Olympic 1968 :: " PARADOX " Enters as India And Indian Hockey Starts Going To " NADIR " and to the " DOGS "
Pic :: The PARADOXICAL image of Indian Hockey which started surfacing from 1968
Hockey in India from the post 1968 Olympics started going to
it’s nadir and DOGS slowly but enough to state that the start of the end of it’s
supremacy was nearing and it was a matter of TIME that the debacle in it’s full
form was nearing.
After the 1966 Asian Games Hockey Finals, where we defeated Pakistan
by 1-0 in the finals, the Indian team thereafter participated in one
international game where it finished fourth out of the four nation
participating. That was the time when Shankar Laxman decided to say goodbye to
Hockey .
The International Olympic
Association Scratches Indian Hockey Team For 1968 Olympics
Between 1966 and 1968 there were as many as three other
International Hockey tournaments that were played and India did not participate
in any of the so said tourneys that were held. Infact the other nation did play
and Pakistan were the one which kept on participating in these tournaments.
West Germany had held a four nation Hockey festival in 1967
and India was invited but India refused to participate. Thereafter it was
Holland which held an invitational hockey tournament just after the German ascendency
got over. India still refused to send it’s team. Thereafter it was the
Pre-Olympics which was held at Mexico and the Indian participation was not
there.
Looking into India’s affair about not participating , the
I.O.A decided to scrap the Indian team to allow for it’s participation in the 1968 Olympics.
The reason of India not participating in these Hockey
tourney were that the Government was not in a position to fund the Indian team
and it’s participation. The Indian Olympic Association was not in a position at
all to send the team abroad at any cost as it’s coffer were empty. In those
days the pocket expenses to the Indian Hockey team was ½ a dollars per day,
which was equivalent to Rupee 3=75 per day . The Indian Government did not pay
the entire Indian Hockey team that participated in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and
the 1966 Asian Gold medalist as well. The reason cited was the Indian Sports
Ministry did not have any reserves with itself to release the payment to the
players.
After the 1964 Olympics , the winning Indian squad was NOT
given the land that Mr Jawaharlal Nehru had promised. When the predatory as
well as the preparatory, camp , was held for the Indian Hockey team probable just
at the start of the 1964 Olympics on January 1964, Mr Nehru had paid a visit to
the National Institute of Sports at Patiala and had met the players. He had
promised that if the Hockey team comes back home, with a GOLD they would be
given a piece of land measuring 80X60 as a gift by the Indian Government.
Midway the Indian premier then suffered a HEART-ATTACK and the offer went into the drain. When the
next Ministry took over it was just that – BAAD MEI DEKHENGAY which means we
will see it afterwards.
In these kind of a step up, the Indian Government was not in
a position to take any decision to send the team abroad for any fixtures and
the Indian Hockey association too was not in a position to do anything to
create the funds for the team to participate abroad. The end result was India
for not participating for any tournament abroad for whatever reason it might have been India was not considered for
the Olympic Mexico.
It is here that Pakistan took the cognizance very seriously.
If India was not allowed to participate in the 1968 Olympics, then according to
the rules of the International Olympic Association , India would be scratched
from 1968 to 1972 and then in that case, the situation that might have occurred
was that India would not have been allowed to participate in the 1969 World Cup
Hockey that Pakistan was to hold in it’s own land and at the Bangkok Asiad. Without
India participating in these two major tournament the Pakistani Hockey
Association would have suffered a HUGE loss. The marketing of the Pakistan
International Airlines would have suffered a tremendous set back. The “ PIA ” ,
ie the Pakistan International Airlines, always depended hugely for it’s Hockey travelers
to avail the PIA facilities to travel abroad when there use to be an
international Hockey tourney held abroad. The people from all the walk of life
in Pakistan would travel all the miles just to see a INDO-PAK Hockey and enjoy
the same.
