Eight is not enough

09/09/2000

IT WAS back in the glory days of grass hockey that Malaysia finished
eighth twice in the Olympics and then it was another eighth finish on the
artificial pitch of the 1976 Montreal Games in Canada.
In Tokyo in '64 Malaysia finished eighth among 16 teams and later in
Munich in 1972 we equalled the feat among 12 teams.
The '76 men had to fight tooth-and-nail not only with their mighty
opponents India, Australia, Canada, Holland and Argentina but also the
newly introduced artificial pitch which some teams found difficult to
master.
Especially so for Malaysia as there were no artificial pitches around
and were comfortable with grass as the fourth finish in the World Cup a
year earlier in Kuala Lumpur indicated.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation took the team on a two week training
stint to Paris and London to familiarise themselves with the artificial
pitch which forwards Poon Fook Loke, M. Mahendran and T. Pathmanathan
found tough to master.
"They could not hit as hard as they did on grass because on grass even
if you hit below the ball, the only damage will be a patch coming off but
on turf, the ball will not move more than a few yards.
"The forwards found this a stumbling block," said '76 skipper N. Sri
Shanmuganathan.
Sri Shan, a three-time Olympian, is best remembered for the goal he
scored against defending champions Holland to put them out of the
semifinals of the 1975 World Cup.
Veteran hockey fans who thronged the slopes surrounding the Kilat Club
ground, would vouch that they never saw another match as equally
mesmerising.
"The pressure on the 1976 Olympic team was tremendous as the Malaysian
public expected much after a good World Cup outing a year earlier.
"We knew the odds were stacked against us because we would be playing a
tournament for the first time on artificial pitch, but we still managed a
respectable finish," said Sri Shan.
In teaming up with A. Francis (now residing in West Germany), Sri Shan's
strength stems from his ability to sense an attack from the initial stages
of its build-up and then marshal his defence.
But during the opening match against Australia, the defence was under
tremendous pressure as the forwards failed to hold the ball and so
Malaysia went down 2-0.
Pressure was one thing that was abundant in Montreal.
A boycott by 22 mainly African countries in protest to a New Zeaand
rugby tour of apartheid South Africa marred the Games. Then there was
Canada's refusal to allow Taiwan to take part in the Games.
Tanzania's withdrawal robbed the public of watching 1,500m world record
holder Filbert Bayi in action.
The International Olympic Committee were so riled up that they
threatened to scrap the Games altogether.
Some wrote that "from a five-ring Games, Montreal turned out to be a
three-ring circus."
But in the end, all was well as Malaysia's flag bearer hurdler Ishtiaq
Mobarak led the contingent past the royal box of Queen Elizabeth on July
22, 1976.
The second match against Holland was equally depressing as the Dutch
gained revenge on the '75 defeat in Kuala Lumpur by hammering two goals
past the Malaysian defence.
Argentina were next and Malaysia went down 2-0 but then gained
confidence on turf to beat Canada 1-0.
One paper wrote: "So gloomy were the Games, that even the Queen of
England could not manage a smile."
But there were light memorable moments, for those who went hunting for
it that is.
The late Mansoor Rahman, a veteran sports editor who covered the '76
Games, wrote: "As usual, exchanging badges was a norm at the Games
Village. I exchanged one with a Canadian which read: Wear the badge the
correct way so that the Maple Leaf points upwards, in Canada, if you wear
the Maple Leaf hanging down it would indicate that you were pregnant."
India, too, struggled on turf and finished seventh. India, once the
masters of the game, won the last of their eight Olympic hockey golds at
the western-boycotted Moscow Games in 1980.
In Group A with defending champions Holland, 1992 champs Germany,
Pakistan, Canada and Britain at the Sydney 2000 Olympics - Malaysia don't
stand a chance of bettering their record safe for divine intervention.
'76 squad: Mohamed Azraal Zain, Khairuddin Zainal (goalkeepers), A.
Francis, N. Sri Shanmuganathan (skipper); Mohinder Singh, Wong Choon Hin,
S. Balasingam, N. Palanisamy, R. Ramakrishnan, M. Mahendran, Lam Kok Meng,
Poon Fook Loke, R. Patmarajah, Ow Soon Kooi, Wong Choon Hin, Avtar Singh,
Anthony Cruz.
(END)