K. ARUMUGAM

India must have a score to settle with Great Britain when the two nations square up to each other in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic quarterfinals on Sunday.

If the players are oblivious of Olympic history between the teams, there would surely be aficionados aplenty with long memories.

The Olympic head-to-head count is level at 4-4 but the last victory by the eight-time gold medallists over GB came 49 years ago at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Simply put, India won all their encounters squarely on grass era. Paradoxically, Great Britain revenged with wining all four Olympic engagements on turf. Here, I basically focus on India-GB encounters on turf, which is relevant on the eve of India’s historical moment waiting to unfurl today at Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo.

GB won their first match against India at the Olympics at Seoul 1988. India were poised to reach the semifinals when they played GB in the concluding league game. India needed a draw to make it to the semifnal. That was the expectation of coach MP Ganesh and captain MM Somaya, but the match did not go that way.

It was goalless at halftime but after crossing ends, its the British team that had such strikers as Sean Kerly slammed in three goals to seal a semi-final spot and eventually clinch gold.

At Barcelona, four years later, GB beat Pargat Singh’ India again comprehensively 3-1 in a pool match. It was actually India that took the lead with a goal from Jude Felix, but after that the British took control Of the Indian circle. This despite winning a 3-match series a year earlier.

Can Manpreet Singh’s team win today’s GB encounter? Stats before Rio

More recently, however, there was a defeat at the hands of the Brits which rankles far more. Steered by the member of the 1988 team, GB defeated India in the pool and in the final of an very significant event.

It wasn’t in the Olympics proper but the qualifier for the Games in Santiago, Chile, in 2008.

GB dealt India perhaps the greatest blow inflicted on the eight-time gold medallists. In the final of a tricky Olympic qualifier, GB won 2-0 and deprived India of a presence at the Games. The first time it ever happened in India’s 80-year history at the Olympics at that point.

GB also provided India another low moment. This time at the Games itself. At Atlanta 1996, the British won a classification match 4-3 to doom India to their lowest ever Olympic ranking of eighth.

India last played GB at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A 1-2 defeat in a classification match pushed India down to the 7^th-8^th match.

Indian goalie PR Sreejesh has to shoulder much of the responsibility today

The last victory India enjoyed against GB in the Olympics came almost half a century ago at Munich 1972 where they prevailed 5-0. Mukhbain Singh struck a brace after Michael Kindo gave the lead. The last goal was struck by young captain Harmik Singh.

The teams first met in the 1948 London Olympic final where Independent India bearded the British lion in its own den, winning 4-0. Before that it is said that the British avoided the Indians at the 1928 to 1936 period, to avoid defeat at the hands of  a colonial country.

At Helsinki 1952, India got the better of GB 3-1 in the semi-finals en route to winning gold.

The next meeting was in Rome 1960, another semi-final once again won by India, 1-0.

What will happen today is a million dollar question.