ndia finished third in the double leg 4-Nation Telstra Challenge held in Australia from April 29 to May 11. Other teams in the tournament were world champions Australia, Asian champions South Korea and African champions South Africa.

India's results in the tournament were:

Telstra Challenge - Canberra Leg
April 29	Australia 5 - India 1	Bianca Langham - 24, 60 Alyson Annan - 30, 46 Shelley Andrews - 47	Sita Gossain - 37
May 1	South Africa 3 - India 1	Caryn Bentley - 19 Pietie Coetzee - 36, 68	Papki Devi - 25
May 2	India 3 - South Korea 1	Neha Singh - 13 Pritam Rani - 29 Manjinder Kaur - 58	Ko Woon Oh - 70
Telstra Challenge - Perth Leg
May 5	South Africa 5 - India 2	Pietie Coetzee - 2 Kerry Bee - 33 Abigail Van Schalkwyk - 53 Susan Wessels - 62 Caryn Bentley - 65	Sunita Dalal - 4 Suraj Lata Devi - 54
May 6	South Korea 2 - India 1	Eun Young Lee - 4 Jin Eun Kim - 52	Suraj Lata Devi - 6
May 8	Australia 5 - India 1	Bianca Langham - 5, 34 Kristen Towers - 16 Julie Towers - 53 Alyson Annan - 58	Pritam Rani - 8
Classification Match - India finish 3rd
May 9	India 2 (4) - Korea 2 (3)	Papki Devi - 35 Pritam Rani - 60	Jin Eun Kim - 21 Eun Young Lee - 38

The Indian team for the Telstra Challenge was as follows:

Helen Innocent, Amandeep Kaur, Marystella Tirkey, Sunita Dalal, Sita Gussain, Suraj Lata Devi Waikham, Neha Singh, Manjinder Kaur, Pritam Rani (captain), Kamala Dalal, Jyoti Kukku, Sandeep Kaur, Sumrai Tete, Pakpi Devi, C. Lakshmishree. Coach - G. S. Bhangu

he Australian women's hockey team, nicknamed the Hockeyroos, are the World, Olympic, Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games champions. Australia has been unbeaten in 5 years of international competition. There are a few aspects of their hockey program that would be instructional for the IHF bureaucrat babus and file pushers to note.

Sponsorship : Telstra has just completed a 10-year sponsorship deal with Women's Hockey Australia. For perpetual whiners who complain about Australia's big travel budgets and training facilities, it all boils down to the sponsorship agreement that lets them spend so much money.

Just like Wills used to sponsor all Indian one-day internationals, and pay the cricketers close to Rs. 1 lakh per game, the Hockeyroos play in Telstra tests and get paid a match fee.

Talent : Australia have the world's best coach (Rick Charlesworth) and the world's best player with the highest number of international goals (Alyson Annan). There have been no chopping and changing of coaches based on the whims and fancies of the federation. Rick Charlesworth is often asked to share his knowledge and methods with other coaches, and not just of women's or Olympic sports.

In India, we discard our best players like Dhanraj Pillai and Ashish Ballal. The national coach who brought India the gold medal in the Asian Games was summarily dismissed.

Full-time Program : The Australian team trains full-time upto 35 hours a week. As coach Charlesworth says, "I have four girls in my squad quicker than Nova and Nova is the fourth-ranked sprinter in the country. OK, that's over 40 metres not 100, but my team trains as hard as any professional football team."

Media Exposure : As part of brand promotion for the sponsor, star Australian players recently spent a day in Sydney conducting a school clinic at the Olympic Stadium, and later participated in a photo-shoot on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They keep doing activities that gives them a consistent mention in the local papers.

The difference between the Australian team and the Indian team can be seen in the recent Telstra Challenge. Australia scored 35 goals to India's 11 goals in 7 matches. The Australian defence conceded only 6 goals (including 3 shutouts) to India's 23 goals conceded in 7 matches.

It is no wonder that the Hockeyroos received the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Outstanding Sports Team of 1998 Award at a nationally televised event in Melbourne, Australia.

he huge gap between Australia and India is the subject of this editions Fun with Numbers. We are talking of the men's team, and restrict the comparison to the decade of the 90s.

As we shall find out, India fares very poorly when compared to the awesome Australian teams of this decade. In all the tournaments that both Australia and India participated in, Australia never finished worse than 4th, while India never finished better than 4th.

