Indian hockey teams to wear blue at Asian Games

BENGALURU: Both the men's and women's hockey sides will sport their iconic blue at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan. This was confirmed to The New Indian Express by a Hockey India official. "Around a week or so ago, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) asked us (HI) what our preferred colour would be," the said HI official told The New Indian Express. "We said first would be 'blue' and second would be 'orange.'"

One reason why the hockey teams will be sporting blue predominantly is because unlike the World Cup, a standalone event, in multi-discipline games, all athletes, whether competing in individual or team events, are part of a contingent. Usually when that's the case, it's customary for them to wear the colours of the contingent. In this case, that's blue.

At the World Cup, when it was revealed that both teams would wear saffron as their first colour, it caused a lot of outrage among stakeholders, including former players who had questioned the motives behind such a move. It even led to Dilip Tirkey, the head of the federation, saying he wasn't kept in the loop. It led to Tirkey instigating a formal process among the management.

The hockey event begins on September 18, with the winners receiving a direct spot in the Olympics in 2028. While the men's team are scheduled to face Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the group stage, the women's side will face Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.