Template:Infobox national hockey team
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The India national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of India. They are controlled by the Ice Hockey Association of India and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). India has mostly participated in the Challenge Cup of Asia, a regional tournament for lower-tier ice hockey nations in Asia.[1]
History
Background of ice hockey in Ladakh
Template:Anchor The history of ice hockey in India dates back almost 100 years, when ice hockey was a favourite pastime for the British Raj in Shimla. The Shimla Ice Skating Club is still very active in promoting ice sports in India. In the early 1970s, the Ladakh Scouts, a battalion of the Indian Army posted in the high border regions, took up the game. The high Changthang Plateau's frozen streams and high altitude lakes make the region an ideal place to play ice hockey, and as a result, the game spread amongst the army. The game gained more widespread popularity exhibition matches began taking place in Leh in the winter. With little to do during the region's harsh winters, locals began to play on a small irrigation pond in Karzoo, Leh.[2][3]
Ice hockey gear was not and is still not available to buy in Ladakh. The few locals who have contacts outside Ladakh have requested friends to get ice hockey skates. The Ladakh Scouts are well equipped as they get their gear through the army. The Jammu & Kashmir department of tourism also had a full set of equipment, but was reluctant to spare any.[4][5] The only place in India where ice sports equipment is readily available is Shimla, a small hill station in the northwestern part of India, where two Chinese brothers began making skates that are still used today.[6]
Due to the lack of accessible equipment, Ladakhis began to improvise, with the first teams obtaining ice skating blades from Shimla and nailing them to army ammunition boots. Roller skates and ground hockey sticks were also used. To create pucks, locals cut the thick, rubber heels of army boots into a rounded shape. Goalkeepers wore ground hockey pads but lacked helmets; neither helmets nor knee and elbow pads were used by other players. Despite injuries, due to this lack of protective gear, the game has continued to grow in popularity in the region.[7][8][9][10][11]
National team
India made its international debut in 2009 at the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, finishing eighth and thus last. In their first game, they were shutout by Thailand 14–0. After two more losses, a 10–0 loss to Mongolia and a 10–1 loss to Malaysia, India, bottom of their group with a goal difference of minus 33, in which they again lost both games. First, they lost to Singapore 5–0, and finally lost to Macau 8–0 in the seventh place game. Two years later, they suffered their biggest international defeat to date at 2–39 against Kuwait at the 2011 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia. On 21 March 2012, the national team notched its first international victory at the 2012 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, they defeated Macau 5–1. India has participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from 2009 to 2018, with the exception of 2010. From 2014 to 2018, they played in Division I of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia. In 2017, India finished second of four teams in Division I tournament (seventh overall). First, they narrowly defeated Oman 3–2, then lost to Kuwait 8–5, and finally won 7–3 over Macau.[12] India participated at the Winter Asian Games in 2025. They lost all the matches except the one against Macau.[13] In the 2024–25 season, the Indian team finished 28th in the AIH ranking of Asian men’s national ice hockey teams.[14]
Tournament record
| Year | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Template:Flagicon |
Asian Winter Games
| Year | Host | Result | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Template:Flagicon Harbin | 12th place | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 64 | -57 |
| Total | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 64 | -57 | ||
Challenge Cup of Asia
See also: IIHF Asia Cup
| Year | Host | Result | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Template:Flag | Did not participate | ||||||||
| 2009 | Template:Flagicon Abu Dhabi | 8th place | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 47 | -46 |
| 2010 | Template:Flagicon Taipei City | Did not participate | ||||||||
| 2011 | Template:Flagicon Kuwait City | 6th place | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 101 | -99 |
| 2012 | Template:Flagicon Dehradun | 6th place | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 50 | -36 |
| 2013 | Template:Flagicon Bangkok | 10th place | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 63 | -58 |
| 2014 | Template:Flagicon Bishkek | 10th place Template:Small |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 45 | -36 |
| 2015 | Template:Flagicon Kuwait City | 11th place Template:Small |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 54 | -42 |
| 2016 | Template:Flagicon Bishkek | 10th place Template:Small |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 34 | -20 |
| 2017 | Template:Flagicon Kuwait City | 7th place Template:Small |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 13 | +2 |
