How did the Indian hockey team perform at 1980 Olympics?
The hockey events at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow were held from July 20 to 29. Two venues, Minor Arena and Young Pioneers Stadium hosted the hockey games.
Originally, it was set to be a 12-team tournament; however, nations like Argentina, Kenya, Pakistan, Malaysia, West Germany, Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and New Zealand pulled out of the competition. It was because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
As a result, the organizing committee shelved the teams to six, which was the minimum number of teams required for the tournament. Cuba and Tanzania replaced Argentina and Kenya respectively, while Poland received an invitation on the basis of their performances in 1978 World Cup.
In their first game, India secured a sensational 18-0 victory over Tanzania, with Surinder Singh Sodhi scoring five goals, Davinder Singh and Vasudevan Baskaran scoring four goals each.
Then, the second game witnessed India playing out a 2-2 draw against Poland, with Davinder and Mervyn Fernandis scoring a goal each. In the third fixture, India settled for a 2-2 draw against Spain, with Surinder scoring a brace.
The following game saw India thrash Cuba 13-0, with Surinder scoring four goals and four others scoring a brace. In their final fixture, India secured a 4-2 victory over Soviet Union, with Davinder, Surinder, Mohammed Shahid and Maharaj Kaushik scoring a goal each.
The Indian team finished second on the points table with three wins in five games and eight points and were set for a gold medal match with Spain. Meanwhile, Soviet Union and Poland faced-off in the bronze medal game in the
India won their eighth hockey gold medal with a thrilling victory over Spain in 1980 Olympics
The finale saw India and Spain give a tough fight to each other. After Surinder Singh bagged two goals, Maharaj Kaushik gave India a 3-0 lead in the first 45 mins. However, Juan Amat scored back-to-back goals for the Spanish team around the 55th min-mark.
Nevertheless, Mohammed Shahid scored the fourth goal for the Indian team in the 58th minute. Although, Amat scored another goal at the 65th minute-mark. India went on to win 4-3 to secure their eighth gold medal in the Olympics. Surinder scored the most goals (14) for the team.
Interestingly, it is the last gold medal for the country in men's hockey. They ended their 41-year-old medal drought by winning a bronze in Tokyo Olympics.