Sport - Hockey

The cup of joy overflows, but where is the Cup?

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 8. India clinched the women's Asia Cup but where is the Cup?

On Sunday, the members of the Indian team received a gold medal each but there was no sign of the Cup for which they fought so gallantly over the past week.

The President of the Indian Women's Hockey Federation (IWHF), Vidya Stokes, was clearly embarrassed when enquired about the Cup. "The Korean team was supposed to bring the Cup but they did not. Why don't you ask the Tournament Director, Stephanie Hodges? After all, she represents the FIH (the game's apex body) here,'' suggested Mrs. Stokes.

When contacted, Ms. Hodges stayed clear of the issue. Sensing that the buck was being passed, she was forthright in stating, "it is not my job or the FIH's to deal with the prize-giving ceremony. It is for the organising committee to ensure the presence of the Cup or to give away whatever number of prizes it wishes to. My job is to only hold the event as per the rules and regulations of the FIH. That's all.''

There were individual prizes for the best goalkeeper, highest scorer and the best young player. Guess who got the biggest memento? Not the winning team but the chief guest!

It became clear that IWHF had not done enough to ensure that Korea returned the Cup it won here in 1999. Had the federation taken the issue more seriously, the members of the Indian team would have had one more reason to be pleased. Perhaps, from the beginning, the IWHF did not expect the team to go all the way. Incidentally, the federation announced a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 to each member of the Indian squad.

Ironically, when it came to the Cup, the biggest losers were the ones who had won it!

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