Whenever there use to be any international Hockey matches,
held, at any place, the PIA reservation counter would be full and there would
be a heavy rush to book the tickets for the venue and the places where the
Indo-Pak Hockey matches would be held. That was a huge source of revenue for
the Pakistan Airlines. With India not allowed to participate the earning back
home when Pakistan was planning to hold the FIRST ever WORLD CUP in 1969 would
have witnessed a HUGE drop in the sale of the ticket as well as a huge loss to
the PIA as well in it’s business.
The earning of the PHF would have dropped to the deepest end
of an Ocean as well if India was not participating in the Olympic at Mexico as
it’s chain reaction would have affected the revenue collection from the
inaugural World Cup Hockey that Pakistan was planning to hold in it’s country.
IT WAS HERE THAT PAKISTAN GOT INTO ACTION
The Indian Official were NOT bothered about anything that
was going here within the periphery of the IHF, it’s office and Hockey. There
were and they were busy fighting amongst themselves for their chairs and for
their post in the IHF. That such a huge SWORD OF DEMOCLE was hanging over their
head was NONE-OF-THEIR BUSINESS. In one and on one hand the PHF was running
from pillar to post to get the nod from the IOA to hold the first ever World
Cup Hockey tournament in it’s own country with all efforts that they were
making to get India play in the tournament and on the other hand we ourselves
were NOT at all BOTHERED in any manner to salvage our prestige and get back
into the fold by approaching the I.O.A to withdraw it’s decision.
The PHF ably led by Air Marshal Noor Khan who himself was a
WORLD-FAMOUS-HOCKEY player in his own days and Brigadier Atif somehow managed
to get the name of India scratched from being rusticated to play Hockey and
participate in the tourney’s held in any part of the World. The Indian Hockey
association JUST DID NOT EVEN HAVE A HEART TO SEND IN A LETTER TO THE PHF FOR
IT’S CLEMENCY TOWARDS INDIA.
However when the Pakistani Hockey team was BANNED for FOUR
years just after the Munich Finals of Hockey in the Olympics, the India Hockey
then reciprocated by writing a letter to the I.O.A to consider lifting the ban
on Pakistan by atleast allowing it’s second string of players to participate in
the forthcoming World tourney’s that were going to be held in the future .
In 1973 when one saw Mr M.A.M Ramaswamy getting that
HOT-SEAT in the I.H.F, he promised to allow his FOUR HORSES for the Montreal Olympics
as the training horses for the Equestrian participants to practice in the
Olympics that were to be held at Montreal. When assured the I.O.A in November
1973 lifted the ban of Pakistan Hockey saying and proclaiming that Pakistan
would be allowed to participate in the Olympics, and in the other tourney
subjected to the condition that the BANNED players would not be allowed to
participate at all in any forthcoming tourneys. This is how India later repaid
the PHF and it’s BOUNTY that they offered to the IHF in 1968.
IT WAS Mr AIR MARSHAL NOOR
KHAN AND Mr BRIGADIER ATIF WHO MADE INDIA TO BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
1968 OLYMPICS AND SAVED IT FROM BEING BANNED.
India Holds An
Invitational Hockey Tournament In 1969
India was allowed to participate in the 1968 Olympics.
Though India ws allowed to participate in the 1968 Olympics courtesy Pakistan,
it could NOT dissolve it’s internal problems and the war that was surfacing
inside here.
However a list of probable were declared to attend the camp
at Nilgiris. The coaching camp were held at the Nilgiris because to give the necessary condition and providing
the Indian players to acclimatize themselves to the conditions that they would
meet at Mexico in 1968 .Playing in the high altitude requires the body to have
the capacity of the HEART to get more oxygen and bear the atmospheric pressure
which would be low at an altitude of about 3000 feet above the sea level.
Nilgiris provided the atmosphere and the condition then. The camp was in full
swing.
