Indian Express: South Asian Games: All rise for Pakistan hockey stars

Pakistan defeat India 2-1 in South Asian Games hockey match, get standing ovation as North-East laps up rivalry.

Talk about hockey and here are some facts which highlight the disconnect between the game and the North-East.
No Indian senior men’s team has played a match in this part of the country. No player from Guwahati, or from Assam has ever played for a senior Indian women or men’s team. The most recent achievement of a hockey team from Assam has been the ‘B Division’ title its senior women’s team won in Bhopal two years ago. The All-India sub-junior women’s hockey championship was one of the biggest tournaments hosted here in recent time.

As far as the sport of hockey goes, Assam and most of the North-East can be called a backwater though Kothajit Singh and Chinglensana Singh from neighbouring Manipur have donned India colours.

In this context, the India versus Pakistan pool match at the Moullana MD Tayabullah Hockey Stadium in Bhetapura was a watershed day for the game in the North-East. The two teams are bound to clash in multiple sports during the 12th South Asian Games, but a hockey match brings with it a history of rivalry which is matched only when the cricket teams of both nations play each other.

On Monday night, a full house turned up to watch the meeting between the two sides. Tickets were priced at Rs 10 and Rs 20 and had been sold out days ago, and those who realised the significance of this game later were left stranded outside the stadium entry gates. In the black market, the last going rate for a ticket was Rs 500.

And like any India-Pakistan clash of significance, this match was also hijacked by politicians. Inside, on the newly-laid blue astro-turf and under the floodlights two political rivals, BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal and chief minister Tarun Gogoi of the Congress, greeted the players. If there was one place to be seen at, after the opening ceremony, it was this clash and both the politicians couldn’t afford to miss the occasion.

The anticipation was unmistakable as the Indian and Pakistan players warmed-up on either side of the field of play. Almost all of India’s star players are currently engaged in the Hockey India League and Pakistan weren’t at full strength either. But in rivalries like these, players tend to raise their game, especially when they receive home support or want to prove a point while playing away.

Pakistan’s Arslan Muhammad Qadir proved to be the difference between the teams, scoring in the opening field goal in the 11th minute and two minutes after the break in this two-half game. The Pakistanis constantly put the Indians under pressure and only a diving field goal from Mandeep Antil gave India a glimmer of hope before they went down 2-1.

North-East’s date with India-Pakistan hockey did not have a popular result and yet there was a standing ovation for the Pakistan team which undertook a victory lap.