The word from the national federation on May 29, 2026 is that our men’s, women’s and U20 boys’ teams will be in the running for the 2027 IIHF World Championships in Division IV. For a game with as much heart as this has but not always a place on the world stage, you could say the attention is now on us.
Then there is the scope of it. We have been to regional and invitational tournaments in the past, but the World Championships are made for long-term growth. To have three teams in the mix at once is no fluke; it shows where the strength lies.
Federation hails a landmark step
Gurpreet Singh Bakshi, president of the Ice Hockey Association of India, doesn’t mince words about it. ‘This is a historic moment for Indian ice hockey and a proud step for winter sports in India,’ he says. And of the teams making the move: ‘For our men’s, women’s, and U20 boys to be on the IIHF World Championships pathway is a big deal for the sport and for the lads and lasses who will be flying the flag out there.’
Harjinder Singh, the IHAI’s secretary general, would have you know it was a group effort. ‘Every player, coach, official, family and backer has had a hand in this,’ he says. From here on in, it is all about ‘putting in the work, developing the players and making sure we don’t let this chance go to waste.’
Why this moment arrived now
It has been coming. You have had the homegrown leagues, the state-level action, better coaching and more eyes on winter sports to put together a national side you can believe in.
Case in point: the 2025 National Ice Hockey Championship at the Himadri Ice Rink in Dehradun. As the only Olympic-size indoor rink in the country, it put men, women and youth under one roof. Gave the coaches and selectors a good look at what they were working with.
The women have been at the forefront of it. A bronze at the 2025 IIHF Women’s Asia Cup in Al Ain, UAE was a solid showing on the world stage and has put some wind in the sails of the national team.
U20 inclusion sets up a pipeline
Bringing in the U20 boys for the World Championship is about more than filling out a list. It is a way to put young talent on a track to the senior level, in line with how things are done internationally.
How the pathway works, and where India fits
The IIHF is the main event in global ice hockey. You work your way up the divisions to make a name for yourself. With three teams in Division IV, India is part of that process now.
Having us in the men’s, women’s and U20 brackets for 2027 is something to mark. It also has some pedigree behind it – we have been with the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1989.
And while we are at it, the 2027 IIHF World Championship will be in Dusseldorf and Mannheim, Germany, from May 14 to 30. That is the top of the tree, and the rest of the calendar, including Division IV, feeds into it.
The road ahead for Team India
What you see is what you get from the federation: we have an opening, now we have to put in the numbers. How fast we move up in Division IV will come down to the kind of preparation and scheduling we do.
If you ask the people in charge, these are the things that matter right now:
– Get everyone in the same room to build some unity
– Put some oomph into player development for all three squads
– Keep backing the women’s side
– Use the U20s to keep the talent flowing
In a way, it is a measure of where we want to be with winter sports. The platform is ours, so the job is to make it count. The May 29, 2026 announcement put to rest any talk of whether we could get in. What happens next will tell you if we made an impact.
