After a tumultuous period following the hockey debacle at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, India fielded a relatively young but talented side for the Moscow Games, where barring skipper Vasudevan Baskaran and goalkeeper Bir Bahadur Chhetri, the rest made their debut.
The Games, though, were marred by a U.S.-led boycott over the Russian presence in Afghanistan.
As such, men’s hockey had just six teams with the medallists of the previous Games — New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan, besides European powerhouses West Germany and Holland — remaining absent. Thus, a gold medal for India was a foregone conclusion.
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Yet, it was not all smooth sailing for the Indians who drew 2-2 with both Poland and Spain in the league phase while trouncing a weak Tanzania 18-0, Cuba 13-0 and Russia 4-2 to qualify for the final. India had to work hard for the gold as Spain put up a fighting performance. Goals by Surinder Singh Sodhi (2), Mohd Shahid and M.K. Kaushik set up a 4-3 win for India.
Despite India winning the gold after a lapse of 16 years, few really attached much significance given that the top teams stayed out of the competition. Yet, the triumph helped to soothe the nerves and restore a modicum of respectability to Indian hockey whose slide was at least temporarily halted.
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Results:
League: India beat Tanzania 18-0 (Surinder Sodhi 5; Davinder Singh 4; Baskaran 4; Zafar Iqbal 2; Shahid 1; Mervyn Fernandis 1; Kaushik 1).
India drew with Poland 2-2 (Davinder Singh 1; Mervyn Fernandis 1).
India drew with Spain 2-2 (Surinder Sodhi 2).
India beat Cuba 13-0 (Surinder Sodhi 4; Shahid 2; Davinder Singh 2; Rajinder Singh 2; Amarjit Rana 2; Baskaran 1).
India beat Russia 4-2 (Davinder Singh 1; Surinder Sodhi 2; Kaushik 1).
Final: India beat Spain 4-3 (Surinder Sodhi 2; Kaushik 1; Shahid 1).
Positions: India 1; Spain 2; USSR 3; Poland 4; Cuba 5; Tanzania 6.