Champions of the 2026 NZI-HC crowned

The New Zealand Indian Hockey Championships wrapped up in Palmerston North with all three major trophies finding new homes for 2026 in Christchurch, Bay of Plenty and Wellington.

In a match that typified the closeness of the competition, Waikato and Christchurch played out a tense Men’s B final which ended in a goalless draw after regulation time with both sides having traded chances throughout the match. The scores were still locked at 3 all after the initial shootout sending the contest to sudden death. It only took one round before Christchurch emerged victorious to claim the Men’s B trophy and earn promotion to the A Section for 2027.

The Women’s competition went to Bay of Plenty who finished their tournament with a strong 5 - 0 win over Pukekohe to confirm their position at the top of the table on completion of the Round Robin with 17 points. Priya Fitzgerald opened the scoring in the first quarter with Manjot Lall and Oriwa Hepi adding a goal each to the score before halftime. Second half goals to Manpreet Kaur and Tamar Hepi rounded out a commanding result and tournament for Bay of Plenty.

Auckland played Wellington A in the other Women’s match. Auckland opened the scoring through Yashani Bhana from a penalty corner but Wellington A found an equaliser through Arshdeep Kaur in an even first quarter. It took well into the second quarter until Auckland broke the deadlock through Gurleen Kaur for a 2 - 1 lead at halftime. Another Yashani Bhana goal from a penalty corner extended the lead in the third quarter and two late goals to Gurleen Kaur and Shayna Narsai saw the match finish 5 - 1 to Auckland. Auckland finished second in the competition with 15 points followed by Wellington (7 points), Pukekohe (6 points) and Wellington B (0 points)

Another tense goalless final played out for the Dhyand Chand trophy in the Men’s A competition. Both Wellington and Auckland created opportunities and absorbed pressure in a match where the momentum swung back and forth. However neither side were able to break the deadlock in regulation time. A dramatic shootout played out with both sides even until the last round. Sajan Patel won a penalty stroke after being fouled during his shootout and Hiren Mani stepped up to convert to put Wellington ahead with Auckland needing to score to stay alive. After appearing to beat the goalkeeper Armani Punga’s shot cruelly deflected off the upright goalpost and over the baseline to hand Wellington the win.

The finals were live streamed thanks to Local Gecko Productions with support from One Foundation. You can rewatch the finals on the NZISA YouTube page or using the button below.

The NZISA would like to acknowledge the support of One Foundation to make this event possible