The second Hockey World Cup was held at Amstelveen in the Netherlands with the number of participating teams rising to 12. Eight of the teams which played at Barcelona in 1971 were there except France and nAustralia who had finished ninth and tenth in the competition. The new entrants were Malaysia, England, New Zealand and Belgium.
India was placed in Pool-A along with West Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Kenya and Japan. In Pool-B, holders Pakistan vied with the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Argentina and Malaysia. The tournament was played from August 24 to September 3, 1973.
India, which had a strong team, outclassed Japan 5-0 and blanked Kenya 4-0, but stumbled against West Germany and New Zealand as the ties ended in draw. Again West Germany, India drew goalless while New Zealand forced a 1-1 draw. In the other pool tie, India beat Spain 2-0 to finish second in the group with 11 points to finish behind West Germany (13 points) and qualify for the semifinals.
In Pool-B, Pakistan won four of its matches but was held 2-2 by England but finished at the top of the group with 13 points followed by the hosts Netherlands (10 points). India was pitted against Pakistan once again in the semifinal while the Netherlands squared up against West Germany. The Netherlands and West Germany played a goalless draw and in the tie-breaker the former prevailed 4-2 to enter the final. India took sweet revenge for the Barcelona defeat to edge out Pakistan 1-0 in the semifinal.
The stage was now set for India to come up with a display that would fetch them the crown. In the final, India began in whirlwind fashion as defender and penalty corner expert Surjit Singh crashed two opportunities into the boards within the first ten minutes as the team led 2-0.
Stunned by the fiery start, the Netherlands slowly regained the initiative as they scored twice to end the match at 2-2. The umpires enforced the tie-breaker to end the deadlock in which the hosts converted four of their chances while India could convert only two. It was really heartbreaking for the fans as a golden opportunity to become world champions was squandered.
India’s hour of glory was yet to come. Come 1975.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Bhubaneswar)