India captain Harmanpreet Singh in the match against England on 25 Feb. Photograph credit Hockey India

he Indian men's team played the Bhubanesvar leg of the 2024-25 FIH Men's Pro League from February 15-25 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium. The participating teams were Spain, Germany, Ireland and England, with countries playing double leg matches with each other.

The Indian leg of the FIH Pro League marked the beginning of Indian men's hockey's international assignments in 2025.

India won 5 out of the 8 matches played in Bhubanesvar, and are currently placed third in the standings with 15 points, just one point behind joint-leaders England and Spain. India's match results are as shown below.

Date	Result	Goal Scorers (India)
Feb 15	Spain 3 - India 1	Sukhjeet Singh (25 min)
Feb 16	India 2 - Spain 0	Mandeep Singh (32 min) Dilpreet Singh (39 min)
Feb 18	Germany 4 - India 1	Gurjant Singh (13 min)
Feb 19	India 1 - Germany 0	Gurjant Singh (4 min)
Feb 21	India 3 - Ireland 1	Mandeep Singh (22 min) Jarmanpreet Singh (45 min), PC Sukhjeet Singh (58 min), PC
Feb 22	India 4 - Ireland 0	Neelam Sanjeep Xess (14 min) Mandeep Singh (24 min), PC Abhishek (28 min) Shamsher Singh (34 min)
Feb 24	England 3 - India 2	Abhishek (18 min) Sukhjeet Singh (39 min)
Feb 25	India 2 - England 1	Harmanpreet Singh (26, 32 min), both PCs

All the FIH Pro League 2024-25 matches are being broadcast on Star Sports Select 2 and streamed live on JioHotstar in India.

At the conclusion of the Bhubanesvar leg of the FIH Men's Pro League, Indian men rank 5th in the FIH world rankings.

The 32-member Indian men's team for the Indian leg of the FIH Pro League was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Princedeep Singh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Neelam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Yashdeep Sivach

Midfielders: Hardik Singh (vice-captain), Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Neelakantha Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Rajinder Singh

Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Boby Singh Dhami, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Arshdeep Singh

Officials: Chief Coach - Craig Fulton, Manager - Shivendra Singh

India beat Netherlands in a shootout on 25 February. Photograph credit Hockey India

he Indian women's team played the Bhubanesvar leg of the 2024-25 FIH Pro League from February 15-25 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium. The participating teams were England, Spain, Germany and Netherlands, with countries playing double leg matches with each other.

The Indian leg of the FIH Pro League marked the beginning of Indian women's hockey's international assignments in 2025.

India won only three out of the eight matches played in Bhubanesvar, and are currently placed sixth in the standings with 9 points. India's match results are as shown below.

Date	Result	Goal Scorers (India)
Feb 15	India 3 - England 2	Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (6 min), PC Deepika (25 min), PC Navneet Kaur (59 min)
Feb 16	England 2 - India 2 (2-1 SO)	Navneet Kaur (53 min), PS Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (57 min)
Feb 18	Spain 4 - India 3	Baljeet Kaur (19 min) Sakshi Rana (38 min) Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (45 min)
Feb 19	Spain 1 - India 0	2
Feb 21	Germany 4 - India 0	2
Feb 22	India 1 - Germany 0	Deepika (12 min), PC
Feb 24	Netherlands 4 - India 2	Udita (18, 42 min), both PCs
Feb 25	India 2 - Netherlands 2 (2-1 SO)	Deepika (35 min) Baljeet Kaur (43 min)

Following the upset victory over world no. 1 Netherlands, Hockey India announced cash award of ₹1 lakh to each Indian player and ₹50,000 to each member of the support staff. This was in addition to Hockey India's existing policy of rewarding ₹50,000 for every victory.

All the FIH Pro League 2024-25 matches are being broadcast on Star Sports Select 2 and streamed live on JioHotstar in India.

At the conclusion of the Bhubanesvar leg of the FIH Women's Pro League, Indian women rank 9th in the FIH world rankings.

The 24-member Indian women's team for the Indian leg of the FIH Pro League was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Savita, Bichu Devi Kharibam

Defenders: Nikki Pradhan, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Jyoti Chhatri, Jyoti

Midfielders: Salima Tete (captain), Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Neha, Manisha Chauhan, Sunelita Toppo, Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi, Baljeet Kaur

Forwards: Navneet Kaur (vice-captain), Sangeeta Kumari, Vandana Katariya, Deepika, Preeti Dubey, Rutaja Dadaso Pisal, Beauty Dung Dung, Mumtaz Khan

Officials: Chief Coach - Harendra Singh, Manager - Billava Suresh Ankitha

Karnataka win the 38th National Games men's hockey final. Image courtesy Hockey India

he 38th National Games Men's Hockey competition was held at the Vandana Katariya Hockey Stadium in Haridvar, Uttarkhand, from February 4-13. 10 teams participated in the tournament, and were grouped into two pools as follows:

• Pool A: Odisha, Manipur, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh
• Pool B: Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarkhand

Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh reached the final of the tournament with match results as shown below.