Ten days before the team was to leave for it’s sojourn to
Mexico the ATOM BOMB was dropped in the IHF periphery of India and the
Nilgiris. It was that GURBAX SINGH
OPENLEY SAID THAT HE WOULD NOT PLAY FOR INDIA IF HE WAS NOT MADE THE CAPTAIN OF
THE INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM
This HIT the Indian selectors of Hockey with the nail
hitting the SKULL of the Indian selector. To prevent further more HICCUPS and
to keep the spirit and the team intact, the IHF to stop further aggravation and
integrate the team resorted to a SHORT-CUT method and that was TO HAVE TWO CAPTAIN IN THE TEAM.
It was announced by the Indian selector that Prithipal Singh
would be the captain of the Indian squad. But with Gurbax Singh openly challenging
and laying his term, the IHF in a FOR-THE-TIME-BEING process, announced TWO
captain ie JOINT Captain for the Indian Hockey team in 1968 for the Mexico Olympics
with both Gurbux Singh and Pritipal Singh being named as the JOINT-CAPTAIN for
the Indian Hockey team for the Mexico Olympics. There and this ended the
problems for the IHF only to reopen much of the problems for the Indian team at
Mexico.
India at Mexico did win a BRONZE, but in the process it lost
it’s first match against New-Zealand by 1-2 . This was India’s FIRST ever LOSS
in the VERY-FIRST-MATCH in the Olympics and it’s history, the SECOND being the
0-1 loss to U.S.S.R in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 when M.M.Somayya was the
captain and M.P.Ganesh was the Coach. India again were held by the
DROP-OF-THEIR NOSE by East Germany who held India to a 1-1 draw. It somehow
went into the semis where they were beaten 1-2 by Australia in the extra-time.
They were trailing by 0-1 to West Germany in the Bronze Medal match before they
hit back two to be amongst the medal winners at Mexico. The Wikipedia would
show India beating East Germany by 1-0 but that is a SHIT in terms of the result
printed in the Wikipedia as most of the Hockey results printed in the Wikipedia
is SHIT ( STORE HIGH IN TRANSIT ) .
This somehow saved the NOSE that was bleeding of the Indian
Hockey at Mexico in 1968 . However India
had to do much in terms of the Hockey when it boiled to the COFFER and the prints
of the Bapu Mahatma Gandhi that is printed as always on the Indian currency
note. Though India was saved by Air Marshal Noor Khan and Brigadier Manzur
Hussain Atif but there was a PENALTY imposed on India to reuse the invitation
to participate in the Hockey Tourney at various countries as I have wriiten as
those nation had to suffer the loss on Indian account for NOT participating in
those tourneys. This India had to hold a INVITATIONAL Hockey tourney at Bombay,
then, when TWO Indian team I.H.F Blues and I.H.F Red participated. This
tournament threw a player by the name of Ashok Kumar who was the son of Major
Dhyanchand and it was Ashok whose
victory goal in 1971 against Kenya fetched us the Bronze and his goal in the
finals of the world Cup on March 15th 1975 fetched us the GOLD and the
title, the ONLY ONE so far in the World Cup.
The proceeds accumulated from the 1969 invitational tourney
at Bombay was enough for India to pay all it’s dues and the fines to the I.O.A
and continue running the I.H.F Office to run Indian and it’s Hockey.
A lot is being said about India playing so beautiful and
impressive Hockey in Rome in 1960 and 1968 yet losing to Pakistan. These are
all BELANT LIE that is being written and told to everybody. Infact India played
the WORST of the HOCKEY in 1960 at Rome. India were NOT and NEVER playing that
BEAUTIFUL ASIAN TRADITIONAL FLOWING Hockey at all either in the 1960 or in the
1968 Olympics. The 1960 team was something that one could call it as a BUFFER
STOCK of Hockey team that India had and the 1968 team was something that could
be termed as MINE-AND-MINE
team as there were TWO Captain and there were TWO Camps in and within the team.
The result was there to be seen and India lost TWO games in Mexico, both against
the Oceanic Zone team , the New Zealand and Australia. Over it India DID NOT AT
ALL FIELD Inam-Ur-Rehman to play any game at Mexico though Inam was
ONE-OF-THE-BEST-HOCKEY player then in the WORLD. It was Prithipal Singh who
kept on scoring through his penalty Corner strike which also included ONE in
the Bronze Medal play against West ermany which really helped India to win that
Bronze else everything was HUNK-DORY for the Indians.
