Photograph of a not so 'bhola' (naive) Bhola Nath Singh credit PTI

ockey India (HI) was left-red-faced on 25th November, after its secretary general Bhola Nath Singh was accused of trying to "extort" ₹25 lakh from Telangana Hockey unit president Saral Talvar, an allegation which the senior administrator termed "baseless".

The allegations by Talvar are based on Bhola Nath apparently demanding a huge sum of money in lieu of allowing the state hockey unit to conduct elections.

"Telengana Hockey elections were due in April and we were online to conduct it, but an HI official sabotaged that. Fnally I met Bhola Nath on 3rd November and he said that if I wanted to get out of this, I had to pay ₹25 (lakh). It was just me and him in the room," Talvar told PTI. "And then he continued, I will give you seven days time to think about it."

Unfortunately, there is no audio or video recording of Bhola Nath's corrupt behaviour. Otherwise, he would have met the fate of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary general K. Jothikumaran, who had to resign in disgrace in 2008 for taking a cash payment of ₹2 lakh.

The problem started when HI, under Bhola Nath's leadership, formed a 3-member ad-hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of Telangana hockey, in spite of Hockey Telangana wanting to conduct elections. HI kept deferring the elections, citing one reason or the other.

Talvar said, "HI formed this ad-hoc committee almost 3 months back, and for the last 3 months it didn't meet even once. They kept on giving some excuse or the other, like our Constitution was not correct, or they wanted more permanent members, etc."

Talwar said he has reached out to HI president Dilip Tirkey. "I have written to Tirkey. I spoke to him also in detail and he said he would look into it but then nothing happened," Talvar claimed.

Bhola Nath rejected the allegations by issuing a standard disclaimer, "I have always worked for the betterment of the sport and for the welfare and growth of Indian hockey and Indian players."

Why is the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) silent? It was the IOA who in 2008 suspended the IHF after the Jothikumaran incident, and replaced the apex hockey body by an ad-hoc committee.

Why are the Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) keeping quiet? How can Tirkey and all other members of the executive board of Hockey India be spineless spectators?

Why should the Odisha Government give sponsorship money to a corrupt Hockey India? The Sports Ministry, SAI,  Hockey India President and national team sponsor Odisha Government should band together and remove this cancerous growth from the Hockey India body.

India beat Canada 12-0 at the Jr. Women's World Cup in Santiago, Chile. Photograph credit Hockey India

he 10th Jr. Women's World Cup hockey tournament was held at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago from November 29 - December 10, 2023.

Sixteen teams were divided into four pools as follows:

• Pool A: Australia, Netherlands, Chile, South Africa
• Pool B: South Korea, Argentina, Spain, Zimbabwe
• Pool C: India, Belgium, Germany, Canada
• Pool D: England, Japan, New Zealand, United States

India crashed out of the quarter-finals by failing to finish among the top two in its pool. With 2 wins (Canada, South Korea), 2 losses (Germany, Belgium) and 2 draws (New Zealand, USA), India ended up 9th in the tournament. India's match results are shown below.

	Stage	Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
	Pool	Nov 29	India 12 - Canada 0	Annu (4-PC, 6-PC, 39 min) Dipi Monika Toppo (21 min) Neelam (45 min), PC Deepika Soreng (34-PC, 50, 54 min) Mumtaz Khan (26, 41-PC, 54, 60 min)
		Nov 30	Germany 4 - India 3	Annu (11 min), PC Ropni Kumari (14 min), PC Mumtaz Khan (24 min)
		Dec 2	Belgium 3 - India 2	Annu (47 min-PC, 51 min-PS)
	9th - 16th	Dec 5	India 3 - New Zealand 3 (3-2 SO)	Ropni Kumari (8 min), PC Jyoti Chhatri (17 min) Sunelita Toppo (53 min), PC
	9th - 12th	Dec 7	India 3 - South Korea 1	Ropni Kumari (23 min), PC Mumtaz Khan (44 min), PC Annu (46 min)
	9th - 10th	Dec 9	India 2 - USA 2 (3-2)	Manju Chorsiya (11 min), PC Sunelita Toppo (57 min), PC

The final placings were: 1 - Netherlands, 2 - Argentina, 3 - Belgium, 4 - England, 5 - Australia, 6 - Germany, 7 - Japan, 8 - Spain, 9 - India, 10 - USA, 11 - South Korea, 12 - Chile, 13 - South Africa, 14 - Zimbabwe, 15 - New Zealand, 16 - Canada

The following were the individual awards for the Jr. Women's World Cup.

• Player of the Tournament - Teresa Lima (ESP)
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament - Mercedes Artola (ARG)
• Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament - Astrid Bonami (BEL), 11 goals

The matches were broadcast in India on Viacom Sports 18-3 and Sports 18-1 HD, as well as live-streamed on JioCinema.

