Tokyo: On a historic day for India at the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team defeated Great Britain 3-1 on Sunday to enter the semifinals for the first time in 49 years. This is also the first time, India had defeated Great Britain at the Olympics stages.
The last time India played in an Olympic semifinal was was against Pakistan in 1972 in Munich. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, no semifinal match was played. With only six teams participating it was played as a round-robin league with the top two teams playing the final and the third and fourth teams playing for the bronze medal. India won gold in 1980.
Dilpreet Singh (7th) and Gurjant Singh (16th) put India on top in the first two quarters while Hardik Singh (57th) put the icing on the cake. The only goal for Great Britain came from Sam Ward in the 45th minute.
अद्भुत, अद्वितीय और अविश्सनीय 😍
India are through to the semis. 🔥
🇮🇳 3:1 🇬🇧#INDvGBR #IndiaKaGame #HaiTayyar #Tokyo2020 #TeamIndia #TokyoTogether #StrongerTogether #HockeyInvites #WeAreTeamIndia #Hockey pic.twitter.com/l802EiWYvE
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 1, 2021
Once again, PR Sreejesh stood like a ‘Wall’ under the Indian bar and was also ably supported by the defenders as who together kept the British attackers at bay, denying them in seven of the eight PCs earned. Even India’s goals came from an open play, as the Men in Blue did not earn a single penalty corner.
India were clearly the dominant side in the first two quarters. With two early goals, the Manpreet Singh-led side pressed hard on the opposition as they barely gave Great Britain chances. However, the Indians were taken aback in the final two quarters as Ward & Co. spent most of their time at the opposition ‘D’ including three-four back-to-back PCs.
Meanwhile, Hardik’s goal played a significant turn in the entire match. With the score at 2-1, India caught Great Britain off guard and scored on the counter-attack. The youngster carried the ball almost from the midfield before aiming on the goal which was saved by goalkeeper Oliver Payne.
Hardik, who was lurking near, collected the ball on the rebound, dodged a defender to slot home from a long-range. Up next, India will face world champions Belgium. The Red Lions defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal. The other semifinal will be played between Australia and Germany.
