Indian Hockey Team at the Olympics: Only a few days are left for the Paris Olympics to begin. India had performed very well in the Tokyo Olympics. In such a situation, the country expects the players to once again enhance the pride of the tricolor. India participated in the Olympics for the first time in the year 1900. So far India has won 35 medals in these games. Hockey is the sport where India has won medals the most number of times. India has so far won a total of 12 Olympic medals in hockey, which includes eight gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

Golden history of Indian Hockey Team in Olympics

Hockey is one of the oldest sports in the world, which probably started in Scotland in 1527. The first hockey club in India was established in Kolkata in 1855. The Indian Hockey Association was established in 1925 and the International Hockey Federation was started a year before that. Let us tell you, the Indian hockey team first stepped into the Olympics in 1928. At the same time, FIH gave permanent Olympic status to hockey in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

Already won gold medal in Olympics

Making its debut in the 1928 Olympics, the Indian hockey team won the gold medal.

In that Olympics, India scored a total of 29 goals in 5 matches, 14 goals came from Dhyan Chand's hockey stick. A total of 9 teams participated in the hockey event of the 1928 Olympics. India was placed in Group A along with Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria. The Indian team defeated the Netherlands in the final.

hat-trick of gold medals

After the spectacular performance of the 1928 Olympics, the Indian hockey team also won the gold medal in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. In the 1932 Olympics, only the hockey teams of India, Japan and America participated.

During this, India won the gold medal by defeating America by a margin of 24-1. In the 1936 Olympics, India faced Germany in the final match. In this match, India scored a hat-trick of gold medals in the Olympics by defeating Germany 8-1.

After becoming an independent nation, it showed its power again

After the partition of India in 1947, the Indian hockey team was disintegrated and India participated as an independent nation for the first time in the 1948 London Olympics. During this time, the Indian team defeated Great Britain in the final and won its fourth gold medal in the Olympics.

After this, the top four teams of the 1948 London Olympics got direct entry into the quarter-finals in the Helsinki Olympics, which also included India. The Indian team faced the Netherlands in the final of the 1952 Olympics. India won the gold medal for the 5th time by winning this match 6-1. India's dominance was also seen in the 1956 Olympics. Teams from 12 countries participated in the field hockey competition of the Melbourne Olympics. The final match of hockey in this Olympics was played between the teams of India and Pakistan. The teams of India and Pakistan were face to face for the first time. In this match, India defeated Pakistan 1-0 and won the gold medal for the sixth time.

Indian hockey team continues medal streak

In the 1960 Rome Olympics too, everyone failed in front of the Indian team. In this Olympics, India, the strong contender for the title, was placed in Group A along with New Zealand, Netherlands and Denmark. This time too, the Indian hockey team won all its matches in the group stage. But this time in the final, the Indian team had to face defeat against Pakistan and had to be happy with the silver medal. But in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian team made a strong comeback and won the gold medal by defeating Pakistan in the final and taking revenge.

A major setback in the 1968 Mexico Olympics

The 1968 Mexico Olympics was the first Olympics when the Indian hockey team failed to reach the finals. The Indian team lost to Australia. But India managed to win the bronze medal by defeating West Germany. After this, the Indian hockey team also won the bronze medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics. At the same time, the Indian hockey team could not win any medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Then in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the Indian hockey team made a great comeback and compensated for the previous Olympics by winning the gold medal.

The 41 year long wait began again

After the 1980 Moscow Olympics, there was a huge decline in the level of Indian hockey. After winning the gold medal in the Moscow Olympics, it took 41 years for the Indian hockey team to finish on the podium. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian hockey team won the bronze medal, ending the 41-year drought. This victory was the most special victory in the history of Indian hockey. The Indian team did this feat under the captaincy of Manpreet Singh. In such a situation, fans are going to have the highest expectations from the Indian hockey team this time too.

Indian team matches in Paris Olympics

The Indian team will start its campaign in Paris Olympics 2024 against New Zealand on 27 July. After this, the Indian team will face Argentina on 29 July. Then there will be a clash with Ireland on 30 July, Belgium on 1 August and Australia on 2 August.

Indian Hockey Team for Paris Olympics 2024:

Goalkeeper- PR Sreejesh

Defenders – Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay

Midfielders – Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad

Forwards – Abhishek, Sukhjit Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Substitute players – Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishna Bahadur Pathak