The India national ice hockey team is the national men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. They are controlled by the

Ice Hockey Association of India Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

and a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF). India is currently not ranked in the

IIHF World Ranking The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the performance of the national ice hockey teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is based on a formula giving points for each team's placings at IIHF-sanctioned to ...

and has not entered in any

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

tournaments or at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, but they have only participated in the Challenge Cup of Asia, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

History

Background of ice hockey in Ladakh

The history of

ice hockey in India Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

dates back almost 100 years, when ice hockey was a favourite pastime for the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, ...

. The Shimla Ice Skating Club is still very active in promoting ice sports in India. In the early 1970s, the

Ladakh Scouts The Ladakh Scouts is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, nicknamed the "Snow Warriors" or "Snow Leopards". The regiment specialises in mountain warfare, and its primary role is to guard India's borders in the high altitudes of the Unio ...

, a battalion of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

posted in the high border regions, took up the game. The high Changthang Plateau's frozen streams and high altitude lakes make the region an ideal place to play ice hockey, and as a result, the game spread amongst the army. The game gained more widespread popularity exhibition matches began taking place in

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former ...

in the winter. With little to do during the region's harsh winters, locals began to play on a small irrigation pond in Karzoo, Leh. Ice hockey gear was not and is still not available to buy in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...

. The few locals who have contacts outside Ladakh have requested friends to get ice hockey skates. The Ladakh Scouts are well equipped as they get their gear through the army. The Jammu & Kashmir department of tourism also had a full set of equipment, but was reluctant to spare any. The only place in India where ice sports equipment is readily available is Shimla, a small hill station in the northwestern part of India, where two Chinese brothers began making skates that are still used today. Due to the lack of accessible equipment, Ladakhis began to improvise, with the first teams obtaining ice skating blades from Shimla and nailing them to army

ammunition boot Ammunition boots are a form of military footwear. They were the standard combat boot for the British Army and other forces around the British Empire and Commonwealth from at least the mid-1860s until their replacement a century later in the 1960s ...

s. Roller skates and ground hockey sticks were also used. To create pucks, locals cut the thick, rubber heels of army boots into a rounded shape. Goalkeepers wore ground hockey pads but lacked helmets; neither helmets nor knee and elbow pads were used by other players. Despite injuries, due to this lack of protective gear, the game has continued to grow in popularity in the region.

National team

India made its international debut in

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at the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia in

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, United Arab Emirates, finishing eighth and thus last. In their first game, they were shutout by

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

14–0. After two more losses, a 10–0 loss to

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

and a 10–1 loss to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, India, bottom of their group with a goal difference of minus 33, in which they again lost both games. First, they lost to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

5–0, and finally lost to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

8–0 in the seventh place game. Two years later, they suffered their biggest international defeat to date at 2–39 against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

at the

2011 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia The 2011 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia was the 4th IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, an annual international ice hockey tournament held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It took place between April 25 and April 30, 2011 in Kuwait City, Kuw ...

. On 21 March 2012, the national team notched its first international victory at the

2012 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia The 2012 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia was the fifth IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, an annual international ice hockey tournament held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It took place between 17 March and 25 March 2012 in Dehradun, In ...

, they defeated Macau 5–1. India has participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from 2009 to 2018, with the exception of 2010. From 2014 to 2018, they played in Division I of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia. In

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, India finished second of four teams in Division I tournament (seventh overall). First, they narrowly defeated

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

3–2, then lost to Kuwait 8–5, and finally won 7–3 over Macau. Despite the lack of accessible ice hockey equipment and money, India has not been active, nor played an official game against other national team, since 2018.

Tournament record

Challenge Cup of Asia

All-time record against other national teams

''Last match update: 29 March 2018''

References

External links

Ice Hockey Association of IndiaIIHF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:India National Ice Hockey Team National National ice hockey teams in Asia

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...