Event	Year	Venue	Australia	India
Olympics	1992	Barcelona	2nd	7th
	1996	Atlanta	3rd	8th
World Cup	1990	Lahore	3rd	10th
	1994	Sydney	3rd	5th
	1998	Utrecht	4th	9th
Champions Trophy	1990	Melbourne	1st	Not Qualified
	1991	Berlin	4th	Not Qualified
	1992	Karachi	2nd	Not Qualified
	1993	Kuala Lumpur	1st	Not Qualified
	1994	Lahore	4th	Not Qualified
	1995	Berlin	2nd	5th
	1996	Chennai	6th	4th
	1997	Adelaide	2nd	Not Qualified
	1998	Lahore	3rd	Not Qualified
Champions Trophy	1998	Kuala Lumpur	1st	4th

The only exception to Australia's string of successes in this decade was the 1996 Champions Trophy at Chennai, where they finished last. That is the only time that India performed better than Australia in a hockey tournament in the 90s.

ith the International Olympic Day coming up on June 23, we show in the table below how much of a business the Olympics has become.

Cost	Description
$3.5 billion	NBC's US television rights for 5 Olympics through the 2008 Games
$3 billion	Total budget of Sydney Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG)
$1.45 billion	Total budget of Salt Lake Olympic Committee (2002 Winter Games)
$1 billion	General Motors' 10-year sponsorship deal with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC)
$600 million	NBC's US Olympic Television rights for the Sydney Games
$500 million	General Motor's television advertising budget for the Sydney Games
$425 million	Cost of the main Olympic Stadium in Sydney, seating 110,000

Eleven corporations pay $50 million for a 4-year world-wide sponsorship deal with the IOC for the right to be called Olympic Sponsors, use of the Olympic rings in their advertisements, and for varying levels of exclusivity.

9 of the top 11 sponsors are American companies - Coca Cola, Eastman Kodak, IBM, John Hancock, McDonald's, Sports Illustrated, United Parcel Service, Visa and Xerox. The remaining two corporations are Asian - Panasonic of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.

A portion of the revenue from these sponsors goes to the city hosting the Olympic Games, while another portion goes to the Olympic governing bodies of each nation.

usiness Club Australia is an Australian government initiative that provides excellent networking opportunities for companies interested in doing business with Australia in the leadup to the Olympics. This includes a "clubhouse/business centre" in Australia during the Olympics where they can meet with Australian companies or carry on their own projects. Membership is free and available for top executives in reputable companies from around the world.

Richard Francis, the Trade Commissioner and Counsellor (Commercial) at the Australian High Commission in Delhi is working on promoting the BCA in India. The BCA's main interest would be to get high ranking Indian business people out to Australia, and develop links between Indian and Australian business people through the medium of the Sydney Olympics.

He is exploring the possibility of setting up a hockey group within BCA members from India. This grouping could be spread to other countries, particularly in Europe, as the Olympics approach. Spinoffs for Indian hockey could be to start some sort of support group from amongst top business people that are identified. He will also be meeting with senior officials of the IOA to promote BCA.

What kind of business groups would fit into the club? Some examples would be:

• Tatas - who sponsored the Indian hockey team's stay in Madras before the Asian Games
  
  
• Mahindras - who employ India's most well known hockey player, Dhanraj Pillai
  
  
• Sabeer Bhatia - Hotmail co-founder, who gave Rs. 1 lakh to each member of the Asian Games gold medal winning team

If indeed Business Club Australia becomes a success, it would mean a higher media profile for Indian hockey at Sydney, better financial returns for our players and better business prospects in Australia for the BCA members. A win-win situation for all.

Photo Courtesy P. Samson Victor of The Deccan Herald

he probables for the Indian national team have assembled at SAI (South) in Bangalore in preparation for the forthcoming European, South African and Australian tours. The new coach in the musical chairs being perpetrated by the IHF officials is former left out Col. Harcharan Singh of the Services, a 1975 World Cup winning team member and Arjuna awardee.

Harcharan is well known as the player who scored the winning goal in India's 2-1 overtime win over Malaysia in the 1975 World Cup semi-finals at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Harcharan has played in 3 World Cups, 2 Olympics and 2 Asian Games.

