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Time of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Olympic hockey medallist Lalit Kumar Upadhyay retires
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay Bengaluru: In a matter of minutes on a fateful day in April 2008, 17-year-old Lalit Kumar Upadhyay 's promising hockey career was shattered. The teenager from Varanasi, who was garnering attention for his promising playmaking skills, was named in a sting operation involving K Jothikumaran, the secretary-general of the erstwhile Indian Hockey Federation. Shamed for no fault of his, Lalit faded from the public eye and his dream of winning an Olympic medal lay in a shambles. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Mentally battered but with spirit still intact, Lalit picked up the pieces. He found support in Air India and with several coaches helping along the way, he slowly worked his way back to the top. From being perceived as a 'quota' player, he scripted a stirring comeback and made his India debut six years later. KL Rahul press conference: On his role, being elder brother in team, role clarity and match Late Sunday night, after India's concluding outing of the FIH Pro League European leg, the 31-year-old announced his retirement from international hockey. He did so with the satisfaction of having achieved his dream twice — he was part of the bronze medal-winning teams at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. After India ended their seven-match losing streak with a hard-fought 4-3 win against Belgium in Antwerp, Lalit said on social media: 'It's a tough moment, but every athlete has to face it… This journey began in a small village with limited resources but limitless dreams. From facing a sting operation to standing on the Olympic podium — not once, but twice — it's been a path full of challenges, growth and unforgettable pride. ' Quiz: Who's that IPL player? Ironically, it was a village called Karampur that shaped Lalit's career in the formative years. Hailing from Varanasi, a place which produced one of India's greatest players, Mohammed Shahid, Lalit made 183 appearances for the country and scored 67 goals. However, it didn't come as a surprise when Lalit called time on his career. He hadn't scored a goal in more than a year and his performance this year, especially in the Pro League, was underwhelming. With an eye on the 2028 LA Olympics, the clamour to infuse younger talent into the team has been growing. It's only a matter of time before selectors and the team management revamp the team. With the junior World Cup slated for later this year, some emerging talents are currently part of the squad being coached by former skipper PR Sreejesh. It would hardly be surprising if a few other senior pros in the Indian team follow Lalit's lead. Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
New Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Rs 9-crore hockey turf at Maharaja's ready; nod awaited to host matches
KOCHI: The Maharaja's College ground is all set to turn into a sports hub with the construction of a synthetic hockey turf of international standards getting over. The new turf, built for `9.51 crore and boasting of amenities including floodlights, will not just cater to Maharaja's students, but will also be open to the general public. State and national-level matches and tournaments may also be hosted on the turf if the proposal of a committee headed by the district collector is approved. 'An expert team of officials from the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) recently visited the facility for inspection. The turf will be inaugurated in a month when we propose to host the state sub-junior and junior boys events there. A request in this regard has been submitted to the State Hockey Association,' Ernakulam MLA T J Vinod told TNIE. 'Work on all the facilities, including water sprinkling system, is over. The official inauguration will be done once the waterlogging issue at one side of the ground is addressed,' he said. Entry to the hockey turf is located at the Hospital Road, which gets easily waterlogged. The turf has been constructed after raising the land. Currently, one has to wade through the waterlogged section to reach the turf. Maharaja's students will be given priority to use the turf. 'The public can use it when it's free by paying a fee fixed by the special committee formed to look into the affairs of the turf. Our goal is also to popularise the game,' Vinod said. The committee is headed by the district collector and includes the mayor, MLA, representatives of the college management and college students. Maharaja's College ground was the venue for the just-concluded 28th National Senior Federation Athletics Championships. The ground, which once hosted many state and national-level hockey championships, turned into a concrete dumpyard after a portion was converted into a working yard of the Kochi Metro.