JAPAN’S OBSTINISM
THAT HELPED INDIA TO TOP THE GROUP
Many might NOT
know it. Many of this generation and many who just do not follw the Indian
Hockey so deeply would NOT know that , yet I would write it foir their’s info.
In the 1968 Olympics, in the match against Japan, India were
GIFTED FIVE GOALS in the form of penalty which helped India to head and top the
group . In that game in the 56th minute India were awarded a penalty
stroke which the Japanese OBJECTED and PROTESTED. Their protest was not held by
the Umpire/Referee .Till that moment the score Board read India-0 , Japan – 0
When the Japanese started walking off the Olympic Technical
committee made it very clear that Japan would be negated by FIVE goals as
penalty and India would be awarded those
FIVE as a rules that governed the Olympics. That FIVE-GOAL-GIFT was the reason for India
to collect TWO POINTS and head the GROUP over West Germany and New Zealand. Had
NOT that incident taken place . PERHAPS INDIA WOULD HAVE NOT REACHED THE
SEMIS OF THE MEXICO OLYMPICS AS WELL .
Behind the veneer of "unity" and "team spirit" that
was projected to the public, Indian hockey was almost torn apart by petty
politics, groupism and ego clashes in the months leading to the 1968 Mexico
Olympics where Indian hockey's slide well and truly began
Just four years after regaining the Olympic hockey gold medal, the squad
was split vertically as two players, Prithipal Singh and Gurbux Singh openly
fought for captaincy that put Indian hockey in poor light. Eventually, a "
compromise " was struck and the two were named "joint captain".
It was a recipe for disaster.
Also, complacency had set in as India had won the
Asian Games gold medal in 1966, triggering euphoria and a false sense of
well-being. The fact that other international sides were fast catching up was
glossed over as was the bickering within the team until the captaincy issue
raised its ugly head.
“ IT WAS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE ANNALS
OF HOCKEY IN INDIA THAT INDIA IN OLYMPICS HAD LOST TWO GAMES IN THEIR HOCKEY
OUTINGS ” . Also it was for the FIRST time
that India DID NOT reach the FINALS of the Olympic Hockey.
Pic :: Air Marshal
Noor Khan , who did a LOT of " FAVOUR " for Indian Hockey
It was merely, as AGAIN I say that Air Marshal of Pakistan
and Brigadier Atif of Pakistan and their BLESSINGS for which we could PLAY in
the Olympics at Mexico and as a MATTER of PAYING my GREATEST RESPECT and GRATITUDE
to them I’M POSTING THEIR PICTURE HERE
IN THE ARTICLE JUST TO SAY THEM- THANK YOU GENTLEMAN FOR THE FAVOUR YOU DID IT
TO INDIA .
Pic :: Brigadier Manzur Hussain Atif - Former Pakistani player a ASTUTE lover of Indian Hockey
Here back in India though there was a slight different behavior
that was witnessed at India and with the Indian Airlines team not fielding
any Sardarji’s in the team and playing
that kind of a WIZARDOUS hockey to win mantches after matches and tournament
some important one’s the thinking that ran and existed wether the BSF or the
Punjab Police was the BEST at all, or that the paradigm of Hockey had shifted,
there was a SHIFT in the power of Hockey from the North to the SOUTH as Mr
M.A.M Ramaswamy became the CHIEF of the I.H.F.
This gentleman was from Chennai, now and Madras then. He was the FIRST of the FILTHY-RICH man who
headed the I.H.F and any association of Sports at India , ( not the Nawabs and
the Maharaja’s of cricket as I exclude them ), and when he took over the SOUTH-NORTH feud
came out in open.
From Jaipal Singh , 1928 to Ajitpal Singh in 1971 there use
to be ONE Singh except Shankar Laxman who basically was a South India but was
working for Indian Army and was based at MHOW ( Military Headquarters Of War )
near Indore was the captain and it would be the captain of the Indian Hockey
team.