Though Harcharan graduated in coaching from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, he has never coached an Indian national team. He was a coach of the Army team, and was only drafted into the national coaching set-up about two months ago. He was appointed in favour of Cedric D'Souza, who had reportedly insisted on a legally binding contract, and well as freedom to choose the Asiad Six, both of which were rejected by the IHF supremo K. P. S. Gill.

Harcharan is clearly handicapped because he has been away from the international circuit for about a decade. He has one year and a few exposure trips abroad to mould both himself and the players into a winning unit. Harcharan will be guided by his deputy C. R. Kumar, who was with Bhaskaran for the 1998 World Cup, and earlier on his own at a 4-nation tournament at Hamburg.

"The basic aim is to train four or five players for each playing position," said Harcharan. ''This has been done so there would be a broader base for selections in the future. Another would be to make the players mentally strong. We intend to equip them with the necessary mental skills to prepare them for competition," he added.

Mir Ranjan Negi, who assisted Kaushik at the Asian Games, has been called upon again to coach the goalkeepers. This time though, Negi, as in the case of Harcharan, will not have the stalwarts - Ashish Ballal and Subbaiah - for company.

Mohammed Riaz (Indian Airlines) will lead the Indian team on a 12-day European tour with 4 matches in Germany (June 8 - 13) and 4 more in Belgium (June 15 - 20). The team under chef-de-mission Mr. J. N. Tyagi (treasurer, IHF) and manager Col. Siddiqui will leave from New Delhi on June 6.

The team (for the Europe tour): Edward Aloysius (PSB), B. C. Poonacha (Central Excise), Dilip Tirkey (IA), Dinesh Naik (TN), Anurag Raghuvanshi (UP), Baljit Singh Saini (PSB), S. S. Gill (Mumbai), Thirumalvalavan (TN), Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Navsher Singh (Railways), Bimal Lakra (Centre of Excellence), Kamal Horo (Services), Mohammed Riaz (IA), Gagan Ajit Singh (Air India), Deepak Thakur (UP), Sameer Dad (IA), Baljeet Singh Dhillon (Punjab), Daljeet Singh Dhillon (Punjab). Coaches: Col. Harcharan Singh, C. R. Kumar and Mir Ranjan Negi. Doctor: Dr. Shivsharan. Physical Conditioner: Sampath.

hanraj Pillai and Mukesh Kumar, two of the six members axed from the gold medal winning Bangkok Asian Games hockey team last December, have been recalled to the IHF camp in progress at Bangalore till June 22. Joining the two in the list of 22 probables are Rajiv Mishra (Railways) and Brojen Singh (Indian Airlines), under the guidance of coaches Ramesh Parmeswaran and Harinder Singh.

The camp, with an emphasis on youth, is in preparation of the Indian team for the tour of South Africa for a 5 Test series between August 14 to 22, as also two 4-nation tournaments in Canberra and Sydney between September 9 to 22.

Mukesh Kumar could not be kept away after his splendid showing in the last Nationals while Dhanraj should never have been axed in the first place. Regarding the four others - Ashish Ballal, Subbaiah, Sandeep Somesh and Saby Varkey - the selectors preferred to play the waiting game stating that, "if the coach requires the services of any of the above, we will consider.''

Probables for Bangalore camp: Jagdish Ponnappa (IA), Jude Menezes (Mumbai), Muralidharan (Hyderabad), Lazarus Barla (IA), Kuljeet Singh (Rlys), Sridhar Murthy (Tatas), Shamshul Jha (UP), Anwar Khan (Railways), Bipin Fernandes (Centre of Excellence), Mukesh Kumar (IA), Ravinder Singh (IA), Brojen Singh (IA), Prabhakaran (TN), Parminder Singh (PSB), Ajinder Pal Singh (Railways), Rajiv Mishra (Railways), Hasrat Qureshi (Railways), Dhanraj Pillai (Mumbai), Sarabjeet Singh (Punjab), Cyprian Aind (Services), Amarjeet Pratap (UP) and Amar Ayyamma (Air India). Coaches: Ramesh Parmeshwaran and Harinder Singh. 

ome September, German hockey fans may be able to watch India's dashing forward Dhanraj Pillai in action. A leading hockey club in Frankfurt is interested in signing him on for the next season. The competitive German league also draws talent from the rest of Europe and North America.

