How did the Indian hockey team perform at 1984 Olympics?
The hockey events at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles took place from July 29 to August 11. Built in 1951, Weingart Stadium in Monterey Park staged all the hockey games of the competition.
Apart from the five continental champions, seven other teams qualified for the 1984 Olympics through qualifiers. The Indian side, who were the defending champions, were placed along with Australia, West Germany, Spain, Malaysia and the United States in Group A.
The first game witnessed India thrashing the United States 5-1, with Charanjit Kumar, Mervyn Fernandis, Joaquim Carvalho and Mohammed Shahid being the goal scorers.
In the second game, India prevailed 3-1 over Malaysia, where Vineet Kumar Sharma scored all three goals.
The Zafar Iqbal-led side faced a tough challenge from the Spanish team in their third fixture. The Indian team secured an impressive 4-3 victory, with Fernandis scoring a brace and Hardeep Singh and Shahid chipping in with one goal each.
The fourth game saw Australia drubbing India 4-2, with Sharma and Carvalho being the goal-scorers for the side.
Then, the Indian team played an important final fixture against West Germany. After the game ended in a 0-0 draw, the Indian team finished third in their group and failed to qualify for the semifinals. Although they had the same points as West Germany, India fell short due to a smaller score difference.
In the first game of the fifth-eighth-place classification, India defeated New Zealand 1-0. Then, they finished fifth at the 1984 Olympics with a 5-2 win over the Netherlands. Fernandis and Sharma were the team's joint leading goal scorers.
Pakistan claimed their third hockey gold medal at 1984 Olympics
In the semifinals, West Germany secured a 1-0 victory over the Great Britain team, while Pakistan managed a 1-0 win against Australia.
In the final, Pakistan prevailed 2-1 over West Germany to take home gold in the 1984 Olympics. It was their third instance of winning a yellow metal after 1960 and 1968.