CHANDIGARH: Two Jalandhar-based companies which supplied hockey sticks to both men and women’s Indian teams in Tokyo say there has been a sudden upswing in their trade after the two sides put up impressive shows at the Olympics.
Their trade has picked up by at least 30% and fresh orders are being booked.
The Rani Rampal-led women squad and Manpreet Singh-led men’s teams wielded custom-made hockey sticks manufactured by these firms.
Sanjay Kohli, owner of Rakshak Sports, says the company supplied custom-made hockey sticks to six players of the women’s team and two to the men’s side. Kohli says these players demanded a particular mould and gave their own weight of the sticks.
“Rani Rampal has been using our hockey for over 10 years. This time, she asked us to engrave a map of India on her hockey stick. Niki Pradhan wanted a green colour stick, while Sharmila Rani and Simranjeet Singh demanded a black & yellow one,” said Kohli.
“While the weight requirement varied as per a player’s wish, it was between 535 and 550 grams. The length was also adjusted as per the players’ style,” said Kohli.
Nitin, owner of Pooja Enterprises, said eight players of the men’s and women’s teams played with the sticks manufactured by the company.
“Savita, Sushila, Nisha Warsi, Deep Grace, Vandana, Udita, Rajni and Salima played with our sticks. In the men’s side, the poster boy of our team, captain Manpreet Singh followed by Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surinder Kumar and Sreejesh carried the sticks manufactured by our company,” he said.