Stage	Date	Karnataka	Date	Uttar Pradesh
Pool	Feb 4	beat Punjab 3-1	Feb 4	beat Uttarkhand 9-1
	Feb 6	beat Odisha 2-1	Feb 6	drew with Maharashtra 0-0
	Feb 8	beat Manipur 4-1	Feb 7	beat Hariyana 2-1
	Feb 9	lost to Madhya Pradesh 4-5	Feb 10	beat Tamil Nadu 3-1
Semi-finals	Feb 12	beat Maharashtra 2-2 (5-4 SO)	Feb 12	beat Punjab 5-3
Final	Feb 13	beat Uttar Pradesh 3-2

In the match between the losing semi-finalists, Maharashtra beat Punjab 1-0 to finish third.

Shardanand Tivari of Uttar Pradesh was the top scorer of the tournament, with 8 goals.

The final standings in the National Games men's competition were: 1 - Karnataka, 2 - Uttar Pradesh, 3 - Maharashtra, 4 - Punjab, 5 - Hariyana, 6 - Odisha, 7 - Madhya Pradesh, 8 - Tamil Nadu, 9 - Manipur, 10 - Uttarkhand

Hariyana win the 38th National Games women's hockey final. Image courtesy Hockey India

he 38th National Games Women's Hockey competition was held at the Vandana Katariya Hockey Stadium in Haridvar, Uttarkhand, from February 4-13. 10 teams participated in the tournament, and were grouped into two pools as follows:

• Pool A: Hariyana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka
• Pool B: Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Manipur, Uttarkhand

Hariyana and Madhya Pradesh reached the final of the tournament with match results as shown below.

Stage	Date	Hariyana	Date	Madhya Pradesh
Pool	Feb 5	beat Karnataka 4-0	Feb 4	beat Karnataka 4-1
	Feb 6	lost to West Bengal 0-2	Feb 6	beat Odisha 3-2
	Feb 9	beat Madhya Pradesh 3-2	Feb 8	beat West Bengal 2-1
	Feb 10	beat Odisha 3-2	Feb 9	lost to Hariyana 2-3
Semi-finals	Feb 12	beat Jharkhand 2-1	Feb 12	beat Maharashtra 1-1 (4-1 SO)
Final	Feb 13	beat Madhya Pradesh 4-1

In the match between the losing semi-finalists, Jharkhand beat Maharashtra 2-1 to finish third.

Former India captain Rani Rampal of Hariyana was the top scorer of the tournament, with 6 goals.

The final standings in the National Games Women's Hockey competition were: 1 - Hariyana, 2 - Madhya Pradesh, 3 - Jharkhand, 4 - Maharashtra, 5 - West Bengal, 6 - Mizoram, 7 - Manipur, 8 - Odisha, 9 - Karnataka, 10 - Uttarkhand

This title win was particularly sweet for Haryana, who had suffered a heartbreaking loss to Madhya Pradesh in the 2023 National Games final, where they finishd 0-0 in regulation time, but lost 0-3 in the penalty shootout.

Article by Wu Yong of People's Daily. Photograph of children playing hockey courtesy CPC Morin Dawa Daur

he March 2025 Photograph of the Month is of hockey being played in the Morin Dawa Daur autonomous region in Inner Mongolia in China.

With a population of over 300,000, Morin Dawa Daur is known as the "hometown of hockey in China."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Chinese sports authorities formed an expert team to investigate the development of the Olympic sport of hockey in the country.

When the experts arrived in Morin Dawa Daur, they were pleasantly surprised to find that hockey bore resemblance to the traditional sport of beikuo (curved stick) of the Daur ethnic group.

China's first men's field hockey team was founded in the region in 1976, predominantly composed of Daur players. Four years later, Hasen was the coach of China's first women's hockey team.

In 1989, the Chinese Hockey Association officially designated Morin Dawa Daur as the hometown of hockey in China.

Over the past almost five decades, athletes from Morin Dawa Daur have played a crucial role in the Chinese national hockey team. For example, the Chinese women's hockey team won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Chinese men's team secured a silver medal at the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy, which was held in Morin Dawa Daur.

Seven players on the Asian Champions Trophy silver medal team hailed from Morin Dawa Daur. This was China's best-ever performance in this competition.

