New Delhi, 7th October 2025: Hockey India today launched a month-long campaign leading up to the centenary celebrations on 7th November 2025, a day that marks 100 years of Indian hockey. The first hockey sports administrative body was formed in 1925, on 7th November and in 1928, the Indian team won the first Olympic Gold medal beating Netherlands in Amsterdam. Since then, Indian hockey team has won a total of eight Olympic Gold medals – highest number of gold medals by any country at the Olympics till date.
The period between 1928 to 1959 was regarded as the golden era and the resurgence of Indian hockey began in 1998 after a decline in 1980s and 90s. The Bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics captained by Manpreet Singh in 2020 marked the comeback of Indian hockey, with the team repeating the feat in 2024 where they stood on the podium yet again in Paris.
India thus far, has a total eight Olympic gold medals, 1 silver, four bronze at the Summer Games – making hockey a legacy sport in the country. India also has won a World Cup in 1975 and in the Asian Games, has four gold, 9 silver and 3 bronze medals. The Women’s team too has 7 medals at the Asian Games.
Speaking of the significance of the centenary, Gurbux Singh, the oldest living legend of the sport at 90 years, expressed his absolute joy of being part of this rich, and most decorated sport in India. “To complete 100 years and that too with this level of tremendous achievements at the world level, Indian hockey stands tall in the world of sport and this occasion surely needs to be celebrated in the most befitting manner. We as Indians ought to be proud of this legacy,” stated Gurbux, who was given a nickname as ‘professor’ by his Pakistani rivals for being the only player who played wearing spectacles.
Gurbux has contributed a large part of his life to the sport, having begun his career in 1955 as an aspiring player in his University in Gwalior. He trained under the great Roop Singh of Olympic fame and soon represented Madhya Bharath in 1956 before he made his India debut in 1959. He was part of the team that won the 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medal. “It is almost 65 years that I have been associated with the sport and I have lived my best life because of hockey. Personally, the 1964 Olympic gold followed by the 1966 Asian Games gold will always hold a special place in my heart. We regained the world title in 64′ by winning the gold as in those days there was no world cup, the team that won the Olympics would be known as world champions. We later won the Asian Games gold for the first time, beating Pakistan. That was very memorable,” he recalled.
When asked about the greatest rival in the sport over the past 100 years, Gurbux didn’t bat an eyelid to say – India Vs Pakistan! “No doubt that was the greatest rivalry of all-time. Before the partition, we played as one unit and after the partition, no European team came close to the rivalry we shared with Pakistan. The matches were fiercely fought by both teams,” he expressed.
“Personally speaking, there was never any animosity off the field between the two teams. Almost 13 out of the 18 players in Pakistan team were Punjabis who were directly affected by the partition. Mind you, we played the 1966 Asian Games just after the 1965 War. On the field, we saw them as an opponent whom we wanted to beat. I never had the feeling that we were playing Pakistan, but we always played like it was any other match that had to be won, and that is most important,” he concluded.
Hockey India in the following days will bring more such nostalgic stories from the icons of yesteryears with an intent to relive the historic contribution by the legends of the sport that put India on the world sporting map over the past 100 years.
About HOCKEY INDIA
HOCKEY INDIA (HI) is the governing body with exclusive mandate to direct and conduct all activities for both men and women’s hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India.
Headquartered in New Delhi, Hockey India was established on 20th May, 2009 and is affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).
Committed to the development of Hockey in the country, Hockey India with the assistance of Sports Authority of India and Department of Sports, Government of India, trains players at sub-junior, junior and senior level. The governing body engages in Coaching the coaches with International Standard certification programs, educates and equips technical officials and umpires to find a foothold in international arena, provides world-class infrastructure and International exposure for the players besides regular international competition. Hockey India has also pioneered in bringing top International hockey events to India such as the FIH Men’s World Cup in 2010 and 2018, FIH Champions Trophy in 2014, FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016 and 2021, FIH Hockey World League Final in 2017. With its vision to popularize the game and constantly promote it, Hockey India brought the Indian Men’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world. Hockey India is also dedicated to getting the Indian Women’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world.
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About ODISHA
Odisha – the Eastern State of India – is known for its love for Hockey and over the years it has evolved to be the Global Hub of Hockey. The State successfully hosted the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, followed by the FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha, FIH Olympic Qualifiers Odisha, and FIH Hockey Pro League 2020-21. Odisha has previously hosted the Champions Trophy 2014 and the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017. Odisha also hosted the FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup in 2021.
Kalinga Lancers, the team owned by the State, were the winners in the Hockey India League 2017. Taking a step further towards realising the dream of restoring the glory of Indian Hockey at the global level, the State is sponsoring the Indian Hockey Teams till 2033.
Odisha also hosted the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 and the Rourkela and Bhubaneswar legs of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23 and 2023/24.
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