Madras and India’s oldest hockey tournament

Would you believe that India’s oldest hockey tournament is being played right now at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai? And that it is in its 96^th edition? Strictly speaking, it ought to be the 126^th as it was first played in 1901 but two World Wars and much else in between, caused some breaks in the tradition. It was reborn as the MCC All India Hockey Tournament and it is today known as the MCC Murugappa All India Hockey Gold Cup Tournament.

The Madras Cricket Club, established in 1846, was the venue where many sports that we take for granted today were first played in our city. Hockey was one among them. It made its appearance late in the 19^th century, chiefly as a game for cricket players to keep fit during the off season. ‘Playing hooky’ which meant going away from your official duties was an expression that came due to this. Interestingly, hockey or hooky was initially played in Madras without any knowledge of the rules of the game. The first record of it in the city dates back to 1894.

The Madras Hockey Tournament, played for “the Silver Cup presented by the Madras Cricket Club”, was the forerunner of what became the MCC All-India Hockey Tournament. The first announcement of this trophy appeared in the Madras Mail on July 20, 1901. The very first of its kind in South India, it commenced on July 22. Here again, as in cricket, we find the Madras United Club doing its bit to get Indians to play the game. The MUC’s XI, South India’s first ‘native team’ took to the field against the 25^th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, from Bangalore. The MUC, judging by the report of the match, appears to have known little of the game, and was trounced 15-0. The next day, the MCC ‘A’ team appears to have played the eventual winner of the tournament, the Durham Light Infantry, with a detailed report of the match being carried by the Madras Mail. Newspaper reports referred to ‘dangerous play’ being a feature of the game.

By the 1920s, the game had come into its own especially with R.C. Summerhayes of Burma Shell, and a hockey blue from Oxford, taking special interest. He got the legendary M.J. Gopalan interested in the game. By the 1930s, Anglo Indian teams of Madras were taking the game to new heights. The Madras Hockey Association came into being in 1931. When it came to Indian participation in the Olympics, Madras produced its share of hockey players by way of R. Francis, Munir Sait, V. Baskaran, V.J. Philips, V.J. Peter and Krishnamurthy Perumal. We can also include Charles Cornelius here though he mainly played for Punjab.

The MCC All India Hockey Trophy was one of the big attractions during that golden era for the game. Teams from all over the country came to participate. But even then, there were breaks despite best efforts. The Murugappa Group, with its Murgappa Gold Cup instituted in 1962 to commemorate the 60^th birthday of A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar, joined the MCC in 1996 and since then the game has seen a fresh lease of life.

The semi-finals and finals of the ongoing tournament will take place on July 19 and 20 respectively. Initially played at Chepauk in the MCC’s B Ground, it has moved to the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in recent times. For the first time this year, an overseas team, from Malaysia, is participating. And there is a third umpire to refer to. Finally, ten trees will be planted for every goal.