March 15, 2025 marks the Golden Jubilee anniversary of India's first and till date only Hockey World Cup triumph. On this day in 1975, India defeated Pakistan in a thrilling contest in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to clinch the title. (More Hockey News)
Coming into the final, Pakistan, the inaugural World Cup's champions, had not lost a game. They had topped their group and then thrashed defending champions West Germany 5-1 in the semifinals.
India did not have the best of starts to the tournament as they drew against Australia and lost to Argentina in the group stage. They got to the semifinals as group leaders but even there Malaysia stretched them to extra time.
India were given a tough challenge by hosts Malaysia in the semifinals but they managed to score the winner in the extra time to advance to the final.
Pakistan took the lead in just the 17th minute to put India under pressure early on in the game. Pakistan maintained that lead well past the half-time. Then came the equaliser in the 44th minute via Surjit Singh's stick. Seven minutes later Ashok Kumar scored the all-important goal that turned out to be the winner.
Since that victory, India have not been able to qualify even for the semifinals of the Hockey World Cup despite appearing in the tournament every single time. In fact, since the 1975 World Cup triumph, India's only title win has come in the 1980 Moscow Olympics where most hockey powers did not play due to Cold War.
India's 1975 Hockey World Cup Winning Squad
Ashok Diwan (shirt no. 2), Surjit Singh (4), Michael Kindo, Aslam Sher Khan (5), Varinder Singh (6), Onkar Singh, Mohinder Singh (8), Ajit Pal Singh (7 Captain), Ashok Kumar (17), B. P. Govinda (11), Harcharan Singh (15), Harjinder Singh, Victor Philips (10), Shivaji Pawar (16), P. E. Kalaiah, Leslie Fernandez.
