Asian Champions Trophy: Massive interest in hockey as fans turn up in incredible numbers in Ranchi hours before India vs Japan final, thousands turned away | Hockey News

Around 5 pm on Sunday, when Virat Kohli was edging towards his 49th century in ODIs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, crores had tuned in to the official streaming platform for the World Cup. One of those many crores concurrent views was from a tea stall about a kilometer away from Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. Three young men sat at the table, watching the World Cup match.The three of them had come just around 2 pm to the stadium where the Jharkhand Women’s Asian Champions Trophy final was scheduled to take place… at 8.30 pm later that day. And yet, looking at the length of the queue that had formed six-and-a-half hours before the match, they decided to take their place at the bench, for now watching the cricket match. They still had a few hours to pass before India took on Japan in the title clash.
A few metres on one side of a tea stall there was a massive queue of people trying to get through Gate No 4, a line that extended to at the very least a kilometer.
A few metres on the other side, outside Gate No 3 there was a massive crowd waiting, being told through speakers the security that the doors were now shut. “Gate band ho gaya hai, please sabhi log Morabadi ground mein jaaiye aur match dekhiye” was the announcement being read out to the massive disappointment of the thousands who were waiting. Outside the hockey stadium, there is an open ground to which the fans were being redirected too.

#JWACT2023 #AsianChampionsTrophy 🏑
“Gate band ho gaya hai, sabhi log Morabadi ground mein jaaiye” is the announcement from the security as a massive number of people are being asked to return. Quite the scenes. 😲https://t.co/FjasPrpKBH pic.twitter.com/xsUIUGGvnI
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) November 5, 2023
Of course, as we entered the stadium after this, it was already packed to the limits in the stands that were open to the public. It was free entry, sure, but the scenes one hour before the third-place match between China and Japan told its own story.

#JWACT2023 #AsianChampionsTrophy 🏑
🎥 Inside the venue, the free seating stands are full nearly an hour before the 3rd place match. https://t.co/FjasPrpKBH pic.twitter.com/INfE9aLGAW
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) November 5, 2023
Around 7 pm, the open ground started filling up where 10 mega screens were showing the hockey match with speakers set up for even the commentary. The sea of people, outside the venue gates, however, hadn’t yet dissipated. A visibly tired security official said he had told thousands that there were no seats available inside and yet the crowd has only marginally thinned. They still waited. “Umeed se rukh rahe hain, aur kya (With hope they are waiting, what else),” he said.
Conversations in that significant crowd invariably were about trying to get passes to the non-free seating area of the stadium. Everyone seemed to be on the phone, or asking anyone who had a lanyard around their neck (media personnel or organisers) whether they could get a pass. A young woman came up to a couple of reporters and pleaded to somehow get her in. “Bahut dhoor se aayein hain, bhaiya, please kuch arrange keejiye (We’re come from very far, please arrange something),” she said. She was from Ghumla, about 90km away from Ranchi. A few minutes later, she was being consoled folks around her, as reality hit that she wouldn’t be able to make it in.
The atmosphere was a matter of happiness for the Hockey India president and former national captain Dilip Tirkey. He says, “I saw outside that there was a big crowd even where the giant screens have been set up. Excellent crowd, it’s a small stadium for hockey in Ranchi. In the future, we have to think about this too, for promoting and developing the game in the state of Jharkhand.
“It’s a little bit sad that there are as many people outside as there are inside, that they can’t watch the match. It’s a good thing for hockey, that we have seen these crowds in Jharkhand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu,” he added.Most Read
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Hockey Simdega President Manoj Konbegi said that the number of people who were turned away would have been surely more than the capacity of the stadium, which can accommodate more than 10k.
“The best thing about today is to see it is not just hockey players and those who play the sport that have turned up. People who never had anything to do with hockey or never even have seen a hockey stick in their lives have been coming this time around,” he said, adding that the craze was enough more than what he has seen here for Hockey India League a few years back.
About an hour before India even entered the ground for their final, the crowd still stood outside the venue. Around 100 people had gathered just outside Gate No 3, watching through the grills on the wall where one small section of the ground was visible. Some had stood up on top of a small wall to see if there was a vantage point. All through the tournament, the stadium in Ranchi was full and the craze for hockey has been evident. But on Sunday, it went up a notch or two.
As Tirkey says, “Fans hain toh hockey hain.”

#JWACT2023 #AsianChampionsTrophy 🏑
🎥Scene at the open grounds outside the venue. There are still a few hundreds waiting outside gates in hope, who will perhaps make it to this place. 10 working giant screens with commentary on speakers set uphttps://t.co/FjasPrpKBH pic.twitter.com/bAimPlS1BR
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) November 5, 2023
In the end, however, there were some unfortunate scenes at one of the stadium gates. The kickoff was delayed 50 minutes due to a floodlight failure but even then many hundreds still stayed back trying to get in. With the pressure on the gates growing, the security personnel had to resort to force to disperse the crowd.

#JWACT2023 #AsianChampionsTrophy 🏑
Slightly unfortunate scenes just before the delayed kickoff as fans who were still waiting (some even with passes as per the security) had to be turned away. Seems to be under control now after a few moments of chaos.https://t.co/7Ju43igiqN pic.twitter.com/vsZVkQg0U2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) November 5, 2023
Then followed another announcement asking those waiting to go to the open ground to watch the match on the big screens. An eventful tournament certainly headed to a drama-filled end outside the Astro Turf too.