It must rank one of the longest wait in the sporting history. When Indian men’s hockey team did an encore in London today, the 18th June, it obviously paid back in the same coin to Pakistan.
It was 35 summers ago that the visiting Pakistan posted a stunning 7-1 win over host India in the 1982 Asian Games final.
The humiliating defeat is till considered Black December for Indian hockey, if not Black Day, as it happened in front of who is who of Indian political class, and in a venue which saw record crowd.
Today, when Akashdeep struck an athletic beauty two minutes before the hooter, it has equalled the score that Pakistan posted in Delhi in 1982.
The only difference is that when it lost in Delhi India posted the first goal whereas Pakistan goal in London today came after conceding six goals.
India came close to match the return score of 82 Asiad in Chennai (SAF Games 1995) but its 5-0 lead was reduced to 5-2 later, and the Indians could not score further.
Pakistan hockey has been on a downhill for over a decade now.
No genuine effort seemed to have been put in place to revive and retrieve.
Pakistan did not qualify for the last World Cup and Olympics.
It must have sent alarm bells and efforts must have been taken on war footing.
It did not happen.
The results are there obvious for anyone to care.
Canada thrashed Pakistan for their record 6-0 win after The Netherlands pumped in four unanswered goals in the opener. The Dutch defeat seems fair, as the subsequent two loses were far more deeper.
With a score series of 0-4, 0-6, 1-7, Pakistan has one match to go in the 5-team pool A.
Pak need to win the last match against Scotland, and wait for other match results go in its favour on the last day of pool matches.