The first sight that greets you in Sansarpur is the hockey ground. And why not — after all, this small village a few kilometers from Jalandhar cantonment was at one time the hotbed of Indian hockey. The village of 6,000 has produced 14 Olympians, 19 internationals who played for India and over 150 players who played for various national-level teams over the years. That’s not all. From 1928 to 1980, the Indian hockey team won 11 Olympic medals and in all but four occasions, a lad from Sansarpur was in the team. But that was in the past.

<p><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'>Hockey's lost ground</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>Sansarpur

Hockey's lost ground

Sansarpurs decline parallels the deterioration of Indian hockey. Aabhas Sharma travels to the village in Punjab which was the cradle of Indian hockey and produced multiple Olympic players

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