Rewards, praise pour in for Indian hockey team

Hours after India's field hockey team gained a berth in the London Olympics with an 8-1 victory over France on Sunday, cash rewards and praise trickled in for the players with Hockey India and a city-based hotel announcing Rs 1 lakh each and Haryana and MP governments pitching in for cash rewards for each player.

India thrashed France 8-1 in the qualification tournament in New Delhi to book an Olympics berth after missing out the 2008 Beijing edition.

While Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an award of Rs one lakh each to all members of the Indian hockey men's team, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said bonanza of cash rewards would include Rs five lakh per goal scored by each player from Haryana in the final match.

Similarly, for other matches in the tournament, Rs one lakh per goal would be given to players from Haryana. In addition, Rs 11 lakh per player would be given to each player hailing from Haryana.

Hooda also announced to give Rs 2.5 lakh to each player of Indian team, irrespective of the state to which he belongs.

Sandeep Singh, who scored five goals in the final today, would get Rs 25 lakh. In other matches Sandeep Singh has scored 11 goals for which he would get Rs one lakh per goal.

Hockey India and a city-based hotel announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for every player of the Indian team and Rs 50,000 each for every member of the coaching staff.

India erupted in joy last night as exuberant fans celebrated the country's triumph over France to book a berth in London Olympics hockey final.

The India media also hailed the hockey team for 'rekindling' the 'Olympic dream'. According to the media report the win had "healed the wounds" of the team when India failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2004 - the first time in 80 years.

Over the years, the game has lost its popularity in India which is primarily obsessed with cricket.

Twitter abuzz with congratulatory messages

As the nation celebrated India's triumph for Olympics, micro blogging site Twitter was also abuzz with congratulatory messages to Indian hockey team. Here are a few tweets by the hockey fans:

Kyoas Entertainment ‏ @kyoasent: "Congratulations to Indian Men Hockey team who have qualified for London Olympics! They won over France with scoreline 8-1. Chak De India."

RJ Ankit ‏ @ankitv: "Congratulations India Hockey Team on qualifying for London Olympics. Sandeep Singh, you're the new Raabinhood Pandey of Hockey :)"

Lily D'Penha ‏ @LilyDPenha: "Congratulations India on the 8-1 hockey win. 8 goals for the 8 years of having missed the chance to qualify for the Olympics. Go guys Go!"

Jaago Re ‏ @JaagoRe: "Yesterday India #hockey stars stormed into the #London Olympics 2012. India smashed apart France 8-1. Proud to be an #Indian! #SochBadlo"

Celebs praise hockey players

Bollywood celebrities too joined the chorus in praising Indian hockey team for their remarkable performance. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter to express the joy and congratulate the Indian hockey team. "Lost the cricket, but resoundingly won the Hockey .. jubilation as India qualify for London Olympics ..!! Well done team India !!," Big B tweeted.

Punjabi singer Sukshinder Shinda ‏also expressed his celebrations on Twitter and commented: "CHAK DE INDIA !! Indian Hockey team has qualified to go to England for LONDON OLYMPICS ... This is Great news!!

Rajyavardhan Rathore ‏also wrote on Twitter: "total entertainment “@gagan_gt: Well done Team India.. just a few steps away from London Olympic berth #hockey”

Nikhil Chinapa ‏ @nikhilchinapa: :Today as india lost in cricket yet again, may our country wake up to the glorious history of #hockey & the promise it holds."