State Level Hockey Tournament launched in Trichy

Trichy: 9, August 2011: State Level Hockey Tournament was launched by District Collector Mrs.Jayashree Muralidharan at Trichy Anna Stadium.  While speaking to special News correspondent of Newline, District Sports officer, Dr.Kalaiselvan enlightened, “The history of the game of hockey has its roots well laid in the world’s early civilizations. A popular English school game, hockey was introduced in India by British Army regiments and the game soon found to be favour among the native Indians. Talking about hockey in India, the first hockey club came up in Calcutta in 1885-86 and soon Bombay and Punjab followed suit. Making its Olympic debut at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, Indian hockey team cruised home to its first Olympic gold, without conceding a single goal. The hallmark of this ruthless domination was the wizardry of Indian hockey legend - Dhyan Chand, who mesmerized the Amsterdam crowd with his dazzling skills. From 1928 to 1956, the Indian hockey juggernaut won six straight Olympic gold medals, while winning 24 consecutive matches. During this time, India scored 178 goals conceding only 7 in the process. This was the golden era of Indian hockey, when India loomed large in world hockey and produced some of the finest players the game has ever seen. The Indian stranglehold over the Olympic hockey gold came to an end when India was defeated in the final of the 1960 Rome Olympics. However, the record created by India is likely to stand strong through ages, as no other country has ever managed to come close to it, leave about beating it. It is time that Indian Hockey should be back to its glory imbibing exceptional gaming technique and enduring enthusiasm in the field of hockey”.-Govin