Motorsports

Monday, 16 March 2015

Status of Indian women's hockey: Overflowing goals, empty stands

Team India of the Indian Women’s hockey team beat 5 teams with exceptional scores, before they reached the finals against Poland at Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
Come 8 pm, the scheduled time for the final, and the stadium has more Polish supporters than Indians and there were a total of 11 Polish supporters.
Unfortunately this is the state of our national game where nobody seems to care even when the women’s team is earning us laurels and marking their spot on the world platform.
“We had come for a couple of HIL (Hockey India League) matches and my 4 year old son enjoyed the experience. There was music, cheerleaders, announcements. Why is all that missing today?,” says Arpit Taneja, who had come to cheer for India with his wife and 4-year old son Vardaan.

(People often credit the rise of popularity of cricket in India to the 1983 World Cup victory. In the past one year Indian hockey has earned glory at Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Champions Glory and now the World League. Yet, these athletes are still searching for the fame they deserve.)

With 2 mins to go on the buzzer, fans who had flown all the way for Poland were strumming plastic bottles (to the beat of/ chanting) "Polski Polski". It's time that we lend similar support to sports other than cricket.  

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