On This Day: India triumphs over Great Britain at 1948 London Olympics to win fourth consecutive hockey gold

Saturday, 12 August, marks exactly 75 years since the India men’s hockey team continued its dominant march in the sport by winning gold in the 1948 London Olympics.

The London Games marked not only the second time the capital of the United Kingdom hosted the event, having done so earlier in 1908, it also marked the return of the Summer Olympics after a 12-year hiatus due to the Second World War.

India was slowly making its presence felt in sports such as cricket and football. The nation, however, had already established itself as a force to be reckoned with as far as field hockey was concerned, winning a hat-trick of gold medals in the Santiago, Los Angeles and Berlin Olympics respectively.

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Despite the 12-year hiatus as well as the fact that legends such as Dhyan Chand and Roop Singh had bid adieu to the sport did not affect India’s status as strong favourites to stand on top of the podium.

A legendary start! 🌟🏑

Exactly 7️⃣5️⃣ years ago today, Indian hockey seized its 4️⃣th consecutive Olympic gold, an illustrious victory celebrated under the Indian 🇮🇳🥇#OnThisDay | @TheHockeyIndia | @FIH_Hockey | @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/snrPl7sIOI

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) August 12, 2023

This was also the first time India was competing in the Olympics as an independent nation, with Pakistan also making their debut in the Games in London.

The Indians breezed through the group stage with lop-sided wins over Austria (8-0) and Argentina (9-1) followed by a 2-0 victory over Spain. India would then book their place in the final with a 2-1 victory over Netherlands.

In the final hurdle, the Indian team were up against Great Britain — the nation they had achieved independence from only a year back. In what turned out to be a fitting conclusion, India handed Britain a 4-0 defeat in the final at the Wembley Stadium (then known as Empire Stadium).

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Balbir Singh Sr, who was viewed by many as a worthy successor to Dhyan Chand, netted a brace with his first strike as early as the third minute while Patrick Jansen and Tarlochan Singh also added their names to their scoresheet.