Tace out the names of the Indian Captain from 1928 to 1972
till the Olympics – IT WAS ALWAYS A SINGH WHO LED INDIA except in 1932 when Lal
Shah Bokari who later migrated to Pakistan led India in Hockey. Dhyanchand
actually was DHYAN SINGH in real but became Dhyan Chand. Again the Seniority
too comes in as a handy to become the captain of the Indian Hockey team a trend
that was and that is mostly followed when deciding a Captain for the Indian
Hockey team .
All HELL broke loose when the squad of the WORLD CUP Hockey
team was announced in 1973 when M.A.M Ramaswamy held the CHIEF POST of the
I.H.F.It was for the SECOND time in the annals of Indian Hockey and FIRST ever
time in the seventies to start with that MOOLERA
POOVIAH GANESH was named as the
Captain of the Indian Hockey team that was to participate in the 1973 World
Cup. Ganesh started playing Hockey for India from 1969 for the Indian Blues to
start with in that Invitational Hockey Tourney that was held at Bombay then.
That Hockey championship threw a lot of youngsters mainly Ganesh, V.J.Phillips,
Onkar Singh, Shivaji Pawar, Micheal Kindo, Baldev Singh, Surjit Singh Randhawa, B.P.Kalliah, B.P. Govinda,
Samar Mukherjee, Aslam Sher Khan just to
name a few and every player named here went ahead to represent India in Hockey
between the period of 1969 to about 1979 .
This was something which was NOT taken in the correct manner
and the RIGHT spirit by the TWO Senior most player in the squad , Ajitpal Singh
and Harmik Singh. For Ajitpal was playing for India since the 1968 Olympics and
Harmik was the member of the Indian Hockey team from the 1966 Asian Games.They
weremuch Senior and held a better post
as compared to M. P Ganesh who was a Senior Lance Naik in the Corp Of Signal
based at Jabalpur . Anyway looking into the matter of the 1968 Olympic team,
and the WORST ever that came out of the team, Ajitpal who was the member of
that squad and had played in all the games at Mexico then- SOMEHOW HANDLED THE MATTER and the team flew
for their campaign for the SECOND-WORLD-CUP
at Amsterdam. The scar of the Indians who had lost to Pakistan by 0-2 at Munich
where India got as many as 18 penalty corners and could not convert into one ,
and the ban of the Pakistani main players from the International Hockey had
raised some hopes for India to do well in that tourney.
India started on a rousing note when they defeated Kenya by
5-0, Japan by 4-0 , held Germany West to a 0-0 draw, somehow managed to save
off the defeat against New Zealand, trailing by about 65th minutes
of the game and somehow Baldev Singh equalizing through that penalty corner
strike, and beating Spain by 2-0 , scoring through Surjit Singh of TWO penalty
corners to move into the semis where they met a new looked Pakistani side.
The new look Pakistani team matched India for moves to moves
and for strike to strike before a WORLD CLASS reverse flick by Govinda gave
India the MOST important victory over Pakistan after the 1966 Asian games
Finals, to move into the finals.
India after that Asian games Finals at Bangkok, was beaten
by Pakistan in a HOTLY CONTESTED Finals at the Asian games at Bangkok by 0-1 through
a SUDDEN DEATH GOAL by Abdul Rashid Junior .In that Asiad, before that match, Pakistan
in the GROUP match was held to a 1-1 DRAW by Thailand . This was a PLOY of
Pakistan to throw a wrong NOTE for the Indian to hear and sing a SONG. That
WRONG NOTE kept on coming to India from Pakistan always in Hockey from 1964 and
it even is now the same which INDIA till now HARDLY hears that to understand
it. That Finals and that SUDDEN DEATH goal at Bangkok was the SUDDEN-DEATH of
Indian Hockey and Indian Hockey never sems to understand that. That was
revealed EXACTLY in the Finals of the 1973 World Cup.
