1. INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, MONTREAL 1976
Play-off for semi-final place: India 1 Australia 1, a.e.t 1-1. Tiebreaker: 4-5
Battered and bruised by defeats at the hands of The Netherlands (1-3) and Australia (1-6) India were given a lifeline by Argentina.
The unfancied South Americans stunned mighty Australia 3-2 to bring India back into the race for a semi-final spot.
Ajit Pal Singh’s team, so badly humiliated by the Aussies in the league phase now faced their nemesis in a playoff for second spot to join pool winners The Netherlands in the semi-finals.
The team that fell apart in the pool match while floundering on the revolutionary artificial surface were a transformed unit in this do-or-die contest. Ric Charlesworth shot Australia ahead in the 33rd minute but India far from imploded as in their first meeting and Surjit Singh equalised in the very next minute from a penalty corner.
India, the then World Cup champions, fought tooth-and-nail with the Kookaburras as the match went on and fulltime arrived with no change in the score-line. Extra-time followed but the deadlock remained and the teams braced for dreaded tiebreaker.
Surjit, Ajit Pal and Ashok Kumar were successful with their strokes. So too David Bell, Robert Haigh and Terry Walsh for Australia. Ajit Singh then failed with his attempt. Trevor Smith, though, was spot on. VJ Philip ensured the duel went to the very last penalty stroke. Charlesworth, who scored in regulation time, did so again and Australia were through.
India, for all their valour would now miss the semifinals – and a medal – for the first time in Olympic history. A dispirited team found themselves fighting for minor places. A 2-3 defeat to (West) Germany pushed them further down to the 7th-8th place match which they won 2-0 over Malaysia.
One can only ponder on a huge “what might have been”. Thin lines go with tiebreaker results and if India had qualified for the semi-finals, a medal would have been a step away. Instead, Indian hockey sank into an abyss caused by the lowly seventh-place finish in Montreal and in many ways hasn’t managed to emerge from the deep till this day.
2. INDIA VS THE NETHERLANDS, LOS ANGELES 1984
Classification: 5th-6th place: India 5 The Netherlands 2.
Smarting from missing the semi-final by a hair’s breadth, India put the disappointment behind to win the crossover match against New Zealand 1-0 to set up a clash against The Netherlands, themselves, dejected at missing the medal round.
Mervyn Fernandis shot India ahead in the second minute but Diepeveen and Van’t Hek scored in quick succession to make it 2-1 for The Netherlands. Fernandis scored his second on 19 minutes to level scores and the teams crossed over honours even.
India then took the match by the scruff with Vineet Kumar banging in a penalty corner within a minute of resumption. Mohd Shahid added another in the 48th minute before Zafar Iqbal had the match well won in the 53rd.
It was an emphatic win over a team from the top bracket. Although the dream of gold disappeared with a goalless draw with (West) Germany in the concluding pool match, a huge victory over The Netherlands, a team that had been a scourge for Indian teams in the last decade, provided some consolation.
3. INDIA VS SPAIN, ATLANTA 1996
Pool match: India 3 Spain 1
After a disastrous start against Argentina which resulted in a 0-1 defeat and the dropping of a valuable point in a 1-1 draw against Germany, India were left with too much ground to cover for a semi-final spot.
A goalless draw against arch-rivals Pakistan did not help and Germany’s clinical 3-0 win over the US shunted India out of the medals race. A game against Spain remained and India were determined to make a mark, albeit in a failed medal-seeking campaign.
Spain were assured of top spot in the pool ahead of Germany but were intent on retaining rhythm ahead of their semi-final against fancied Australia.
Gavin Ferreira drew first blood for India in the 21st minute but Escude restored parity two minutes before halftime. Ferreira restored India’s lead in the 41st minute before Sabu Varkey put the issued beyond doubt in the 59th minute. It was a significant victory, given Spain’s march to the final where they stretched The Netherlands before going down 1-3.
4. INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY 2000
Pool match: India 2 Australia 2
Playing at home, Australia were as formidable as ever. India, however, were far from daunted and took a first-minute lead in a pool match, Mukesh Kumar on target. Jay Stacy levelled for Australia four minutes later and the teams changed ends after halftime with the score 1-1. Baljeet Singh regained the lead for India in the 25th minute and it wasn’t until the 51st minute that Australia equalized when Craig Victory scored.
Australia went on to win the bronze medal. India finished seventh after coming within 90 seconds of making the semi-finals – Poland dashing hopes with a last-gasp equalizer in a 1-1 draw which meant that South Korea and not Ramandeep Singh’s team progressed to the semi-finals.
A deflated India found it tough to regain the intensity they displayed against Australia and lost to Great Britain 1-2 in the crossovers before beating Argentina 3-1 to claim the seventh spot.
5. INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA, ATHENS 2004
Pool match: India 4 South Africa 2
After a defeat to The Netherlands in their opener on Independence Day, India found themselves 0-2 down within 12 minutes against lowly South Africa in their next match two days later.
Would another sad chapter be written in Indian hockey history?
The answer took some time coming and it was in the negative. India found their scoring sticks and the iconic Dhanraj Pillay pulled one back in the 27th minute. Baljeet Singh equalized six minutes into the second half but the minutes ticked away with no further change in the scoreline. The fightback notwithstanding, a draw would have been a disappointing result after the opening-match defeat. However, captain Dilip Tirkey had other ideas, putting India ahead with a 69th-minute penalty-corner strike.
Gagan Ajit Singh then scored the insurance goal with only seconds remaining. Three points in the bag for India but it brought more relief than elation. India dropped points in the next three matches, conceding last-minute goals in defeats to Australia (3-4) and New Zealand (1-2), and a draw with Argentina (2-2).
Missing the semifinals, India slipped further with a 0-3 defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan but beat South Korea 5-2 to finish seventh.