Thursday, January 15, 2009

Field Hockey Struggling to Remain as India’s National Sport

There was a time when Hockey was the Symbol of pride in India. In fact, field hockey is the national sport of world’s second most-populated country. However, it has been many years since India lost its dominance in world hockey. India won Olympic Gold medal on eight occasions when the game was played in grass field, but since the emergence of synthetic turf, India started losing its glory, and now, hockey in India is on the verge of losing its status as the country’s national sport. India even failed to qualify for Beijing Olympic Games 2008.

I got really shocked to know that even some of the former legends of Indian hockey are also claiming that the hockey does not deserve the status of national sports. There are a number of sports like shooting, boxing, Snooker and billiards which are bringing fame and titles for India from international level. Cricket is perhaps the most popular sport in India. So, it is clear that hockey is struggling to hold on to its status as national sport of the country.

Related article:

Times of India

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