India

Manish Kumar

Amstelveen, August 22: It's a full house for the India-Pakistan match and the organisers are smiling. The overwhelming fan following has meant that Friday’s game was without doubt the showcase event of the tournament.

There are around a thousand fans of the Pakistani team and they have admirers among the Indian fans also who find them more friendly than the Indian players. The Indian supporters usually come in small groups from different countries.


The largest contingent - 200 people - is from Southhall in London. John Patel alias Jagdish Patel from Montreal in Canada has been present at every major tournament that India has participated since 1996.

Patel has come with his family and two children and does not mind spending $6,000 to $7,000 to watch his favourite Indian team. ‘‘I shifted to Montreal in 1976 during the Olympics.

The Games ignited a passion for hockey and now I run my own hockey club - Hotel Taj Club in Montreal,’’ said Patel, who runs Hotel Taj Mahal in the city.

For watching the Olympic Games, he spends more. ‘‘I was at Sydney and hope to cheer the Indian hockey team at Athens,’’ he added.

Parvin Singh Mangat from Ilford (Essex, England) is a security-alarm engineers and a die-hard Indian supporter. He has come with his family and a dozen friends to support India. His family shifted to England from Kenya though his roots are in Ludhiana.

‘‘My entire family and friends go to watch the Indian team wherever they are playing in Europe. It is always a special moment if India beats Pakistan,’’ says Mangat.

There is friendly bantering with the Pakistani fans but both parties keep out of trouble. A Pakistani fan Shahin Abdullah, also from Leicester - his roots are in Rawalpindi - said that he is fond of watching skilful hockey which is played by both India and Pakistan. Abdulah, an engineer by profession, compared the India-Pakistan rivalry to England playing Scotland in football.

‘‘It’s a derby contest. But I have mainly come here to watch quality hockey because the game is very popular in Holland.’’

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