The Indian men’s hockey team has reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics after 49 years. After 1972, India has reached the semi-finals in 2021 and is just one win away from the medal. India defeated Britain 3-1 in the quarter-finals to enter the semi-finals. So let’s know about that golden period of the Indian men’s hockey team.
Golden History of Indian Men’s Hockey Team
The history of the Indian national men’s hockey team has been illustrious, Team India won 6 consecutive gold medals from the year 1928 to 1956, after which the team won 2 more gold medals.
- The Indian hockey team won its first gold medal in Olympic history in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. The Indian hockey team appeared to be on track after the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. In this Olympics, Dhyan Chand, the world’s greatest hockey player, scored 14 goals in the tournament.
- The Indian hockey team defeated the hosts 24-1 in their first game. Dhyanchand’s younger brother Roopchand scored 10 goals in this match. Japan had no answer in the final matches against this aggressive team. Team India won 11-0 in the title match and won the gold medal for the second time in a row.
- In 1936 in Berlin, the Indian hockey team won the gold medal in the Olympics for the third time in a row. The team scored 30 goals in this tournament and did not score a single goal in league matches against Hungary, USA, Japan and France.
- The Indian Hockey team once again completed Gold after a long wait of 12 years in Germany. Only after this India won the fourth consecutive gold medal and it was India’s first gold medal after independence.
- Captain Kunwar Digvijay Singh (KD Babu) scored the last goal for the team while scoring the last goal, with which India won the gold medal for the 5th time.
- The golden period of the Indian team was seen in the year 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where they scored a hat-trick of gold for the first and total second time after independence from the country. Team India defeated Singapore 6-0 in the first match. After this, they defeated Afghanistan 14-0. At the same time, America was defeated by this team 16-0. Defeated Germany in the semi-finals and Pakistan in the final.
- Indian hockey team goalkeeper Shankar Laxman saved the team from Pakistani attacks. Indian players put in their 100 percent to ensure the seventh Olympic gold and once again won the gold, breaking the losing streak against Pakistan.
- After playing 3 Olympics without gold medal, the wait for the Indian team ended in 1980 Moscow. This was India’s 8th and last gold medal.
1980 History
India’s last medal at the Olympics was in 1980 in Moscow, when the team won the yellow medal under the captaincy of Vasudevan Bhaskaran. Since then, the Indian hockey team’s performance declined steadily and could not do better after finishing fifth at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The team failed to qualify for the first time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and finished last at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
However, the performance of the Indian hockey team has improved tremendously in the last five years, reaching the third position in the world rankings. Since Graham Reid of Australia became the coach two years ago, the confidence and fitness level of the players increased. Now the team does not give up till the last minute.
