India ended a 49 year long wait for a medal at the Olympics on Sunday, reaching the men’s hockey semi-final following a convincing 3-1 quarterfinal win against Great Britain in Tokyo 2020.
Dilpreet Singh’s field goal gave India the lead in the seventh minute of the first quarter. Dilpreet’s goal was his second of the Olympics, and his second field goal as well.
With his second goal of the Tokyo Games, Gurjant Singh extended the lead for the Men in Blue as soon as the second quarter began.
India, on the other hand, only conceded near the end of the third quarter. There were anxieties, given India’s history of agonisingly bowing out of major tournaments by losing crucial moments. On Sunday, though, this was not the case. Hardik Singh scored late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Manpreet Singh and his team shed happy tears after multiple agonising exits from major competitions in recent years. They kept their cool and continued their strong run to reach the final four for the first time since the 1080 Gold-medal winning team finished third.
On Tuesday, India will play Belgium in the men’s hockey semi-final.
The Indian squad has qualified for the Olympic semifinals for the first time since 1972, and will meet world champions Belgium on August 3 at the Oi Hockey Stadium, North Pitch. It’s also the first time India has advanced to the final four since capturing the Gold Medal in 1980.
The Indian team, led by Manpreet Singh, has won four of its five games at the Olympics, with their lone loss coming against Australia. The loss to the Kookaburras dropped India to second place in Pool A with 12 points, one point ahead of Australia.
Great Britain, on the other side, came in third place in Pool B with two victories, two losses, and one tie.
India also achieved its highest-ever position on the global stage during this run. India is presently ranked third in the newest FIH rankings, behind only Australia and Belgium, which is their highest performance since the system was launched in 2003.
India’s defence appeared frail in the build-up to the Olympics, and it was revealed during the loss to Australia, but the team rallied in the following three games against Spain, Argentina, and Japan to reach the last eight.
