Paris, Aug 7: Indian men's hockey team missed an opportunity on Tuesday to change their medal colour in the Olympics.
Led by Harmanpreet Singh, India though fought well against Germany in the semifinal, but missed the opportunity to play the final. India will play against Spain on Thursday for the Bronze medal.
Germans avenged their Tokyo Olympics defeat as they stormed into final with a 3-2 win against Indians. In Tokyo Games, India had defeated Germany in the Bronze medal match.
Until, Tokyo Games, India never won a hockey medal again after a Gold medal finish in 1980 Mosco Olympics. They had ended their hockey medal drought in Olympics in Tokyo after 41 years.
But India were eager to enter the final in Paris Olympics and win a Gold/Silver. But on Tuesday, the Germans had the last laugh. They will now play for the Gold against the Netherlands.
Remind you, India were without their most experienced defender Amit Rohidas in the semifinal. The Odisha defender missed out due to the Red card issued in the quarterfinal against Great Britain.
India will now play Spain on Thursday for the third place (Bronze medal). Spain lost to the Netherlands 4-0 in the first semifinal.
In the keenly contested second semifinal battle on Tuesday, India took the lead early in the game. But Germany struck twice in the first half to turn the game on its head.
Struggling for a comeback into the game, India restored parity in the third quarter with their second goal of the day. But the Germans demonstrated their resilience to edge the men in blue out with a late strike in the final quarter of the game.
Can India give a medal winning farewell send off to their former captain and seasoned goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on Thursday? That will be a key for captain Harmanpreet and Co.
Because Sreejesh has already announced his retirement from international hockey making it clear that Paris Games 2024 will be his last appearance in Indian jersey as a player.
Sreejesh was instrumental in India's quarterfinal victory against Great Britain in the penalty shootouts. After 1-1 scoreline, in the stipulated time, India-Great Britain quarterfinal was pushed to shootouts, where India prevailed 4-2 with Sreejesh making some spectacular saves. That match was more memorable for India, as they were reduced to 10-men after defender Amit Rohidas was issued a Red card.
