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The scoreline of 54-0 during preliminary round matches in the ongoing 13th Hockey India sub-junior men national championship being held in Rourkela, suggests hockey is popular only in a few pockets in India, says a national-level hockey coach.
In the group stage matches, Delhi scored a thumping 54-0 win over hapless Tripura on day four (May 21) of the sub-junior men's national championships being played at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium.
Apart from one-sided contests during the group stage matches, a huge gap between the winning and the losing side indicates that a lot of spade work is needed at the grassroots level.
“If there is a big gap between the teams, it gives the impression that hockey is popular only in a few areas in India,” the national-level coach told Sportskeeda on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak. “To bridge the gap between the winning and losing team at the sub-junior level, the coaching system should be improved at the grassroots level.”
On day four of the competition, Delhi hockey scored a thumping 54-0 win over hapless Tripura, while Hockey Chandigarh outplayed Hockey Gujarat 28-1. In another group match, Hockey Punjab defeated Tripura 42-0.
“Manipur and Mizoram are the two states of the North East region that have good teams,” the national-level coach added. “Since Tripura lost two matches by a big margin, the results suggest hockey is not followed seriously.”
State teams of Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry also lost their group stage matches by a big margin. Hockey Madhya Pradesh scored a 19-0 win over Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh scored a whooping 35-0 win over Kerala Hockey. Puducherry lost 0-23 to Dadra & Nagar Haveli team.
Hockey India recently started a zonal competition to emphasize on grassroots development. The national governing body of hockey in India also distributed equipment, including hockey sticks to state units.
"It might take time to improve things at the grassroots level," the national level coach added.
