India, Nov. 8 -- For Zafar Iqbal, one of India's most respected hockey players and a member of the 1980 Olympic gold-winning team, the 100-year milestone of Hockey India is a moment to celebrate history that goes much beyond a federation's timeline.

"Hockey India may be completing 100 years, but hockey in India started much before that-almost 30 to 40 years earlier," he said. "There was an all-India tournament which began in 1896, around the same time as the modern Olympic Games. Then there's Aga Khan Gold Cup, that's played even now. After Hockey India was established in 1925 and the team registered itself for the first time for the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the British who too dominated the sport, withdrew after they realised India w...