Field
Hockey
Field hockey is really important in India. Actually, it was India’s national sport before.
Origins and History
of the Field Hockey
There is a description on a field hockey-like game in Ancient Greek culture, dating back to 510 BC. Back then the game was played with a horn and a ball. A very similar game was played in East Asia by using a carved wooden stick and a ball also dates back to 300 BC. Another similar game was played in 17th century India, named khido khundi. Also, other variants have been seen throughout history in different countries like China, Mongolia, Chile, and more.
The term “field hockey” as we know wasn’t used until the 14th century. Then it appeared in England when Edward III issued a declaration that made the practice of sports by working-class unlawful. But the actual modern game we know started to be played in English public schools in the early 19th century. The Hockey Association was found in 1886 but the main association we actually know as FIH was founded in 1924. All before the FIH, field hockey first entered in the international area with the Summer Olympics in 1908.
In addition to these, women’s field hockey was first played at the British schools. Later, lots of clubs were open for this which led to the opening of the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Association (IFWHA). Now we can say that women’s field hockey is more dominantly played than men’s.
Main Leagues & Tournaments
The biggest field hockey tournaments could be the ones on the international level. Especially the Olympics and Hockey World Cup which both are held every 4 years. We already mentioned that field hockey first entered the Olympic Games in 1908 and after that, it was removed from the Olympics which this occasion then led to the foundation of FIH and it was added back to the Olympics in 1928.
Other than these big two tournaments we can also count FIH Pro League with them as this competition serves as the qualifiers for Hockey World Cup and Olympic Games. It was founded in 2017 and this tournament also has two categories, one of them for men and the other for women.
national and international competitions
Also, there are other national and international competitions worth to mention:
ICC Champions Trophy
Hockey India League
Premier Hockey League (India)
World Series Hockey (India)
Euro Hockey League (Europe)
London Hockey League
North West Counties Football League (England)
Patriot League (USA)
Australian Hockey League
Field Hockey in India
The first field hockey competition in India, Beighton Cup which still continues to this day, was first held in 1895. Afterward, in the same year, it reinstated as an Olympic game, India also entered the Olympics for the first time and made a name for themselves in field hockey by winning the gold from 1932 to 1956 and then later in 1964 and 1980. For those reasons, this is considered one of the top sports in India.
When we came to 20th century, new tactics and techniques like Indian dribble were developed. It was called Indian dribble because Indian and Pakistani teams had first shown their fantastic dribble skills. Also, there were changes in the pitches, it was turned into artificial turd which led to the ending of India’s success because synthetic surfaces were too expensive in developing countries. After that countries like Australia, Netherlands and Germany took over the Olympic success. Whatever happens, though India still holds a very good record in the Olympics and dominates in women’s category.
Field hockey is really important in India that even in 2018 Odisha state governor wrote a letter to India prime minister demanding to declare it as the national sport. Field hockey actually was India’s national sport before but it is not the case now as the country has no national sports declared at the moment.
Best Bookies for Field Hockey
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