The 18-member Indian team for the Jr. Women's World Cup hockey tournament was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Khushboo, Madhuri Kindo

Defenders: Preeti (captain), Jyoti Singh, Ropni Kumari, Neelam

Midfielders: Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (vice-captain), Mahima Tete, Manju Chorsiya, Jyoti Chhatri, Hina Bano, Sujata Kujur

Forwards: Sakshi Rana, Mumtaz Khan, Annu, Deepika Soreng, Dipi Monika Toppo, Sunelita Toppo

Officials: Chief Coach - Tushar Khandkar, Manager - Harvinder Singh

Sahara India Parivar Chairman Subrata Roy with then Hockey India president Narendra Batra. Photograph credit Hockey India

ockey India mourned the demise of Sahara Group Chairman Shri Subrata Roy, who passed away in Mumbai on November 14 of a cardiorespiratory arrest. He was 75 years old.

Condoling Subrata Roy's demise, Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said, "We at Hockey India are deeply saddened to hear about the demise of Mr Subrata Roy. He was a true sports lover, and his vision with the Sahara India Parivar in promoting sports was inspirational. His contributions to hockey will be remembered forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family in this moment of grief."

Led by Roy, the Sahara India Pariwar was at the forefront of promoting sports in India, including hockey. Sahara Group was the major partner of Indian hockey's apex body from 1995 to 2017, and played a pivotal role in the revival of the sport through its corporate support. Sahara was also the franchise owner of the Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the now-defunct Hockey India League.

Sahara was the largest benefactor of non-cricket Indian sports. In a uni-sport country like India, it required vision for a corporate sponsor to look beyond cricket towards the entire Indian sporting landscape.

Besides hockey, the Sahara Group's sports portfolio included a stake in India's Formula One racing team, an IPL cricket team, and sponsorship of the country's cricket team.

Punjab win the 13th Men's Sr. National Hockey Championship. Photograph credit B. Jothi Ramalingam of Sportstar

he 13th Hockey India Sr. Men's National Hockey Championship was held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai from November 17-28. This tournament marked the first time that video referral was introduced in the men's national championship.

29 teams from all over the country participated in the tournament. They were grouped into 8 pools as shown below, with the top team from each pool qualifying for the quarter-finals.

• Pool A: Hariyana, Chattisgadh, Gujarat
• Pool B: Tamil Nadu, Himachal, Assam
• Pool C: Karnataka, Bihar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli/Daman & Diu
• Pool D: Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Tripura* (did not participate)
• Pool E: Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur
• Pool F: Jharkhand, Chandigadh, Andhra Pradesh, Goans
• Pool G: Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, Kerala, Rajashtan
• Pool H: Delhi, Odisha, Telangana, Arunachal

Punjab won the 13th Men's Senior National Hockey Championship with match results as shown below:

Stage	Date	Punjab	Date	Hariyana
League	Nov 17	walk over Tripura 5-0 (forfeit)	Nov 19	beat Gujarat 22-1
	Nov 21	beat Maharashtra 4-2	Nov 21	beat Chattisgadh 13-1
	Nov 24	beat Uttarakhand 13-0
Quarters	Nov 25	beat Manipur 4-2	Nov 25	beat Odisha 2-2 (3-2 SO)
Semis	Nov 27	beat Karnataka 5-1	Nov 27	beat Tamil Nadu 1-1 (4-2 SO)
Final	Nov 28	beat Hariyana 2-2 (9-8 SO)

Tamil Nadu beat Karnataka 3-3 (5-3 SO) to finish third.

This was Punjab's fourth title in 13 editions. Punjab's team had five current Indian team players, including Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak.

India's head coach, Craig Fulton, and selectors, Mohammad Riaz and B. P. Govinda, both former India captains, attended nearly all the matches over the 11 days of the tournament.

Dhyan Chand Museum in Jhansi

he Photograph of the Month for December 2023 is of the recently inaugurated Major Dhyan Chand Museum in Jhansi. The museum, built at a cost of over ₹22 crore, is situated at Rani Laxmibai Park.

This is the country's first museum dedicated to the memories and events related to the life of Dhyan Chand. A 25-feet-high statue of the hockey wizard is located in the grounds of the museum.

The museum is divided into various zones, each with a specific theme. Highlights of the museum include a cyclorama film on Dhyan Chand, a quiz zone, interactive digital displays, and a model of Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi.

Article by Arun Janardhan, courtesy MoneyControl.com
Photo of the Kalinga Stadium credit Twitter/@rvineel_krishna

rom Indian football and hockey to athletics, Odisha is leading a sports push in India. Around 90 indoor complexes costing about ₹800 crore are getting constructed across Odisha, in a show of affiliation to sport that's rare among state governments.

The sporting disciplines that the state is investing in includes swimming, athletics, weightlifting, hockey, shooting, karate, kho kho, rugby and tennis.

