Madras, August 12: “Giving excuses is bad sportsmanship. We played badly and we lost. Let us try to rectify the mistake and prepare well for the future” declared Mr. M.A. M. Ramaswami, President, Indian Hockey Federation, on his arrival here yesterday after witnessing the Olympic Games at Montreal.Mr. Ramaswami said there were several reasons for the poor show. One main reason was the lack of team work. In most of the matches the players were individualistic and hockey being essentially a team game this approach did not pay results. Added to this was poor finish. If India had made good use of the chances that it had against Australia in the play-off match the tie would not have gone into extra-time. Even in the matches to decide the minor placings, India’s finish was woefully poor.“Let us not live in a false world that only Pakistan and India play top class hockey. Other countries like New Zealand, Holland, Argentina, Spain, and West Germany have improved tremendously”. Mr. Ramaswami added that the disparity in standards had been considerably reduced in present day competition, he said no team could afford to miss even a single chance.Mr. Ramaswami said that artificial (Astro) turf was in no way responsible for the poor show. In fact India started off splendidly scoring a goal within 20 seconds from the bully-off against Argentina. The Indian team shaped well on artificial turf in Paris as well as in Toronto and till its defeat against Holland. It was the opinion of many that India was a force to reckon with. Published - August 12, 2026 01:50 am IST