Fijian hockey team triumphs in defeat

Fiji men’s national team at a practice session of Hero Hockey World League Round 2

In a lopsided match, Indian men’s hockey team defeated Fiji 16-0 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium in New Delhi today.

The result of the match wasn’t much of a surprise as 11th ranked Team India eased past the 70th ranked Fiji, with goals from Raghunath (3rd, 11th, 41st), Rupinder Pal Singh (6th, 35th), Nithin Thimmaiah (18th), Gurjinder Singh (20th), Danish Mujtaba (29th, 39th, 59th), Kothajit Singh (47th), Manpreet Singh (50th), Malak Singh (51st, 62nd), Chinglensana Singh (54th) and Dharamvir Singh (54th).

Despite being hammered by India, the Fiji national hockey team have a story of their own to be proud of. Fiji are the lowest ranked team in the competition and shouldn’t be too disappointed with this result.

Truth be told, they have done more than enough to win the hearts of fans simply by turning up for the competition. The cost of boarding and lodging is borne by the participating federation only. This posted a huge conundrum for the Fiji team as their federation was only able to come up with half the funds. The rest of the money was arranged by the players, their friends and families.

Coming on the back of Cairn India’s multi-crore deal with Hockey India, the Fiji National team are a living proof of the true spirit of sports. Whatever be the result in the coming fixtures, they’ll win something more than just matches – true respect.

Read more on the Fijian team defying the odds.