The offer was made by Volker Knapp, a former German international and former coach of the Malaysian national side. Former India team-mate and skipper Jude Felix, now coaching in France, did the spadework for the Frankfurt club.

"I have not yet made up my mind whether to accept or not. It all depends on whether I continue with FC Lyon,'' said Pillay, who led India to the Asian Games gold medal at Bangkok in December last year.

Pillay is not new to European hockey, having assisted French side FC Lyon for several years now. The German offer, though, will enable Pillay - top scorer at Bangkok with 11 goals - experience the rigours of competition in a league far superior to those in France and Bangladesh.

Pillay views the possible stint in Germany as a tune up to next year's Sydney Olympics. 'Rested' by the Indian Hockey Federation along with five other senior players after the Asian Games, Pillay hopes to be in the squad to the Olympics in order to complete a triple treat.

The Pune-grown Mumbai-based star has paraded his skills in three World Cups, as many Asian Games and two Olympics. "Sydney gives me a chance to complete a hat-trick of Olympics,'' 29-year-old Pillay enthused. "It also gives me another chance to experience pride and honour of representing my country in the Olympics.''

Pillay affirms that he is still in the employ of Mahindras who he serves as a junior officer. In the process, he refutes rumours that he will join Tatas although he does not rule out the possibility of playing for the corporate giant or another top club in Mumbai.

Article Courtesy Errol D'Cruz of The Indian Express

arrow minded hockey officials are not restricted to India alone. Malaysia seems to have its share going by the remarks of MHF's secretary S. Satgunan.

"It is learnt that more than 20 Malaysians are participating in the Singapore Hockey League. However, less than 10 players have sought letters of release from the MHF. Those without release letters had better apply for one. Before the players apply to the MHF for releases, they have to get the approval from their state associations."

"There is a ruling that forbids Malaysians from playing in leagues outside the country without the approval of the MHF," continued Satgunam. "We will take action against those who flout this rule. It is the duty of the players and clubs to seek letters of release from the MHF."

That's Satgunan talking like a clerk. Contrast this with Dhanraj Pillai's statement, "Mahindras have given me full freedom to play overseas or at home for whatever club I choose." Dhanraj, one of the world's top forwards, has played for FC Lyon (France) and Abhahani (Bangladesh).

The alleged MHF ruling, which came into force in 1991, also bars national players, both seniors and juniors, from playing in foreign leagues.

Hockey players participate in foreign leagues to increase their earnings (which their host federation cannot provide) and to hone their professional skills. It is advantageous to the players, and in the long run, to the federation. Thus we have Pakistanis playing in Holland, South Africans in England, Kenyans in Australia and Canadians in Germany.

It is time the MHF starts working in cooperation with the players to better their prospects, or create a superior high-paying league so that the players wouldn't desire playing in foreign leagues. When hockey officials start reciting rules, it is akin to the devil quoting the scriptures.

en's and women's hockey will be among the team sports included in the 2002 Commonwealth Games to be organised in Manchester, England. The Manchester hockey competition will see 8 men's and women's teams competing, down from the 12 that competed in Kuala Lumpur. At KL 98, Australia won both the gold medals while Malaysia and India were runners up in the men's and women's competition respectively.

Men's and women's hockey has also been included in the initial schedule proposal by the 2006 organisers in Melboune, Australia.

Hockey's inclusion in the Commonwealth Games has been confirmed by Mr. Michael Fennell, Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). The final endorsement of the sports for the Manchester Games will be made at the general assembly of the CGF in October in Fiji.

ormer National Coach and current National selector Cedric D'Souza has revealed his plans of setting up hockey academies all over the country. These academies will have an initial role of producing players for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The academies will enrol boys between the ages of 12 and 16, for a total of 25 in each location. The academic interests of the boys will also be taken care of and will be given as much importance as the sport itself.

Given his often ambivalent attitude towards the powers that be in the IHF, Cedric emphasised that "there would be no conflict of interests with the parent body. The project will be launched in isolation without any IHF involvement."

How will Cedric's Academies be different from the slew of other academies dotting the country, with equally lofty goals?

• Apart from equipping the youngsters with the requisite skills, attention will also be paid to hone their intelligence. Cedric cited instances of MBAs and CAs assuming key roles in the national teams of European superpowers. He forsees that hockey will become an intelligent sport.
  
