Handball in India

In India, Handball and Handball Federation of India was founded by Mr. Jagat Singh Lohan from Rohtak (Haryana) who was an alumnus of YMCA College of Physical Education of Madras (now Chennai). Lohan was founder/father of Handball, Netball and Throwball games in India. His efforts in Germany during Munich Olympics helped in establishing Handball Federation of India. The Member States were Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Vidharbha and Jammu and Kashmir. He was also elected as first Secretary General of Handball Federation of India.

The first Senior Men's National Handball Championship was held at Sir Chhotu Ram Stadium, Rohtak (Haryana) in the year 1972. Haryana won the gold medal and Vidharbha got the silver medal.

Handball is a popular sport in India, played at local level in India but hasn't made it big in domestic level. India has yet to make an impact at international level and the World Cup.^[1]

Performance at Asian championships[]

Due to huge efforts of the HFI administrators, India started participating in the Asian Men's Handball Championship in 1979 and the Asian Women's Handball Championship in 1993. Though the teams were not able to win any medal at any championship, the participation in the events are bring experience and exposure for the players and coaching staff which more important.^[2]

Category	Best Rank	Total Teams	Year	Host
Senior Men	5th	5	1979	China
Senior Women	6th	7	2000	China
U-21 Men	8th	11	2006	Japan
U-20 Women	5th	7	2000	Bangladesh
U-19 Men	6th	12	2018	Jordan
U-18 Women	5th	5	2005	Thailand

Performance at Asian Games[]

Indian men's handball team first participated in the Asian Games in 1982 when the event was hosted in New Delhi. Women's team debuted in the event 2006 held at Doha.^{[citation needed]}

Event	Best Rank	Total Teams	Year	Host
Men	8th	8	1982	India
Women	8th	9	2014	South Korea

Performance at South Asian Games[]

Indian men's handball team is the second best team of Asian Games after Pakistan. Men's team debuted in the event in 2010 and won silver medal losing to Pakistan in the final by 37–31.^[3] In the , India get their revenge when they hosted the event in Guwahati, narrowly defeating Pakistan by 32–31.^[4] In the Pakistan dethroned India beating them in Kathmandu by 30–29.^[5]

Indian women's handball team is the best team of South Asia winning both edition of the South Asian Games in 2016 and 2019 defeating Bangladesh and hosts Nepal respectively.^[6]

Event	Best Rank	Total Teams	Year	Host
Men	1st	6	2016	India
Women	1st	6	2019	Nepal

Handball leaders[]

Since the foundation of handball and Handball Federation of India (HFI), many government officials and other renowned personalities were involved in it. They not only represented handball in the Indian Olympic Association but also represented Indian handball at international level. One of these is HFI President Dr. Roshan Lal Anand, the longest serving Director of National Institute of Sports.^[7][8] Anand was elected as Secretary General of Asian Handball Federation (2000 - 2013) unopposed for continuously 13 years.^[9] He was also elected as IOA Secretary General.^[10]

Dr. Surinder Mohan Bali, who is the longest serving HFI Secretary General, was elected as Member of AHF Marketing Commission.^[11] Bali become the first Indian who was awarded with IHF Badge of Merit in Gold for his contributions to the development of handball by the International Handball Federation during the 2009 IHF Congress held at Cairo (Egypt).^[12] Bali is also a member of Executive Council of the Indian Olympic Association.^{[citation needed]}

Dr. Anandeshwar Panday, who is current HFI Secretary General was elected as Member of AHF Commission of Organizing and Competition and Treasurer of Indian Olympic Association in 2017.^[13][14] Following is the list of HFI administrators who also holds other prominent positions: Note: Only highest position per organisation is mentioned in the table

References[]

External links[]

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