August 12, 1948, is a historic date in Indian sports history. Way back in 1948, during the Olympic Games, India as an independent nations won its first Olympic gold medal. It was Indian men’s hockey team who walked away with the honours. Interestingly, India defeated Britain, its colonial rulers, in the final at the iconic Wembley Stadium. Reportedly, around 25,000 people watched the hockey match in the stadium and for the first time, India’s National Anthem was sung in Britain. Not only this, it was also the first instance of India’s national flag being unfurled in Britain.

Indian hockey team’s first participation at Olympics was way back in 1928. But the country was not independent then. So, the first gold medal at Olympics that came independent India’s way was in 1948 under Kishan Lal’s captaincy.

India hockey team was placed in Group A along with Argentina, Austria, and Spain. India in the first round defeated Austria 8-0, Argentina 9-1 and Spain 2-0 and thus topped the group to qualify for semi-finals. Jana Gana Mana Facts: Know More About Significance of Lyrics And Meaning of The Indian National Anthem.

In the semi-final, India faced Holland and outplayed the, 2-1 to enter the finals. In the other semi-final, hosts Britain defeated Pakistan 2-0, thus putting an end to speculations of an India vs. Pakistan final. Had Pakistan qualified for the finals, it would have been the first India-Pakistan duel on the hockey field.

In the final, Balbir Singh Sr. netted two goals for India before the half-time in seventh and 15th minute. In the second half, India extended their lead with Patrick Jansen and Trilochan Singh Bawa scoring a goal each as India won its first gold medal under the tricolour at Olympics. Indian hockey team apparently remained unbeaten at the 1948 Olympics, winning five out of five matches. The team scored 25 goals and conceded only two throughout the 1948 Olympics.

Watch Balbir Singh Sr. relive the memories of the London 1948 Olympics

Indian Hockey Team at 1948 Olympics:

Kishan Lal (captain), Ranganathan Francis, Leo Pinto, Walter D’Souza, Tarlochan Singh Bawa, Akhtar Hussain, Randhir Singh Gentle, Kunwar Digvijay Singh ‘Babu’, Keshav Dutt, Amir Kumar, Maxie Vaz, Leslie Claudius, Balbir SinghSr., Patrick Jansen, Latifur Rehman, Lawrie Fernandes, Gerald Glacken, Reginald Rodrigues, Grahanandan Singh, Jaswant Singh Rajput.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2018 07:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).