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The 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, when
India won the gold, was the country's first step towards ascending
the hockey throne. It was at the insistence of the newly-formed
Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) that the sport was included in the
programme after a break of eight years.
When hockey made its Olympic debut in 1908 at London, the sport
had barely taken root in India. Calcutta formed clubs in 1885
followed by hosting the country's first tournament, the Beighton
Cup the same year, and Bombay organising the Aga Khan Cup in 1886.
However, it was only on Sep 7, 1925 that the IHF had its first
meeting in Gwalior where Col Bruce Turnbull was elected president
and NS. Ansari, the secretary.
India's Olympic debut was marred by controversy over captaincy.
Jaipal Singh, who was
studying in Oxford, was selected along with two other England-based Indians, Yusuf Khan and the Nawab of Pataudi (Sr),
who played only in the warm-up games but not the
Olympics.
Jaipal was named captain much to the dismay of the Anglo-Indian
players in the squad. The simmering discontent saw a disgusted Jaipal walk out of the team after it reached the quarter-finals
and Eric Pinninger took over the leadership.
The competition that India won convincingly saw the birth of a
legend in Dhyan Chand who was the top scorer of the tournament
with 14 goals, including a hat-trick in the final against the
Netherlands while India did not concede a single goal in five
matches.
India's performance earned them rave reviews and while only three
persons saw them off
on their journey to London, massive crowds thronged the Bombay
port to welcome the new
Olympic champions.
A Dutch journalist, taken in by the Indian wizardry, wrote: "The
Indian ball seems ignorant of law of gravity. One of those tanned,
diabolical jugglers stares at the ball intently; it gets upright
and remains suspended in the air. It only proceeds on its way when
the player has bestowed an approval nod on it."
Indian team
Jaipal Singh and Broome Eric Pinninger (captain),
Syed M Yusuf, Richard J Allen, Michael E Roeque, Leslie C Hammond,
Rex A Norris, William John Goodsir-Cullen, Kehar Singh Gill,
Maurice A Gateley, Shaukat Ali, George E Marthins, Dhyan Chand,
Feroze Khan and Frederick S Seaman.
Results
League - India beat Austria 6-0 (Dhyan Chand 4; Shaukat Ali 1;
Maurice Gateley 1).
India beat Belgium 9-0 (Feroze Khan 5; Frederic Seaman 2, George
Marthins 1; Dhyan Chand 1)
India beat Denmark 5-0 (Dhyan Chand 4; Frederic Seaman 1).
India beat Switzerland 6-0 (Dhyan Chand 3; Maurice Gateley 2;
George Marthins 1).
Final
India beat Holland 3-0 (Dhyan Chand 2; George Marthins 1).
Final Positions
India 1, Netherlands 2, Germany 3; Belgium 4;
Spain 5; France 6; Denmark 7;
Austria 8; Switzerland 9.
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