Mint
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Reliving India's historic 1975 Hockey World Cup win
It was 50 years ago that India won—some argue—its most valuable hockey trophy, in the Kuala Lumpur World Cup. That underappreciated title—overshadowed by the more glamorous Olympic Games, and weakened by the diminishing importance of the sport itself—recently got a little bit of the limelight through a book. On 15 March 1975, India beat Pakistan in the final at KL for its first and last World Cup trophy. It was the last time the two teams met in the final of a major tournament, the last time India reached the semi-final of this marque event. It was India's penultimate appearance in the final of a global competition (the 1980 Moscow Olympics being the last). As India's prowess as a hockey power declined following the 1975 win, owing largely to the rise of Europe and Australia and the change of surface from natural grass to artificial turf, that historic World Cup crown has achieved further significance in India's hockey history. March of Glory: The Story of India's 1975 World Cup Hockey Triumph , by Errol D'Cruz and K Arumugam, attempts to be the definitive account of that unprecedented success. Built through narratives from the surviving members of the team that led India to the title, most of them in their 70s now, through old newspaper clippings, remembrances of staccato radio commentary, some grainy videos and memory, March of Glory brings to life that one-and-a-half month period when the Indian team dodged multiple hurdles to score on the big stage. India had heartbreakingly lost the 1973 World Cup final to The Netherlands. The lead-up to the 1975 edition itself was not without drama. A dispute within the Indian Hockey Federation, the then governing body of the sport in the country, had jeopardised India's participation in the competition. That led to the event being moved from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Malaysia. India had last won a global event in 1964, at the Tokyo Olympics, followed by bronze medals at subsequent Olympics, Mexico City (1968) and Munich (1972), besides the inaugural World Cup in Barcelona (1971). The loss in 1973, described by The Illustrated Weekly of India as the worst event of the year, was still fresh in memory as the team left for KL. India finished the group stages with three wins from five matches, which included a shocking loss to Argentina and a draw against Australia. But they topped their group as Pakistan did in the other. A close 3-2 win in the semi-final against Malaysia, buoyed by its passionate supporters, took India to the final against Pakistan, who were undefeated in the tournament. Authors D'Cruz and Arumugam capture the drama of all the crucial matches, especially the final, which had all the elements of a spectacle that is an India-Pakistan match. The two countries carried the angst of the partition and having fought a few wars but conduct on field was gracious. Ashok Kumar's winning goal in the 2-1 result was contentious, but held in favour of India in the absence of modern-day tools such as replays and multi-cam setups. One touching story in March of Glory comes from Pakistan's Manzoor-ul Hassan. He remembers heading to the Juma Masjid the day before the final for prayers when the Indian team manager and himself a former celebrated player, Balbir Singh Sr, requested for a ride on their bus. Accompanied by Aslam Sher Khan, the only Muslim in the Indian team, Singh 'removed his shoes before entering, washed his mouth and feet and knelt for prayers," remembers Manzoor. Pakistan, which was the donor of the trophy that went to the winner India, had drawn a map of the globe on the cup in which Kashmir was shown as part of Pakistan. This irked Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, when she met the victorious team on their return home. The tournament, with 12 teams, was played amid hostile weather, heat and rain, which caused several disruptions. India was leading West Germany 1-0 after 45 minutes when the match had to be called off under fading light and replayed days later. Another strange occurrence was when Pakistan's match against New Zealand was moved to another venue at half-time, with Pakistan scoring once at each venue. The unpredictable weather even prompted the hosts to hire Bomohs, local medicinal men, whose job was to keep the rain away, presumably through chants and prayers. D'Cruz uses his memories as a 14-year-old following the tournament over the radio in Mumbai to put March of Glory together. Some of the research comes from old magazines he collected, like World Hockey, Australian Hockey Circle, UK's Hockey Digest , besides some recordings available online. Doordarshan, the only television channel at the time in the country, would show recordings of the matches a few days later, he remembers, while All India Radio had a live commentary during the games. When India was trailing Malaysia in the semi-final, with minutes to go in the match, D'Cruz recollects switching off the radio for a bit in nervousness (he had done the same against Argentina as well). In the 1970s, it felt unimaginable that India would not qualify for the title match, though they had failed to do so in three previous major events. He says that the irony of it today is that India has since not qualified for a major final, barring the 1980 Olympics. Since that Moscow edition, which was weakened by boycotts from the western world, it has taken India about four decades to find its mojo on the global stage, with two successive Olympic bronze medals in 2020/21 and 2024. 'Success, followed by decades of setbacks, makes the Kuala Lumpur triumph not just a subject of celebration but also a lesson for future generations to learn from," write D'Cruz and Arumugam. 'Indian hockey's greatest achievement remains overlooked, its drama and emotion oblivious to later generations." Arun Janardhan is a Mumbai-based journalist who covers sports, business leaders and lifestyle.
