Tuesday 1 July 2014

National game of India

Sports and games play an important role in our life. Hockey is a team game wherein a group of players having excellent physical fitness, mastery over the skills and tactical capabilities together with high order of mental functioning collectively strive to outsmart their rivals in a competition. It is a game that requires nerves of steel to tolerate the critical competition load.

Hockey as National Game

In India among various sports, hockey occupies a significant place. It is the national game of India. It is a game of skill, deception, anticipation, concentration and chatterer. Like all other games, hockey too has its fundamental skills. To be on the top in any game, it is necessary to have mastery over its fundamental skills. The fundamental skills of a game are based on the motor moments of human being. Hockey is considered a highly competitive sport around the world. Both men and women take part in the game world over.

Eminent Indian Hockey Players:-

Dhyan Chand

Dhyan Chand was born on 29 August 1905, in Allahabad, U.P. He joined the army at the age of sixteen. ‘Lance Naik’ Dhyan Chand built a reputation for himself while playing for the army. At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Dhyan Chand could not play in the finals against Germany in the beginning. But as he was hurt at half point, when India was leading by only 1-0, Dhyan Chand removed his shoes and entered the field bare foot. He took India to a stunning victory scoring 6 more goals. Adolf Hitler, the German dictator, was so impressed by Dhyan Chand’s performance in the Berlin Olympic finals that he offered to elevate ‘Lance Naik’ Dhyan Chand to the rank of a Colonel if he migrated to Germany. Of course, Dhyan Chand refused. It was hard for people to believe that somebody could have the kind of hockey skills Dhyan Chand had. In Holland, the authorities broke his hockey stick to check if there was a magnet inside. In Japan the authorities felt Dhyan Chand was using some glue which made the ball stick to it. Dhyan Chand scored over a thousand goals in a career spanning 22 years (1926 -1948), more than any other hockey player in the world. A sports club in Vienna built a statue of Dhyan Chand with four hands and four sticks. To the Viennese, it seemed that no ordinary man with two hands and one stick could have played as well as Dhyan Chand did play. He is known as hockey wizard across the world. He was captain of the Indian team in 1936 Berlin Olympics which won Gold medal in hockey. 29th August, the birthday of the Great Dhyan Chand, is celebrated as national sports day in our country.

Dhanraj Pillay

Dhanraj Pillay has been one of the best all time Hockey players of India and also one of the most popular hockey players the game has ever produced for the country. An extremely good forward with sharp attacking acumen, Dhanraj came from a very modest background and by dint of his sheer talent and charismatic skills rose to become one of the most prominent Hockey players of the nation. Dhanraj Pillay made his debut in the International Hockey with Allwyn Asia Cup Hockey tournament held at New Delhi in the year 1989. He played his first International match against the team of China on the 20th of December 1989. After this, he represented the Indian team in a number of International tournaments such as Beijing Asian Games 1990, Barcelona Olympic Games 1992, and World Cup Hockey tournament 1994 and so on till the year 2004. He has been the only Hockey player who has participated in 4 Olympic Games (held in the years 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004), 4 World Cup Tournaments (held in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002, 4 Champions Trophy Tournaments (held in 1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003), and 4 Asian Games (held in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002). He also served as the Captain of the Indian Hockey team for some time, and led the team to victory in Asian Games 1998 and Asia Cup Hockey 2003. Dhanraj was the highest goal scorer in the Hockey event at Bangkok Asian Games 1998, and has been the only Indian player to appear in the World Eleven team at Sydney World Cup Tournament 1994. As an honour to his extra-ordinary talent devotion towards the game of Hockey and his contribution to be nation through his efforts made in the game, the highest sporting honor of India, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was bestowed upon Dhanraj Pillay by the Government of India for the year 1999-2000, and was honored by the Padma Shri award in 2000. At the Champions Trophy tournament 2002 held at Cologne, Germany, he was named the Player of the Tournament.