1973 World Cup
:: BLICKERING AND MENTAL APTITUDE, IT’S
DIFFERENCE “ KILLED ” India In The Finals
31st August, that was a RED LETTER day for India.
It was because the NATION was celebrating the GANESH CHATHURTI day . It was
because on that Ganesh Chathurthi day India beat Pakistan by a REVERSE FLICK
goal a WORLD CLASS ONE scored by B.P.Govinda in the 62nd minutes of
the game. . All the NEWSPAPER in India
CRIED- “” IT WAS GANESH DAY “” …
However came September 2nd ….. the LAST ie the
ELEVENTH day of the Ganesh Chathurti on that year, a day when the LORD GANESH
is immersed……. It saw the IMMERSION of the Indian Hockey aftewr the team sprang
many a HOPES and at last saw MANY a HEART BROKEN and ATTACKED into the DEATH.
Came September 1st 1973, came the pictures and
the virtual photos in all the Newspaper in India tat M.P.Ganesh will hold the
World Cup Hockey HIGH in hands. Came September
2nd 1973, yes it came and the month too came and went passed
by…..
COME SEPTEMBER is a FILM which was a WORLD FAMOUS film. Has I
repeat HAS ANYBODY MADE A FILM “
WENT SEPTEMBER ” . If not they can .
Pic :: September 2nd Ajitpal Singh moving up with a clever display to earn India it's First penalty corner
For September 2nd 1973 India went into the lead
against Holland within the 19th minutes of play. Two rasping shot at
the goal off two penalty corners and India were two up. It was Ajitpal Singh who got the first penalty corner for India when in a very clever and an intelligent run he foxed the Dutch to get India it's first penalty corner .
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY ,
COME WHEN THE LITTLE JOHN WANTS TO PLAY. This was the RHYME that was taught to
us. Rain came in thereafter in the match after 21 minutes of the game was over,
The match again started after 38 minutes
of halt.
From 0-2 down Holland bounced back to 2-2 with Ties Kruize
scoring two. Then came the Monnet and the moment, that
INDIANS ARE KNOWN FOR AND MAKE IT KNOWN FOR.
Pic :: That Scenario Of The Game When Varinder Singh Was Obstructed For A Penalty Stroke For India
India were awarded a PENALTY STROKE when Virendra Singh
latched on a diagonal pass from Ashok Kumar which came to him courtesy Ashok
Kumar . Virendra in a flash reached the striking circle and took the ball on
his stick. He beat two defenders and outclassed the goalkeeper by a body feint
to have a OPEN GOAL in front of him . All that was needed was to fire in the
shot. But Virender instead of doing that he moved a step forward to increase
the ANGLE of the goal and while doing that he found that a player from the front,
a Dutch came from nowhere and denied him the push or the stroke by placing his
stick to Virender’s stick obstructing him for the shot.
A penalty stroke was awarded to the Indian but nobody came
forward to take it. Ganesh looked at Ajitpal Singh and his eye and his body
language told him or send a message to him that NOT INTERESTED. Ajitpal was a MASTER and a SPECIALIST of
penalty stroke . Finding Ajitpal NOT INTERESTED, he looked at Harmik who also
gave him the same kind of a LOOK. Ganesh knew that they were not in favour of
taking that stroke. Both Harmik and Ajitpal actually were the SPECIALIST of
penalty stroke but they denied taking that.
Whatever one have to say or not to believe, the CAPTAINSHIP
that was taken away by Ajitpal after he led India in the 1971 World Cup and By Harmik
Singh after he led India in the 1972 Olympics and both of very Senior to Ganesh, scratched their HEART and it
seems freshened their scars as they refused to take those or that penalty
stroke . Ganesh himself did not want to take that .
It was and it is that B.P.Govinda who was having a very good
outing and was always looking dangerous in that finals to score at any moment,
came in running to Ganesh and asked him if he allowed him to take that stroke.
Finding no other alternative, Ganesh who is a Coorgi, asked BELIMOGI
PUTTUSWAMY GOVINDA a COORGI to take that stroke .