The Odisha sports department has significantly increased its budget over the last four years. From around ₹300 crore, the number has reached ₹1,300 crore.

Some disciplines are being developed under a public-private partnership model. Anil Kumble's firm Tenvic manages the 53 weightlifting training centres across the state. Badminton is in partnership with Pullela Gopichand and Dalmiya Group. Hockey is with the Tata Group. JSW Sports runs the swimming programme across 30 training centres, withs its flagship Odisha JSW Swimming High Performance Centre based out of the Kalinga Stadium. A sports science centre runs in partnership with Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance.

Hockey is one of the sporting disciplines which has the state's attention, especially as Odisha is one of the states that has consistently fed players to the national team. Two big stadiums, Kalinga Sports Complex in Bhubanesvar, which hosted the 2018 FIH Men's World Cup, and the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Raurkela, which hosted the 2023 FIH Men's World Cup, have come up as part of this sporting drive.

"What we are doing is not just for Odisha - it's for the country as whole," says Vineel Krishna, special secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and secretary of sports and youth services. "Athletes have a need for indoor facilities, which are costly but required if you have to train through the year. For instance, Neeraj Chopra practised here before the 2021 Olympics because it was too cold in Patiala," said Vineel.

When asked if there are any tangible outcomes to this kind of an investment, Vineel highlighted the altruistic benefits of supporting sport. "It's difficult to say what the outcome would be. These are long-term investments that will not give you a return in 3-5 years. The returns will be of another kind, like celebrating a medal in a global tournament. One medal may inspire thousands to take up sport. They may not all win medals, but will be healthier, better citizens."

Article by Boria Majumdar, courtesy RevSportz
Photo of the Birsa Munda stadium credit Odisha Sports

new book, "Odisha and Sports - A story of Hope and Glory" will be published by Simon and Schuster in January 2024. The book's co-authors are Boria Majumdar and Vineel Krishna, and the book has a foreword by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Boria Majumar gives some background on how the book came to be written.

"Odisha has forever been a favourite destination for many of us growing up in Bengal. My first memory of Odisha is my father telling me that a puja vacation was incomplete without going to Puri and Bhubanesvar. In fact, it was a ritual. Every Puja, we would go to the neighbouring state for a good two weeks. The pujo in Puri is the perfect Bengali holiday.

But in all of this, there was no sport. Odisha and sport did not go hand in hand. Rather, locals from Odisha would travel to Bengal to play and sports was not a priority in Odisha. There were a few local stars, Dilip Tirkey and Lazarus Barla to name two, who made it to the national team, but these were all individual efforts rather than the result of any structural state support.

Now, things are different. Under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik, one of India's most-loved chief ministers, Odisha has turned the page. With the amount of work that has happened in the last six years, the state is now the new nerve centre of Indian sport.

Odisha has clearly taken the lead in producing the best multi-sport precinct that exists in India. The Odisha story needed to be documented. How did this all happen? What started it and how did it progress? What are the plans going forward?

Each time I travelled to Odisha, I was stunned by what was unfolding. And that's when I approached Vineel Krishna, Secretary Sports, Government of Odisha, who is a part of this transformation. He has seen it all, and has been associated with this since 2017.

There was no one better to work with. He readily agreed, and for nearly a year and a half, we have been working on the book. After countless zoom sessions, phone calls and field visits, I am delighted to say that the book is going to press in December first week.

Two versions - a coffee table edition laden with some fantastic pictures documenting this story, and also a paperback version. It will be published by Simon and Schuster in January 2024. Thank you, Vineel, for all your work and support.

Now, the final word goes to our readers."

his month's edition of records and statistics is on the FIH Junior Women's World Cup Hockey. The statistics include the results from the 2023 Junior Women's World Cup Hockey.

• The country with the most victories is Netherlands, with 5 world titles
• 3 continents have never won the junior women's world title - Africa, North America and Oceania
• Santiago, Chile, has hosted the Junior Women's World Cup the maximum number of times - 3 (2005, 2016, 2023)
• Oceania is the only continent that has never hosted the Junior Women's World Cup
• India has a poor record in the tournament, with only 1 bronze in 6 attempts

Year	City	Gold	Silver	Bronze	India
1989	Ottawa	West Germany	South Korea	Soviet Union	N/A
1993	Terrassa	Argentina	Australia	Germany	N/A
1997	Seongnam	Netherlands	Australia	Argentina	N/A
2001	Buenos Aires	South Korea	Argentina	Australia	9th
2005	Santiago	South Korea	Germany	Netherlands	11th
2009	Boston	Netherlands	Argentina	South Korea	9th
2013	Monchengladbach	Netherlands	Argentina	India	3rd
2016	Santiago	Argentina	Netherlands	Australia	N/A
2022	Potchefstroom	Netherlands	Germany	England	4th
2023	Santiago	Netherlands	Argentina	Belgium	9th