Forty three years ago, the Indian men’s hockey team won their first ever World Cup title, beating arch rivals Pakistan in the final. Pakistan had been the winners of the 1971 edition and, in 1973, India had ended up as the losing finalists to Netherlands.
India’s form had not been all that too great through the 1975 World Cup, where they won three matches, lost one and drew one in the group stage, before beating Malaysia 3-2 in the semi-finals. The summit clash was a close encounter and Pakistan even took the lead in the first half (the format back then was two halves of 35 minutes each) via Zahid Sheikh.
However, India levelled the scores in the second half after Surjit Singh converted a penalty corner. The all-important winner was scored by Ashok Kumar, who was Dhyan Chand’s son. It was a controversial goal, as the ball hit the post and bounced back out, but the umpire ruled that it had crossed the line.
You can watch the entire match here:
Pakistan did go on to win the next two World Cup titles, including the 1982 edition that was hosted by India. They won it again in 1994 in Sydney. India, however, haven’t been able to add another World Cup trophy to their cabinet after 1975.
