To represent India at the Olympics is one thing; to clinch the gold medal is something altogether different. Believe me, it’s a heavenly feeling. I was part of the Indian hockey team that represented the country at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Most of us were taking part in our first Games.
It was a wowing experience to a huge stadium packed to the brim. I can’t really express those feelings. And the icing on the cake was our gold-winning performance. There were quite a few good teams in Russia, Spain and Poland.
Our side, comprising Zafar Iqbal, MM Somaya, MK Kaushik and others, was really doing well under the leadership of V Baskaran. He handled the youngsters really well and calmed our nerves. He made us feel comfortable, especially in crunch situations. He told us to enjoy the game. And his advice held me in good stead.
The match against Poland was a tough one. They were 1-0 up, but I scored the equaliser and the match ended in a draw. In a round-robin league, luck always plays an important role. And it did in our case too. The medal ceremony was a memorable event. And when the National Anthem is played, you feel really proud.
We had very good sides in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games, too, but we failed to deliver the kind of performances that we should have.
—Merwyn Fernandes was part of the team which won the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He was the manager of Pune Strykers team in the World Series Hockey. He spoke to Taus Rizvi