Indian hockey stalwart and former Captain Ajit Pal Singh got nostalgic as he recalled his dream Olympic debut and India's back-to-back Bronze medal-winning feat at the 1968 Mexico and 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

"I was picked for the coaching camp of the 1968 Olympic Games, while I was in college, representing my home state Punjab. I would say, I was the youngest player at the camp, and I feel I was very lucky that I ultimately got a chance to play in the 1968 Olympic Games," recalled Ajit Pal Singh.

The 74-year-old further added, "Having lost the opening match against New Zealand, there was some reshuffling in the team, and I was brought in as the centre-half. My first Olympic match turned out to be against West Germany, who were one of the strongest teams during that time. I had butterflies in my stomach the night before the match, so you can imagine the pressure, we had already lost the first match, and we were supposed to pit against a quality side. I would say, I handled the pressure pretty well, and ended up contributing to the team's 2-1 win. I never looked back from there, and eventually played all the matches at the Mexico Olympics."

The Indian team led by two Captains, Prithipal Singh and Gurbux Singh after losing their first match to New Zealand, went on to win each of their remaining league stage matches against teams like West Germany (2-1), Mexico (8-0), Spain (1-0), Belgium (2-1), Japan (5-0 walkout) and East Germany (1-0), but lost to Australia (1-2) in the Semi-Final. For the first time in the Olympics history, India didn't feature in the Final of the quadrennial Games. However, the Indian team didn't return empty-handed as they beat West Germany 2-1 to clinch the Bronze medal.

"We went on to win each of our remaining league stage matches, but unfortunately, we lost to Australia in the Semi-Final and finished the campaign with a Bronze Medal. So, that was something really special, you know going for the first time, playing all the big matches, and coming back even with a Bronze medal, I think was a great achievement as far as the Olympics is concerned," said the former centre-half.

A three-time World Cup medallist (Bronze in '71, Silver in '73, Gold in '75) and India's only World Cup-winning Captain, Ajit Pal was also a part of the Harmek Singh-led side that clinched the Bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Games, which was India's 10th consecutive medal at the marquee event.