How did the Indian hockey team perform at 1976 Olympics?

The hockey events at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, were played from July 18 to 30. The Percival Molson Memorial Stadium at McGill University hosted the hockey games of the competition. Interestingly, it was the first-ever instance in the Olympic history of the game taking place on artificial turf.

India were placed along with the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, and Argentina in Group A. In their first game, India secured a 4-0 victory over Argentina. Ajit Pal secured a brace, while Surjit Singh and Chand Singh scored one goal each.

Then, the Dutch side secured a 3-1 win over India, with only Victor John Philips scoring a goal for the team. The following fixture saw India get hammered 6-1 against Australia. Surjit Singh was the lone goal-scorer for India in this game.

In their fourth fixture, India produced a strong showing to win 3-0 over the Canadian team, with Phillips scoring a brace and Ajit hitting another goal. Then, India secured their third victory of the 1976 Olympics campaign by beating Malaysia 3-0. Ashok Kumar (son of Major Dhyan Chand) scored a brace, while Surjit Singh delivered another goal for the Indian team.

Although the Indian team had an impressive end to the tournament, they failed to qualify for the semifinals. After having finished on equal points (6), Australia and India played out a penalty shootout game, which witnessed the former winning by 5-4.

In the 5th/8th place qualification round, India were defeated 2-3 by West Germany. They ultimately finished seventh after securing a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in the 1976 Olympics.

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New Zealand won their maiden hockey gold medal at the 1976 Olympics

In the semifinals, New Zealand secured a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, while Australia eliminated Pakistan with a 2-1 victory.

The final game saw New Zealand secure a 1-0 victory over the Australian team, with Anthony Ineson scoring the lone goal.