In a double celebration for Indian hockey, its national association, Hockey India, has been awarded Best National Sports Federation, while its President, Dr Narinder Batra is named as one of the 10 top sports personalities in the influential magazine, Indian Express.
With the men’s national team in particular enjoying one of its most successful years in recent times, Hockey India is going through something of a purple patch. The men’s team has qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics courtesy of a victory at the Asian Games, they also picked up silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the nation has also successfully hosted a number of top level competitions over the past three years.
In a ceremony in New Delhi, the Major Dhyan Chand Sports Awards Committee (MDCSA) named Hockey India as Best National Sports Federation. The award – named in memory of one of India’s greatest hockey players, Dhyan Chand – is given to sports personalities and organisations for their efforts and team work in building the sport in the country.
Also recognised for his leadership is the President of Hockey India, Dr Narinder Batra. The Indian Express named the passionate head of the national federation, who also serves on the FIH Executive Board, as number eight on the list of top 10 sports personalities in the country.
The magazine said of Dr Batra: “His decision making will be crucial for Indian hockey to build on one of its most successful years in recent times.”
Hockey India, led by Dr Batra, has consistently been promoting hockey as a sport not only nationally, through the successful franchised Hockey India League, but also on the international arena. Six major international tournaments, including the recent men’s Champions Trophy and the Hockey World League Finals, have been organised in India over the past three years. This has led to increased opportunities for the national team to play top level opposition and it has also given the infrastructure of hockey in India a boost.
The grassroots level of hockey in India also continues to develop. Hockey India has been nurturing young talent through various initiatives and it has also created an online training platform for academies and individual players to learn from national and international coaches.
A robust calendar of tournaments is already in place to provide international exposure to the national team as a build up to the upcoming Olympics.
