MADRAS MOMENTS

As Chennai gets ready to host the Asian Champions Trophy, Swaroop Swaminathan takes a deep dive to the early 2000s when the city held a prominent place in Indian hockey, the rise and fall of the sport and more...

- Swaroop Swaminathan

THE Chennai of 2007 and today isn’t too different. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was the ruling party. Actor Vijay was already one of the most bankable of film stars and proved it with Pokkiri. A highly-anticipated Rajinikanth movie (Sivaji) was the talk of the town as is the case now. A team from Chennai won a T20 tournament (Chennai Superstars clinched the inaugural but the now defunct Indian Cricket League).

It was different, though, in one way. At some level, the place was running Indian hockey. Even if the state had stopped contributing to the roster in terms of players, thanks to the presence of a few influential administrators — none more so than K Jothikumaran — an international tournament in India usually meant the city was the destination. Chennai had already hosted India’s first Champions Trophy in 1996.