Govinda took it. His push was such that
the BALL travelled from the stich that he used to push that one to about
six feet and the ball stopped there itself.
Pic ::B.P.Govinda exults after Surjit Singh puts India 2-0 on September 2nd 1973 ,Finals , World Cup
The rainfall that caused the field to become a bit slushy
and a bit heavy with the water not soaked at places properly was enough for the
ball to travel s distance that I have described here for the ball to stop. THAT
was THAT. In the 53rd minute of the game, Surjit Singh scored off a
penalty corner .The shot was a CARPET ROLLED ONE which KISSED the ground all
over and hit the back of the goal board ONLY TO BE NEGATED BY THE UMPIRE, Mr
VIJAYNATHAN ,a Tamilian, A Singhalese by birth but settled at Malaysia. Everybody
were surprised at the goal being disallowed then. Then came the CROPPER in the
form of the penalty stroke as described here. It broke the Indians. Then came
the attack that Govinda-Ashok-Ajitpal-Govinda finally Ashok who got the ball.
In a DOUBLE-BODY-FEINTS , Ashok beat everybody near the goal and took a reverse
flick a WORLD CLASS one which hit the bar and came back to Ashok .When he
retook the rebound again of a reverse stick to the LEFT-CORNER of the goalpost,
HIGH, at the LEFT corner, the BALL hit
the UPPER bar and the flow , of the ball was such that it rose after
hitting the extreme tip of the Left corner of the goal, to go out , the
successive course of the flight of the ball flew to the back ,over the goal for the goal
to be missed.
Thereafter the match went till the extra time. From there it
ws to the penalty stroke which india lost by 2-4 and by 4-6 overall to let go
the CUP out of it’s grasp .
My article dated October 16th, 2019 which is
titles as under-:
That SLAP which won India the World Cup Hockey on March 15th
1975
is inserted in this
web blog page which I REQUEST all the readers to read it. PLEASE READ IT. It
illustrates all about the way India lost the FIRST-TWO edition of the World Cup
Hockey. I do not want to rewrite all those to make this article lengthy at all.
That will illustrate all about India losing the First Two edition of the World
Cup Hockey and this too was LOST by India. Bad luck, that SCRATCH and the SCAR
of taking away the captainship from the TWO – SARDAR’S that I have mentioned
and the NORTH-SOUTH inferno that was so TOWERING and looming on and in the Indian
Hockey took away the honour for India in 1973 itself to win the World Cup which
was well within our grip and which we were made to lose by the DEFAULTS of the Malaysian
Umpire/Referee and by the infighting a COLD-BOLD one which I have described
here.
COME SEPTEMBER----- CAME SEPTEMBER-----WENT SEPTEMBER and
went all the TEARS that rolled out of everybody and their eye, when India had LOST that World Cup Hockey
title which RIGHTLY was ours .
A SECOND LOOK PAKISTANI SIDE PLAYED BEAUTIFULLY, LACKING IN
EXPERTISE TO FINISH FOURTH IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP LOSING THE BRONZE MEDAL TIE TO
WEST GERMANY BY 1-0.
India Win’s the
1975 World Cup :: Hockey DISMISALLY displaced
After Mr M.A,M Ramaswamy took over the rein of the I.H.F in
1973 the start and the feud between the North Indian’s and the South Indian
really started, and that was something a HEGEMONY that had crept in to the
hockey. For all these years Indian Hockey was totally dominated by the Dardarji’s
and the North Indians.
Mr M.A.M Ramaswamy after he became the Chief of the I.H.F,
India finished as the RUNNERS-UP in the 1973 edition of the World Hockey and thereafter
India won the SILVER at the Asian Games 1974 which was held at Tehran . Though
India ost to Pakistan at Tehran it did well . That Finals and that entire
Hockey tourney at Tehran was played on the ROUND-ROBIN league with the top two
would qualify for the finals which India and Pakistan did and the next two will
play for the Silver which Japan and malaysia did.