• Another of Cedric's innovations is in the area of imparting the game's skills itself. ''We will ensure that we get material from other sports to be used in training the boys," he says, similar to the European powers using football techniques to gain an edge in international hockey
  
• Trips will be planned for foreign coaches to make visits and impart their knowledge. Horst Wein, the famous German hockey analyst, author of numerous books on hockey and football, and a pioneer in the modern techniques in hockey, is one of the men who will be roped in to refine the boys' skills. Jude Felix, Arjuna awardee and former Indian captain, will be another coach who will be imparting knowledge.

One such academy is already in existence in Jalandhar. A schedule and a blueprint have been drawn up for the future, and the city which has produced myriad Olympians is poised to throw up a few more under Cedric's guidance.

As of now, plans are afoot to acquire sponsors and secure needed support from encouraging benefactors for this innovative concept of hockey academies.

Article and Photograph courtesy Deccan Herald

marjit Singh of Malaysia is the only Asian to be listed as a World Cup and Olympic umpire by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). He is the first Malaysian after G. Vijayanathan to have umpired at such a level since 1975.

Amarjit Singh travels all over the world in connection with hockey umpiring. In 1998 he officiated in the World Cup (Utrecht - May) as well as the Commonwealth Games (Kuala Lumpur - September). This year he will handle matches in the Oceania Games (Brisbane - May) followed by the European Nations Cup (Padova, September).

34 year old Amarjit Singh works for Bank Bumiputra in Malaysia.

There is no Indian, Pakistani or South Korean umpire listed as a World Cup or Olympic umpire by the FIH. Our ex-players should take a cue from cricketer S. Venkataraghavan, who after donning India colours as an off-spinner, continues to serve the game as a well-respected umpire.

Photo Courtesy The New York Times

is part of our ongoing attempt to educate the IHF babus on the need for, as well as the means to create a National Hockey League. Last month's edition talked about the Lion Foundation National Hockey League in New Zealand. This month, we focus on the operations of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), which will begin its third year of operation in USA.

Franchises : The 29 teams that comprise the NBA collectively own and operate the WNBA. The WNBA is thus a single ownership league, as opposed to independent owners owning their respective teams.

The WNBA started with 10 teams, some of them being New York Liberty, Washington Mystics, Los Angeles Sparks and defending champions Houston Comets. This year, two expansion teams have come in - Minnesota Lynx and Orlando Miracle.

Other cities that have WNBA franchises include Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Phoenix, Sacramento and Utah.

Season : There are 32 games during the regular season, which lasts for 10 weeks. Training camps open on May 14, a month before the regular season which starts on June 10.

16 players can be in a training camp, by the end of which each team has to come up with a 11-player roster. The month-long training camp sets aside time for pre-season games with other teams, to help choose the final 11 out of the 16 available.

Player Draft : The league gets new players every year through a draft where the last placed team gets to choose first and the defending champion gets to choose last. This is supposed to make the league more even over a period of time. This year's draft consisted of 4 rounds, for a total of 50 players.

After the draft, or even during the draft, teams are allowed to trade players. However, only one-to-one trades are permitted. For example, a team cannot offer three of its players to get one very good player of the opposing team.

Most of the players are taken from the universities. For example, this year's No. 1 pick was 6' 2" Chamique Holdsclaw, who lead her alma mater University of Tennessee to three straight national championships and averaged 21.3 points per game last season.

Foreign players are also chosen. For example, defending champions Houston Comets took Natalia Zassoulskaia, a two-time Euroleague MVP from Russia in the first round. Washington Mystics took Jennifer Whittle of Australia in the fourth round.

Money Matters : The WNBA and the Players Union signed a 4-year collective bargaining agreement. This has to be ratified by a majority of the player to take effect. The contract legally binds both sides to a no lockout, no strike clause.

The contract establishes a minimum base salary of $25,000 for rookies and $30,000 for veterans. First round picks can get upto $50,000, second-round picks get $30,000, third round picks get $27,000, while the fourth-round picks get the rookie minimum of $25,000. These salaries will increase by 5% during each year of the contract.

Other provisions of the agreement include health and dental plans, $100,000 of life insurance per player, a 401(k) tax saving plan, and paid maternity leave.

