With A Legacy Of Stellar Players, Jharkhand Aims To Become India's Next Hockey Powerhouse

Moving away from its image of a maoist hotbed, the state of Jharkhand is slowly making its mark in the field of sports, and aspiring to be a hockey nest. At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the Indian women¡¯s hockey team scripted history by qualifying for the Olympic Games semifinals for the first time, beating three-time champions Australia by a solitary goal, and Jharkhand had quite a pivotal role to play in that achievement.

A day after the Indian men¡¯s team entered the Olympic semifinals following a 49-year gap, the world number 9 women¡¯s side also scripted history with a stout-hearted performance.

While the medal to finish in the third place remained elusive, the team earned tremendous respect with a momentous fourth-place sign-off at the Games.

Among other brilliant players on the field were Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan. This was the first time when the state of Jharkhand had two players in the international team.

Reuters

¡°Jharkhand has a rich history of producing stellar hockey players, both men and women. But the state is now more recognised than ever for its contribution to field hockey. In the past, Jharkhand has produced players like Asunta Lakra and Bimal Lakra, and with our performance at the Tokyo Olympics, the whole country is talking about women¡¯s hockey, which had mostly remained neglected in the past,¡± Nikki Pradhan, the first female Hockey player from Jharkhand who represented India in the Olympics, tells Indiatimes.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nikki, who hails from Hesal village of Khunti district, says that when she had started playing hockey, there were zero facilities.

Nineteen-year-old Salima Tete, who hails from a small hamlet in Jharkhand¡¯s Simdega district, remembers her first steps towards hockey.

Recalling her early days, Salima says that she and her friends played on a dusty ground speckled with stones. They would remove the stones, and try to make the ground as smooth as possible and mark temporary goalposts.

"We used wooden sticks because we didn't have hockey blades" she says.

Jharkhand: A hockey powerhouse

Jharkhand¡¯s journey to recognition in sports started decades ago.

The first ever Indian hockey team at the Olympics, at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, was captained by Jaipal Singh Munda, born in present-day Jharkhand.

Since then, Jharkhand, which earned statehood in 2000, has produced a number of international players, including Sylvanus Dung Dung, Michael Kindo, Sumrai Tete, and siblings Bimal and Asunta Lakra. Currently, two players from the state ¡ª Tete and Nikki Pradhan ¡ª are in the Indian women¡¯s core probable group of 24 for the Tokyo Olympics.

PR Sreejesh Hockey Tokyo Olympics | Reuters

Both, Salima and Nikki believe that Jharkhand has a great potential to shine like Odisha, the state that single-handedly supported hockey and brought global recognition to it.

"Even the regional or a district level hockey game in the state draws huge crowds. The small stadiums are usually running over their capacity. If a small game can pull such massive crowds, imagine what proper stadiums and national events could bring to the state," says an excited and hopeful Nikki.

For a few years, hockey witnessed a lull in Jharkhand, but it picked up again after the Rio Olympics, where the Indian women¡¯s hockey team was making an appearance after 36 years.

Two years later, Jharkhand enjoyed another breakthrough. The state team won the Junior Women¡¯s National Championship, beating four-time champions Haryana 4-2 in the final.

Tete played an integral part in that tournament and went on to lead India to a silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Fresh impetus to sports in the state

After Pradhan and Tete's phenomenal performance, the Jharkhand government announced a slew of initiatives to promote hockey, and other sports such as archery among the youth.

AP

To promote players, the government has embarked on a multi-pronged strategy that includes providing them with jobs and training, said Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, adding that the government has given jobs to 40 national and international players.

The government will also set up Residential Sports Centre where free training will be imparted to hockey, football, athletics, archery, badminton and volleyball players.

The plans to give a much-needed push to sports, a day boarding training school will be set up where deserving players will be provided with financial assistance.

In case the state's players and coaches meet with an accident, the government will bear the entire cost of treatment.

In Jharkhand, almost all hockey players come from humble background. Hockey gives them purpose. Young players like Nikki and Salima believe that with a little more support, Jharkhand could become a hockey stronghold in the coming time.