During the 1970s, hockey was the first national sport, a sort of religion for the whole country, however the situation has changed a great deal in India today. Now, cricket is the real cult for the 1.27 billion inhabitants. While there are just 30,000 players throughout the country, hockey does remain extremely popular in some regions such as Penjab, Orissa, Mumbai, and Bengalore.

In these regions hockey is still practised in schools. There are no longer any real competitions, like those in Europe, apart from some local tournaments, which is mainly due to the country’s size. After having outrageously dominated the sport for close to forty years (the men’s team ended up on the podium of the Olympic Games a total of eleven times out of twelve, with six gold medals) the country returned to the ranks when synthetic turf made its debut. India was the first country to secure their ticket for the 2016 Olympic Games, when the men’s team took home the gold medal at the last Asian Games, in South Korea. India seeks to rediscover its glorious past, doing everything they can to once again become one of the best countries on the world stage. The women’s team is also making constant progress and the results are starting to follow. Their only objective in Brasschaat is to earn their ticket to Rio.

World ranking : 9 (men), 13 (women)
Number of players : 30,000
Championship : no
Olympic participations : Men: 1900, 1920, 1924, 1928 (Gold), 1932 (Gold), 1936 (Gold), 1948 (Gold), 1952 (Gold), 1956 (Gold), 1960 (Silver), 1964 (Gold), 1968 (Bronze), 1972 (Bronze), 1976, 1980 (Gold), 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. Women: 1980 (4th).
Key players : Sardar Singh / Ritu Rani.