Asia Cup * Women's Hockey Junior Asia Cup The Women's Hockey Junior Asia Cup is a women's international under-21 field hockey tournament organiz ...

. They were referred to as the "Jassi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi" or "Golden girls of hockey," after winning the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. During the summer of 2015, the team hosted the

Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...

of the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League and finished on top to qualify for the next stage. At the World League Semifinals held in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

the team finished in the fifth place beating higher ranked Japan in classification match. The Indian woman's national field hockey team has thus qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

for the first time since the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

World ranking

State teams and events

Odisha

The Odisha Hockey Team is one of the regional hockey team from Indian state of Odisha.

Lazarus Barla Lazarus ("Lajarus") Barla (born April 11, 1979 in Tilaikani, near Sundargarh, Odisha) is a field hockey defender from India, who belongs to the Oraon tribe of Chota Nagpur. He made his international senior debut for the Men's Nation ...

Prabodh Tirkey Prabodh Tirkey (born 6 October 1984) is an Indian hockey midfielder. He is a former captain of the Indian hockey team. Personal life Prabodh is the younger brother of the Indian hockey player Ignace Tirkey, who also has captained the Indian S ...

Dilip Tirkey Dilip Tirkey (born 25 November 1977), is a former Indian field hockey player, Politician and Sports Administrator. His former playing position was of full back. He was best known for his penalty corner hit. Dilip was one of the most ...

, Ignace Tirkey, Jyoti Sunita Kullu,

, Subhadra Pradhan,

Birendra Lakra Birendra Lakra (born 3 February 1990) is an Indian professional field hockey player. He represents India in men's field hockey and recently came out of retirement alongside Rupinderpal Singh and will be the Captain of Indian team in the Asia Cu ...

and

Anupa Barla Anupa Barla (born 6 May 1994) is an Indian female field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball ...

have been part of Indian hockey team in International level.

Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...

(PHL) is league competition for

field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There are seven teams in the PHL and

Orissa Steelers The Orissa Steelers are the winners of the Premier Hockey League 2007, India's only national league level Field Hockey tournament. The originally proposed name for the team was Rourkela Steelers after the city which is said to be the Hockey Capita ...

is the only team from Eastern India. Orissa Steelers has won the Premier Hockey League in 2007. The 2014 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy was held in

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a multi-purpose International stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by former chief minister of Odisha Late Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is the home ground of the I League Club Indian Arrows si ...

. The

is going to be held in the state capital

Field Hockey Arenas in Odisha

Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium is a hockey stadium in Rourkela, Odisha. The stadium was constructed and well maintained by SAIL. It was possible due to initiatives taken by Late Bipin Behari Panda & M. Kindo in early 90s. The stadium is mainly used ...

Rourkela Rourkela is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of state capital Bhubaneswar and is surro ...

* Birsa Munda Intl Hockey Stadium -

National tournaments

#All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Chennai .N.#All India Gurmeet Memorial Hockey Tournament, Chandigarh unjab# Surjit Memorial Hockey Tournament, Jalandhar unjab#All India Chhatrapati Shivaji Hockey Tournament, Delhi #All India Agha Khan Hockey Tournament, Mumbai aharashtra#All India

Bombay Gold Cup Bombay Gold Cup is a field hockey tournament organized by the Mumbai Hockey Association (MHA). It was instituted in 1955 by Naval Tata, the then President of the Bombay Hockey Association. The Cup was donated by the then Chief Minister of Mahara ...

Hockey Tournament, Mumbai aharashtra#All India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Bhopal .P.#All India

Senior Nehru Hockey Tournament Senior Nehru Hockey Tournament is a field hockey tournament organized by the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society (JNHTS). Instituted in 1964 by the Society, the All India Hockey Tournament is held as an annual feature at New Delhi. Histor ...

, Delhi #All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament, Delhi #All India Sanjay Hockey Tournament, Delhi #All India K D singh Babu Memorial Invitational Prize Money Hockey Tournament, Lucknow .P.#All India Ramesh Chander Memorial Hockey Tournament, Jalandhar unjab#All India Liberals Hockey Tournament, Nabha #All India Shri Shadilal Rajendra Lal Memorial Hockey Tournament, Shamli .P.#All India Indira Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, Jammu & K#All India

Beighton Cup Beighton Cup is a field hockey tournament organized by Hockey Bengal (formerly the Bengal Hockey Association). Instituted in 1895, it is one of the oldest field hockey tournaments in the world and is held every year at Kolkata. History Aristocr ...

Hockey Tournament, Kolkata .B.#All India Lakshmi Ammal Memorial Hockey Tournament, Kovilpatti .N.#Senior National Hockey Tournament #Junior National Hockey Tournament #Sub-junior National Hockey Tournament #Amarjeet Singh Bola Memorial Hockey Tournament Chakdana, Nawanshahr, Punjab #Bundel Khand All India Hockey Tournament, Charkhari Mahoba (U.P.) #Republic All India Hockey Tournament, Katni, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Damoh, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Indore, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Mhow, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Ujjain, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Tikamgarh, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Ratlam, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Khargon, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Hoshangabad, M.P. #All India Hockey Tournament, Balaghat, M.P. #Bhagat Singh All India Hockey Tournament, Gwalior, M.P. #

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 Koda ...

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

Premier Hockey League

The Indian Hockey Federation also conducts the Premier Hockey League (PHL), a domestic

tournament in

since 2005, with active support from sports news channel

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

India. The tournament was initiated to revive interest in the sport which was losing spectator interest to

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in recent times. This is now replaced by

World Series Hockey World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchise ...

World Series Hockey

is a proposed domestic hockey league in

. Though the name is given as World Series this competition does not deal with national teams of any nation. This tournament has clubs from eight Indian cities which will participate in the first season in 2011–12. This tournament will have 200 players from all around the world along with Indian players. Hence the name is given as World Series Hockey. This tournament replaces the old tournament of

Hockey India League

After the success of

Indian Hockey Federation The Indian Hockey Federation was the Indian branch of the International Hockey Federation. Background It was the apex governing body of field hockey in India. It was formed on 7 November 1925 in Gwalior. It was the first non-European team to ...

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...

have decided to start their own league for field hockey in India. Three out of six franchises have signed this league. They are, the

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

franchise by

Sahara India Pariwar Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...

, the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

franchise from

Mohali Mohali, officially known as Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab (India), Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the Moh ...

signed by

Jaypee Group Jaiprakash Associates Limited, commonly known as Jaypee Group, is an Indian conglomerate company based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It has business interests in engineering, construction, power, cement, real estate, hospitality, IT, spor ...

and

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

franchise by Patel-Uniexel Group. The broadcast rights are given to

ESPN Star Sports Fox Sports (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version of Sta ...

(ESS). The first tournament is expected to be played in January 2013.

References

External links

Hockey India Official WebsiteEverything About Indian HockeyIndian Field Hockey WebsiteIndian Hockey WebsiteFIH's warning forced IOA to act: Ashok KumarBhartiya Hockey WebsiteIndia's road to London Olympics: Six matches, six wins and a billion smiles
{{commons category, Field hockey in India Sport in India

Management

New Committee (IOA)

National teams

National men's team

World ranking

National women's team

World ranking

State teams and events

Odisha

Field Hockey Arenas in Odisha

National tournaments

Premier Hockey League

World Series Hockey

Hockey India League

See also

References

External links