-Prantik Mazumdar
The inaugural tournament was held in 1971 in Spain and was won by Pakistan and 4 years later, India lifted it’s maiden & only Men’s Hockey World Cup win till date in it’s 3rd edition, when it was hosted by Malaysia
After beating the hosts Malaysia in a tight 3-2 contest, the Indians were pitted against the strong Pakistan team in a high-voltage finals at the Merdeka Stadium. At one point the match was level at 1-1 before the winning goal was scored by Ashok Kumar, the son of the legendary Dhyan Chand
India lifted it’s first ever Men’s Hockey World Cup and redeemed themselves after losing to the Dutch 4-2 in a penalty shootout in a closely fought match their own backyard in the previous world cup finals in 1973.
India hosted the prestigious tournament for the first time in 1982 in Bombay (now Mumbai) just weeks after it hosted the Asian Games in Delhi and this tournament was once again lifted by Pakistan ~ their 3rd title in a span of 11 years!
The following year England hosted the tournament and it was a historic one as it was for the first time that the tournament was played on astroturf and that changed the dynamics of the sport completely.
Since then, India has hosted the men’s hockey world including the current one~ the 3rd time in the last 13 years.
The ongoing tournament is seeing the top 16 teams in the world compete for the title and it has also become an avenue for the state of Odisha, “India’s best kept secret”, to showcase it’s progress & development.
It also provides a platform for numerous underprivileged players like Nilam Xess, who hail from the tribal belt in the state, not too far from the host cities of Rourkela or Bhubaneswar and ones that weren’t even electrified up until 5 years ago, to express themselves and fight for glory on a global platform!
After a 2-0 win against Spain; a goal-less draw against England, the 5th best team in the world currently, Team India secured a 4-2 win against Wales last night and are now all set to compete against the Kiwis on the 22nd to fight for a berth in the quarters!
It’s a long way to go, but all eyes and hopes are pinned on Harmanpreet’s men to bring back the glorified days of Indian hockey by once again winning the World Cup after 28 years, a tournament where unfortunately we haven’t made it even to the semi-finals since lifting the Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1975
Sounds like a very optimistic wish, no?
Well, the Indian men’s cricket team too had to wait for 28 years before lifting the ODI World Cup once again, and that too in their own backyard.
Dreams can come true!