There are 40 primary and secondary schools in Morin Dawa Daur, and 39 of them have their own hockey teams.

To date, Morin Dawa Daur has nurtured over 200 athletes and over 30 coaches for selection in the Chinese national hockey training camps.

Article by Navneet Singh courtesy My Khel

he revived Hockey India League (HIL) sanctioned by FIH (International Hockey Federation) and conducted by Hockey India (HI) in Odisha faces financial irregularities as some of the franchises haven't paid the dues of the players.

The 2024-2025 HIL league was held from December 28,2024 to February 1, 2025. The respective team owners - 8 in the men's group and 4 in the women's section - were supposed to play all pending dues to the players and coaching staff within two weeks of the league's send - by February 15.

One of the players of the Women's HIL told My Khel that she got just 20 percent of the amount that was bid for her during the players auction.

HI president Dilip Tirkey confirmed the development. He told My Khel over the phone: "There was a HIL review meeting conducted with all the stakeholders in Bhubaneswar recently. The financial issues of the players will be sorted out soon."

The winners of the men's title were supposed to be richer by ₹3 crore, while the winners of the women's league were to took home a prize purse of ₹1.5 crore. HI also announced several individual cash awards, including the Player of the Tournament award. It couldn't be verified whether teams or the individual players have got their cash awards as promised.

"The franchise's owners were disappointed from the start of the players auction as things didn't go on expected lines," a senior official of one of the HIL teams said. "There were unexpected losses during the 2024-2025 edition of HIL. The shortcomings weren't addressed."

For the record, the previous editions of the HIL, which first started in 2013, had several players and coaching staff with unpaid dues, before the league folded abruptly. Two teams - Mumbai Magicinas and inaugural champions Ranchi Rhinos - were disbanded after just two seasons.

Article by Frankie D'Cruz. Article and photograph credit Free Malaysia Today

arch 15, 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Kuala Lumpur World Cup final, where India beat Pakistan 2-1 to win its only World Cup.

As the secretary of the 1975 World Cup Organising Committee and also an umpire in the final, Vijayananthan "Viji" Gulasingam had a front-row seat to history.

94-year-old Viji's book "The Memoirs of Mr. Hockey" provides behind the scenes information on the staging of the 1975 World Cup.

India were supposed to be the hosts as they were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Indian Hockey Federation.

One year before the World Cup, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that the tournament would not take place in Bombay as India could not fulfil the world body's conditions.

The FIH then sent an offer letter to the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president Abdul Razak Hussein, who subsequently gave the go-ahead.

Vijayanathan's then seven-year-old daughter Anushya helped him with pasting the envelopes and the stamps for letters and circulars to be dispatched all over the world.

The cost of running the event rose to $700,000 but this amount was raised through donations and fundraisers.

The 12-nation World Cup was a roaring success. In the end, MHF was richer by $400,000, a princely sum then.

Fifty-one minutes into the final of the 1975 World Cup, Viji made a call he would never forget.

Master dribbler Ashok Kumar, son of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, struck the ball past the Pakistani goalkeeper. Viji, his eyes sweeping that moment like a radar scanner, blew for goal. India went into the lead 2-1.

Pakistan claimed the ball did not cross the line, but rebounded off the post. Their supporters were furious to the extent that, according to Viji, he needed a police escort to get home.

Viji accompanied Azlan Shah to the television broadcaster RTM's studio the next day to see the replay of the final, and it was confirmed the ball hit the inside of the post.

Viji said his conscience was clear and that his relationship with Pakistan hockey officials after that World Cup final incident remained cordial.

The 1975 tournament remains the only World Cup in any sport where India and Pakistan met in the final.

Savita Punia being felicitated on her 300th cap in Bhubanesvar on 2X February, 2025. Photograph credit Hockey India

his month's edition of records and statistics is on the Indian women hockey players with the most international appearances for the country. The number of caps listed below is as of the conclusion of the Indian leg of the FIH Women's Pro League on 25 February, 2025.

• Vandana Katariya is the only Indian woman player to score a hat-trick in the Olympics
• Savita Punia is only the second Indian hockey goalkeeper, male or female, to achieve 300 caps (after the legendary P. R. Sreejesh)
• Rani Rampal was the first Indian women's player to score more than 100 international goals

Caps	Player	International Debut
319	Vandana Katariya	2011 India vs. Australia 4-Test Series (Australia)
301	Savita Punia	2011 Champions Challenge I (Dublin)
268	Deep Grace Ekka	2011 4-Nation Tournament (Argentina)
254	Rani Rampal	2009 Champions Challenge II (Kazan)
252	Susheela Chanu	2014 India vs. Ireland 3-Test Series (Dublin)