| 2018 | Template:Flagicon Kuala Lumpur | 9th place Template:Small |
5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 22 | -13 |
| 2019 | Did not participate | |||||||||
| Total | 9/12 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 81 | 429 | -348 | |
Players and personnel
Team roster
For the 2025 Asian Winter Games[15]
| # | Name | Pos | S/G | Birthdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Tsewang Gyaltson (C) | D | R | 1992-11-16 (age 34) |
| 11 | Sajjad Hussain | D | R | 1995-02-22 (age 31) |
| 12 | Stanzin Lotus | F | R | 2005-05-04 (age 21) |
| 16 | Tsering Angchuk | D | R | 1997-12-31 (age 29) |
| 17 | Ghulam Mustafa | D | R | 1997-08-27 (age 29) |
| 18 | Stanzin Angchok | F | R | 1999-05-08 (age 27) |
| 21 | Rigzin Norboo | D | R | 1992-10-23 (age 34) |
| 24 | Stanzin Namgyal | D | R | 1993-09-24 (age 33) |
| 34 | Stanzin Phandey | G | L | 1987-07-14 (age 39) |
| 37 | Angchok Lakdan | F | R | 1993-08-10 (age 33) |
| 38 | Namgail Tundup | G | L | 1992-04-07 (age 34) |
| 42 | Mohd Ismail | F | R | 1992-02-02 (age 34) |
| 44 | Mohammad Ali Baba | F | R | 2006-10-13 (age 20) |
| 47 | Namgail Tashi | F | R | 1996-03-10 (age 30) |
| 68 | Angchok Dorjay | F | R | 1989-12-20 (age 37) |
| 72 | Chamba Tsetan (A) | F | R | 1994-01-30 (age 32) |
| 77 | Jigmath Kunzan | F | R | 1991-04-08 (age 35) |
| 83 | Lotus Chamba | G | L | 1996-09-25 (age 30) |
| 87 | Namgyal Deldan | F | R | 1999-06-24 (age 27) |
| 88 | Tsewang Dorjay | F | R | 1997-12-29 (age 29) |
| 94 | Nawang Zangpo (A) | D | L | 1994-04-05 (age 32) |
| 95 | Namgyal Deskyong | D | R | 1993-01-08 (age 33) |
| 97 | Tsering Angdus | F | R | 1997-03-26 (age 29) |
Team staff
For the Ice hockey at the 2025 Asian Winter Games[15]
- Head coach: Template:Flagicon Darrin Harrold
- Assistant coach: Template:Flagicon Amit Belwal
- Assistant coach: Template:Flagicon Abdul Hakim
- General manager: Template:Flagicon Rajat Malhotra
- Team leader: Template:Flagicon Noor Jahan
- Doctor: Template:Flagicon Sarthak Patnaik
- Physiotherapist: Template:Flagicon Shantanu Mahajan
- Team staff: Template:Flagicon Bharat Singh
All-time record against other nations
As of 10 February 2025[16]
| Positive balance (more wins) | |
| Neutral balance (wins = losses) | |
| Negative balance (more losses) |
| Team | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Ih | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 66 |
| Template:Ih | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Template:Ih | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 70 |
| Template:Ih | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 44 |
| Template:Ih | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 31 | 49 |
| Template:Ih | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 78 |
| Template:Ih | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 |
| Template:Ih | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Template:Ih | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Template:Ih | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 55 |
| Template:Ih | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 |
| Template:Ih | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| Template:Ih | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| Total | 45 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 88 | 493 |
See also
- India men's national junior ice hockey team
- India men's national under-18 ice hockey team
- Indian Ice Hockey Championship
References
- ↑ Ice Hockey in India. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ↑ On Thin Ice: India's National Ice Hockey Team. Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ All eyes on Ice Hockey Team. The Economic Times. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Playing ice hockey in the Indian Himalayas, Horstmann, Jakob(21 February 2013).
- ↑ Breaking the ice: Story of India's ice hockey team is stuff movies are made of. Indianexpress.com(19 April 2015). Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Ladakh hosts World's highest altitude women's ice hockey tournament. The Bridge(2019-12-24). Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ↑ India ice hockey: National team crowd-funding bid successful(17 April 2015). Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Director Ice Hockey Association of India Akshay Kumar | DNA. Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Breaking the ice: Story of India's ice hockey team is stuff movies are made of. The Indian Express(2015-04-21). Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Akshay Kumar donates Rs 2cr for ice hockey | Bollywood.com News. Bollywood.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ Schwartz: Ex-Islanders Employee Helps Grow Hockey In India. Newyork.cbslocal.com(28 January 2016). Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ↑ India Men All Time Results. National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ↑ Winter Games: An Indian win in ice hockey after 2018.
- ↑ 2025 AIH Ranking of Asian Men’s National Ice Hockey Teams – OFFICIAL. AsianIceHockey.com(2025-08-01). Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Team Roster. harbin2025.com. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
- ↑ India Men All Time Results. National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
External links
Template:Men's national ice hockey teams Template:National sports teams of India