National games of different countries:-
S.No.
Country
Capital
National game
1.
India
New Delhi
Hockey
2.
Pakistan
Islamabad
Hockey
3.
Spain
Madrid
Bulls Fighting
4.
Guyana
Georgetown
Cricket
5.
Australia
Canberra
Cricket
6.
England
London
Cricket
7.
Jamaica
Kingston
Cricket
8.
Bermuda
Hamilton
Cricket
9.
China
Beijing
Table Tennis
10.
Russia
Moscow
Football and Chess
11.
Brazil
Brasília
Football
12.
France
Paris
Football
13.
Mauritius
Port Louis
Football
14.
Italy
Rome
Football
15.
New Zealand
Wellington
Rugby Union
16.
Wales
Cardiff
Rugby union
17.
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Badminton
18.
Indonesia
Jakarta
Badminton
19.
Switzerland
Bern
Shooting, Gymnastic
20.
Bangladesh
Dhaka
Kabaddi
21.
Bhutan
Thimphu
Archery
22.
Japan
Tokyo
Judo
23.
Venezuela
Caracas
Volleyball
24.
Srilanka
Colombo
Volley ball
25.
USA
Washington DC
Baseball
26.
Cuba
Havana
Baseball
27.
Lithuania
Vilnius
Basketball
28.
Estonia
Tallinn
Basketball
29.
Latvia
Riga
Basketball (summer sport)
Ice hockey (winter sport)
30.
Scotland
Edinburgh
Golf
31.
Norway
Oslo
Cross-country skiing
32.
Canada
Ottawa
Ice Hockey

List of Indian National Trophies and awards with associated games and sports:
Games/Sports
Trophies/Awards
Hockey
Ranjit Singh Gold Cup 
Hockey
Agha Khan Cup 
Hockey
All-India Women’s Guru Nanak Championship 
Hockey
Beighton Cup 
Hockey
Bombay Gold Cup 
Hockey
Rene Frank Trophy 
Hockey
Scindia Gold Cup 
Hockey
Sahni Trophy 
Hockey
Tommy Eman Gold Cup 
Hockey
Murugappa Gold Cup 
Hockey
Modi Gold Cup 
Hockey
Gurmeet Trophy 
Hockey
Gura Nanak Cup 
Hockey
Gyanuati Devi Trophy 
Hockey
Dhyan Chand Trophy 
Hockey
lndira Gold Cup 
Hockey
Rangaswami Cup 
Hockey
Kuppuswamy Naidu Trophy
Hockey
Lady Rattan Tata Trophy 
Hockey
MCC Trophy 
Hockey
Nehru Trophy 
Hockey
Obaid Ullah Gold Cup 
Football
Raghbir Singh Memorial 
Football
Durand Cup 
Football
D. C. M. Cup 
Football
Dr. B. C. Roy Trophy (Junior)
Football
Rovers Cup 
Football
Sanjay Gold Cup 
Football
Santosh Trophy 
Football
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee 
Football
Subroto Cup 
Football
Todd Memorial Trophy 
Football
Vittal Trophy 
Football
Nixan Gold Cup 
Football
I. F. A. Shield 
Football
F. A. Cup 
Football
Bandodkar Trophy 
Football
Chakoia Gold Trophy 
Cricket
G. D. Birla Trophy 
Cricket
Ghulam Ahmed Trophy 
Cricket
lrani Trophy 
Cricket
Rohinton Baria Trophy 
Cricket
Sheesh Mahal Trophy 
Cricket
Moinuddaula Gold Cup 
Cricket
Vizzy Trophy 
Cricket
Vijay Merchant Trophy 
Cricket 
Wills Trophy 
Cricket
Rani Jhansi Trophy 
Cricket
Ranjit Trophy 
Cricket
Deodhar Trophy 
Cricket
Duleep Trophy 
Cricket
C. K. Naydu Trophy 
Athletics
Charminar Trophy 
Badminton
Chadha Cup 
Table Tennis
Barna-Bellack Cup 
Table Tennis
Ramanujan Trophy 
Tennis
Rajendra Prasad Cup 
Air Racing
Jawaharlal Challenge 
Best Services Sportsman 
Jaswant Singh Trophy 
Weight-lifting
Burdwan Trophy 
Badminton
Divan Cup 
Badminton
Agarwal Cup 
Badminton
Narang Cup 
Bridge
Holkar Trophy 
Rowing
Wellington Trophy 
Basketball
Bangalore Blues Challenge Cup
Polo
Radha Mohan Cup 
Polo
Prithi Singh Cup 
Polo
Ezra Cup