Shekhar Gupta: Three sports stories

Not for sports pages. Their essence isn't sport, but power. And how failure to use it ruins a sport

Unless you are among the many preparing for UPSC, chances are you won’t recall when Indian hockey last won a genuine medal at an Olympics. Genuine, because we discount the gold in Moscow, 1980, which most hockey powers had boycotted in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
 
The answer is, a bronze in Mexico City, 1968. After that the only big trophy in Indian hockey's cupboard is the World Cup won in Kuala Lumpur, 1975. Then on, Indian hockey declined in a manner that seemed terminal, struggling for Olympic, World Cup and Champions Trophy qualifications and then failing.