Hockey revival in Bhopal

Nostalgia was in the air as Bhopal relived its famed fascination with hockey over the last week bringing back memories of the times when the sport evoked strong reactions.
The old and the young as also burqa-clad women thronged the Aishbagh Stadium in the old city, which hosted the 64th All India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey tournament, revived after a gap of eight years.

Getting to the stadium is not easy anyway but finding a seat was almost difficult on Monday night when the final was played between Air India and BPCL which the former won by a margin of 5-0.

The audience turnout in the stadium made one wonder whether the IPL tournament was already over. But the audience, most of them well versed with the nuance of the game, made it clear they preferred live action.

Once considered the nursery of hockey, the sport appeared to have slipped into oblivion in Bhopal in part due to politics and lack of glamour and money.

The prestigious tournament was last held eight years and since then little was heard of the sport in the state that produced the legendary player Dhyan Chand.

Ironically, it took a revolt by the national hockey players, both male and female, for the game to stage its revival in Bhopal.

When he offered to run the affairs of men’s hockey three months ago, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s gesture was seen by many as political opportunism. However, since then the soft-spoken politician has done enough to dispel any such doubts.

From repeatedly honoring hockey players to announcing cash rewards to even symbolically joining the female players in their protest, Chouhan has won the hearts of even his political opponents.

Congress MLA Arif Aqueel, among the most vocal critics of the BJP government, was so overwhelmed when the national tournament was revived amid all its glory that he weighed Chouhan in `laddoos.’

Famous commentator Jasdev Singh said Chouhan’s efforts have reminded him of former President Zail Singh who tried to take hockey in Punjab forward.

“You are the real hero because you have breathed life into a game that was dying,’’ said star player Dhanraj Pillai and advised the visible uncomfortable Chouhan to simultaneously hold the union sport’s minister portfolio.

Not done yet, the Olympian touched Chouhan’s feet as the choc-o-block stadium watched. The star player said Hockey India was prodded into action only after Chouhan offered to bear the national team’s expenditure.

The chief minister took his well-meaning interventions forward by announcing that the tournament will be given an international touch by getting four foreign teams to participate in the next edition.

Chouhan has already announced that the next trophy will be made of real gold. He said a similar tournament would be organized for women’s hockey too.

The chief minister made a series of announcements to promote the sport at the state and national levels.

Dhyan Chand’s son Ashok Dhyan Chand will be tasked with supervising a summer camp for hockey players and talents found after a nationwide search. The state government will provide kits.

Also, a Chief Minister’s fund for current and former players with the initial corpus of one crore will be set up. Chouhan handed over a cheque for Rs 18 lakh by honoring his announcement made before the recent world cup that every goal scored by India will be rewarded with Rs one lakh each.