One year prior to the 1972 Olympics India won bronze medal at the 1971 World Cup by virtue of a win over Kenya. In 1973 World Cup India defeated Pakistan in semi-finals, but lost to Netherlands in the final in penalty shoot-out after the match ended in a 2–2 draw. But in the 1975 World Cup India defeated Malaysia in the semi-final before beating arch-rivals Pakistan to claim their first title.In the 1976 Olympics astro-turf hockey pitch was introduced, India struggled to maintain their dominance like they did on grass fields and for the first time ever returned home empty handed. The