India proved to be fertile ground for hockey and the first club was formed in Kolkata in 1885-86. The hard, drugrounds made it a more skillful game than in Britain. Initially played by British Army, it was soon taken up by the Indian Army. In the coming years, hockey tournaments became more and more popular. The Beighton Cup which is the oldest hockey tournament in India,started in 1895 in Kolkata. In 1925, The Indian Hockey Federation was established. This is how the sport became popularized.
Dhyan Chand became one of India’s greatest hockey players, winning Olympic Gold medals in 1928, 1932 and in 1936. He also captained the team in the year 1936. After Independence, Balbir Singh Sr. steered India to a series of Olympic gold medals in 1948, 1952 and 1956. The men’s hockey team beat Pakistan 2-1 in the World Cup final to earn the title of champions in the year 1975. In the Moscow 1980 Olympics Men’s Hockey event against Spain, India earned its 8th gold at the Olympics.
The Women’s Hockey team made its first appearance internationally at the women’s Hockey World Cup in 1974, finishing 4th. At the 1982 Asian Games, they beat South Korea to win the Gold medal. Soon in the 80s, neither the men nor women were able to make the semi-finals at the World Cups or the only men’s Champions Trophy. It was a period of complete stagnation. In 2008 the men’s team, for the first time since 1928, failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. An exhilarating comeback happened in Rio 2016, the women’s team qualified for the first Olympic games in 36 years. The men’s hockey maintained 4th place in FIH world Rankings, after achieving an all time high, while the women’s team was 9th at the end of 2020.