India will look to end their 47-year trophy drought when the country hosts the 2023 Hockey World Cup. The global tournament will feature 16 teams competing for the prestigious title across 44 matches. The competition will be staged in Odisha in two cities - Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela. India last won the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1975. The tournament will commence on January 13 and the final is scheduled to be played on January 29. When it comes to the glittering hockey World Cup trophy, not many people are aware that the silverware was designed by Pakistan. We take a closer look:
Pakistan invented Hockey World Cup
Pakistan invented the hockey World Cup as Air Marshal Nur Khan came up with the idea of organising the tournament. The first tournament was played in 1971. The first hockey World Cup was scheduled to be played in Pakistan but the International Hockey Federation (FIH) shifted the venue to Spain. The reason behind changing the venue was the friction between India and Pakistan at the time.
Pakistan Army created the trophy
Pakistan deserves the credit for coming up with the concept of the hockey World Cup. Also, Pakistan also played the main role in designing the trophy. Bashir Mojid of the Pakistan Army designed the trophy in Belgium. On March 27, 1971, the hockey World Cup trophy was unveiled for the first time by Pakistan's ambassador HE Masood in Belgium. He handed over the trophy to then FIH president Rene Frank.
Trophy Specification
The hockey World Cup trophy has a globe at the top and a hockey stick on it. The trophy is made of 895 grams of gold, 6,815 grams of silver, 350 grams of ivory and 3,500 grams of teak wood. The trophy weighs 11.560 kg while its height is 650 mm.
The 16 participating teams in the 2023 hockey World Cup have been divided into four pools:
Pool A - Australia, Argentina, France, and South Africa.
Pool B - Belgium, Germany, Korea, and Japan.
Pool C - Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Chile.
Pool D - India, England, Spain, and Wales.
India squad for World Cup 2023: PR Sreejesh, Krishna Pathak, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (Vice Captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh
