- Women's hockey is not given much importance in India: Sord Marin
New delhi date. 17 September 2022, Saturday
Although cricket is the most popular sport in India, the country's national game hockey has left its mark across the world. Indian men's team has won the most Olympic medals in the world with 8. However, an event has happened in this country which no one could have imagined.
This is from 1 November 2019. International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Narinder Batra at the time could not identify the Indian women's team captain Rani Rampal. This has been explained by the team's former coach Sjoerd Marijne in his book 'Will Power'.
An incident during an important match against America
Narinder Batra has also been the President of the Indian Olympic Committee (IOA). It seems strange that a person holding such two big positions could not recognize the hockey players. Marin said through his book that this was a very shameful thing. I took advantage of this and set an example to encourage the team players to perform well.
In fact, Marin mentioned the match played on 1 November 2019. The match was between the Indian women's hockey team and the USA. It was a very important match. This Olympic qualifier match was held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Then FIH President Narinder Batra visited the players at the ground before the match started. It was these moments that Marin referred to.
Batra did not know anyone except the captain
Marin wrote in his book that before the start of this very special match, Narinder Batra came to the ground wearing kurta-pajama and jacket to greet the team. He started with Captain Rani but as he progressed the situation worsened. He could not recognize anyone other than Rani.
East Catch further wrote, 'A strange situation ensued and in the midst of it all, Batra stood idly by and asked, 'Who is the 'drag-flicker'?'' Gurjit Kaur, one of the world's best drag-flickers, was standing a few yards away from where he asked this question.'
It's all about money: former coach Marin
Marin said, 'Hockey was considered a men's sport in India. It's a shame here that the top leagues, teams, tournaments and world class coaching staff were all male. Unfortunately, women's hockey is not given much importance here. All this is done for money. However, the biggest thing is that the women's team is not even in the priority of the federation. I am not complaining, just stating the facts.'
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