In that Hockey finals at Tehran, India held Pakistan to a
1-1 draw in the first attempt and on the finals on the first day. For Pakistan
it was their stopper back Manzoor-Ul_hasan who scored and for India it was
Ajitpal Singh who equalized. India again was a trifle unlucky as Ashok Kumars
rasping SWEEP on that dat hit the cross bar and rebounded back and when
B.P.Govinda acted on the rebound it again hit the side bar to whiz past the
goalline . It was 1-1 on the first say and the first day. The dead lock had to
be broken. It was a fast paced a neat and a thrilling Hockey that the entire
spectators on that day witnessed. The extra time was NOT played and it was decided
that the match would be replayed again as the gate revenue would make it the
best as the collection by the Iranian Games Authority that was holding the
games. The next day again it was Mazur-Ul-Hasan for Pakistan who did everything
possible for them to score the first and then it was Akhtar Rasool who scored
the second to finish the tie and the GOLD for Pakistan.
Back here the manner in which India was playing but
unluckily losing to it’s opponent made everybody feel that Mr M.A.M RAMASWAMY WAS THE “ LUCKY MASCOT ” for India. He actually started getting a
NICKNAME as SYMBOL OF GOOD LUCK FOR INDIA .
The GREATEST gift that India got after him taking over was
the WORLD CUP 1975 when India beat Pakistan by 2-1 in the finals at Kuala
Lumpur . That victory made everybody, ther media the business community and the
others to say and feel that Mr RAMASWAMY WAS THE ANGEL’S BLESSING FOR
INDIAN HOCKEY .
It was the business community that got into the thick of the
action and they made Mr ramaswamy to concentrate more on his business by using
the LABEL of that WORLD CUP VICTORY to build his name and build a name for this
and his business. That he did it beautifully well and to the hilt. That he was
doing it well fror a very long and a good time .
Astro Turf makes
It’s way :: I.H.F did nothing for it
Basically Mr Ramaswamy DID nothing to encash on that Hockey
success of 1975. More and more fueds were brewing up and the internal structure
of the Hockey was being disarrayed by the factions going to the court. Some
wranglings which were the most dirty one’s were swept under the carpet and the
game was not moving in the direction that it should have . The Astro Turf had
come and even Pakistan laid it on their Hockey HQ field at Lahore but back here
at India nothing was done to lay that.Mr Ramaswamy should have taken the cognizance
and the lead to do something about that but he did nothing .
To feel and to guaze the LIKES and the DISLIKE of the Astro
turf, the West Germany Hockey association invited India , Holland and Pakistan
to play in that invitational tourney. That was just to make the teams and the
players to feel the experience of playing on that a kind of surface. India did
not go at all to play and instead Australia were invited. West Germany won that
invitational tourney defeating Pakistan in a THRILLER by 4-3.The Pakistani’s
immediately felt the HEAT of playing in these kind of a TURF. Back home they
insisted their administration to get at least ONE laid for their players to
practice on it as without any practice on that a kind of surface they would not
be able to do anything of note in the internationals. The Lahore Office of
Pakistan’s Hockey HQ got ONE laid for them to play and practice on it. HJere in
India nobody was DAMN interested about anything except fighting amongst
themselves .
To bring the business community of Belgium and France
together here at India and at Madras then for the business community to span
out well with the business community of these two countries , he organized a
FOUR NATION invitational tourney at Madras in the fag end of 1975 where the
national team of France and Belgium were invited and India won that tourney.
That tourney threw a player by the name of Syed Ali who was really
impressive and outstanding as a player in that tournament .
It was from here that the TOTAL COLLAPSE of the Indian
Hockey started and the debacle which took place at Montreal in the Olympics in
1976 and thereafter would be discussed by me tomorrow in my write up
For the day I pen down ie put my pen down and would request
the readers to wait until tomorrow to read the lines.
Well this is for the day with a PROMISE to return tomorrow for the rest to follow. More
interesting facts would be put tomorrow for the readers to read that .
Well , that is it and That sums it all.
Regards and Thanks
Pics
Shyamal Bhattacharjee
Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .
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