Marketing : The WNBA requires players to be available for upto 22 promotional appearances. 8 of them will be paid commercial spots, 4 will be unpaid team appearances, and there can be upto 10 unpaid promotional appearances.

Players are allowed to sign endorsements to enhance their income. Nike has signed a 5-year $1 million shoe and apparel contract with this year's No. 1 pick Chamique Holdsclaw. Four other WNBA players - Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets, Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks and Dawn Staley of the Charlotte Sting, already have shoe endorsements with Nike.

Since there is NO money in hockey, we are forced to focus on other sports in this column.

• Leading electronics and telecommunications company BPL will sponsor the national badminton team for the next 3 years. The sponsorship begins with the fortnight long 11th World Championships held at Cophenhagen.

  BPL already sponsors the annual All-India badminton tournament organized under the aegis of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. They have been financially backing the academy right from its inception in October 1994.

• In cricket, the BCCI has promised to pay each player participating in this month's World Cup Rs. 2 lakhs as tour fees. 50% of that amount, Rs. 1 lakh, has already been paid to each player in advance.

  Also, the Board secretary said that the team would win at least Rs. 5 lakhs as a bonus if it wins the World Cup at Lords on June 20. He mentioned that in the recent past, the Board has paid Rs. 5 lakhs to the Indian team as an incentive for winning tournaments.

• In the world of struggling hockey players, who have to find time for hockey in between their regular day jobs, comes the following news release:

  Goalkeeper Ronald Jansen from Den Bosch and defender Wouter van Pelt from HDM have withdrawn from the Champions Trophy tournament that takes place from the 10th to the 20th of June in Brisbane Australia.

  The two players could not get leave from the pressures of their work.
  
  

Radio Pakistan broadcast live running commentary of the 47th National Hockey Championship finals played at the National Hockey Stadium, Lahore, on May 9.

The sports channels of Karachi, Quetta, Hyderabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad carried the live commentary.

The next step would be to simulcast the finals over the Internet too, which will be a boon to the Pakistani expatriates worldwide. An example of that was the BBC World Service's webcast of live ball-by-ball commentary during the ongoing World Cup Cricket, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/.

n ex-international from the Land Down Under is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Professor Vernon Turner writes:

I want to bring a team of ex-internationals 55 years and over to play hockey in a number of cities in India in May/June 2000. I will be bringing 14 players and their wives.

I would like to know if you are willing to cooperate in this tour. If so, would you mind sending to me your recommendation as to as what cities would be appropriate hosting centres. Also, would you mind sending me the addresses of the people in authority in those cities. Hope that you reply at your earliest convenience.

Prof. Vernon Turner,
Ex Hockey International,
PO Box 697,
Armidale, NSW Australia 2350
Phone: 00 61 2 6772 8203

PS: I am sending this mail to you from the India Tourist Office in Sydney. If you would reply by e-mail to them, they would send it to me by mail. Thanks.

 

	Baljit Singh Dhillon June 18, 1973 (26 years old)
	Gavin Ferreira June 29, 1971 (28 years old)

his is the story of the global auction of a rare hockey stick on Ebay.com.

  

This was a Field Hockey Stick used by the Olympic Indian Team in the 1956 Melbourne Olympiad. The stick had the signature of the captain, Balbir Singh, and other players like Raghunandan Francis and Udham Singh. The following were mentioned on the stick.

"OLYMPIC SUPER DELUX"

Registered No. 182879
UNDER THE SEAL OF GOVT. OF INDIA

GUARANTEED TO CONFORM TO THE RULES OF THE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION H.R.M.

Made Expressly for:
ALEX Taylor & CO.,
Manufactured by:
Hans Raj Mahajan & Sons
Largest Manufacturers of Hockey Sticks & Cricket Bats in the East.
G.T. Road, JULLUNDER CITY (India)

After 11 rounds of bidding, the stick was sold for $107.50. The stick now belongs to bharatiyahockey.org, and will never be sold again.This is what the captain of the team, Balbir Singh Sr. had to say:

"Sometimes we used to present autographed sticks to presidents, prime ministers and other high dignitaries. But there were occasions when after victory some keen fans also managed to get autographs of the team members on a stick.

This stick and signatures seem to be genuine. In USA field hockey is conspicuous by its absence. No wonder the bid is too low."