Zafar Iqbal reflects on Indian hockey's 100th anniversary: ‘Eight Golds will always be the benchmark’
Hockey legend Zafar Iqbal traces the sport’s rise in India long before the federation’s 100 years, and what keeps India’s national sport alive today.
For Zafar Iqbal, one of India’s most respected hockey players and a member of the 1980 Olympic gold-winning team, the 100-year milestone of Hockey India is a moment to celebrate history that goes much beyond a federation’s timeline.
“Hockey India may be completing 100 years, but hockey in India started much before that—almost 30 to 40 years earlier,” he said. “There was an all-India tournament which began in 1896, around the same time as the modern Olympic Games. Then there's Aga Khan Gold Cup, that's played even now. After Hockey India was established in 1925 and the team registered itself for the first time for the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the British who too dominated the sport, withdrew after they realised India was entering, because they knew what was coming,” he quips.
According to him, India didn’t just take up hockey—it reshaped it. “We started playing an artistic game, something graceful and uniquely Indian. In my opinion, hockey has always been super popular. It only went down because of non-performance, not because people lost interest,” he said.
Having been associated with the sport for nearly five decades, Iqbal has witnessed how Indian hockey has transformed with time. “We never played for money. It was always about the game. Times have changed now, and it’s for the better. There’s money being invested, players are being supported, and we have winning combinations again,” he said adding that country’s perspective toward achievements in sport too has evolved.
“In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, when we won the bronze, we were hiding our faces. People didn’t value a bronze medal back then. But today, fans understand its importance—and that’s progress,” he said.
Looking back at India’s unparalleled hockey legacy, Iqbal said, “In sports, you can’t always be number one. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose—you should enjoy the journey. Eight Olympic gold medals for any team in the future will always be difficult. It will remain the benchmark.”
