Hockey fraternity praises successful conduction of Indian GP

Sudhanshu Bisen

NAGPUR: Accolades continue to shower on the organizers a day after their successful conduction of first ever Indian Grand Prix with renowned hockey stars and players joining the list. With the Indian hockey craving for an official body in the country, the fraternity feels that the Indian organizers should take a leaf out of F1 organizers’ books.

“It was a fabulous testimony to the fact that when organized properly, an event can restructure a country’s image in the billions of minds across the globe,” said current India centre forward Shivendra Singh told TOI on Monday. “The messy Commonwealth Games’ conduction evoked harsh reaction and put up a scruffy image of the country. However, I believe that such a clinical display of Formula One will transform India’s image in the global map,” he added.

Given the sorry state of the Indian hockey, Shivendra feels, the Indian GP has set an example for the hockey organizers to approach the game in a professional way. “The (hockey) organizers should learn from this. Not only them, in fact all the other sports bodies, barring the Indian cricket board, should learn how the game is organized. Superb facilities for players, the drawing of crowd and celebs in large numbers and to top it all a breathtaking track – it lived up to all the build up and the hype,” said Shivendra.

Former India coach Harendra Singh, too, was all praise for the successful conduction of the game. “It was such a proud moment when the nation anthem was being played before the start of the race. The emotions were high with the Indian flag fluttering in the crowd,” said Harendra. “Besides, the event also showed that India is such a big economic powerhouse. I am sure that it would generate a lot of employment and opening for the youths,” he added.

Like Shivendra, the former coach, too, was of the opinion that the hockey administrators should learn from F1. “There’s so much to be learnt. It’s high time that the Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) clear their differences. Otherwise, even India making it for Olympic Qualifiers looks a distant dream,” he concluded.