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| Indo-Pak hockey match fails to score a goal on TV |
| Swarup Chakraborty / Mumbai Mar 02, 2010, 00:37 IST |
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After getting support from some corporate houses, it finally looked like India’s ‘national game’ had a future in the country. However, data on TV viewers’ interest for the sport during the ongoing World Cup dash any such hopes for the sport.
When the Indian hockey team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan with a score of 4-1 in their World Cup campaign opener in New Delhi on Sunday, less than 1 per cent of Indians watched the match. In fact, according to the television audience monitoring company AMAP, only 0.33 per cent of TV viewers tuned into the match. It seemed not many Indian households shared the excitement of the 19,000 fans who cheered for the national team at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The other two World Cup matches on Sunday fared worse, as only 0.07 per cent and 0.04 per cent of the country’s total TV audience viewed the Australia vs England and the South Africa vs Spain matches respectively.
Hockey, which was embroiled in a controversy in India due to government apathy and a lack of sponsors, got Hero Honda as the title sponsor for the World Cup 2010 tournament. Hero Honda Managing Director Pawan Munjal had earlier said, although hockey went through many ups and downs in the last decade, the national game still continued to be an integral part of India’s sporting tradition.
“Despite India being a cricket-crazy nation, the game of hockey has managed to regain its identity. Hockey is not just a game; it’s a very important part of our history and sporting tradition. The World Cup will help revitalise public interest in the game,” Munjal had said.
The number of TV viewers for Sunday’s match is disheartening for the sport, as cricket matches, typically, get a rating of more than 1 per cent.
For instance, the one-day international between India and South Africa, where Sachin Tendulkar scored a double century, received a TV viewership of 2.4 per cent.
Hockey enthusiasts can only hope that, in the days to come, more people show an interest in the game.
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