Men’s hockey: 10-man India beats Great Britain to enter semifinals at Paris Olympics
Harmanpreet, Sukhjeet, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal scored for India in the shootout, which had more drama in store than one expects in pure action.
India and Great Britain hockey players are seen during an intriguing contest in the men’s hockey quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics, on August 4, 2024. India entered semifinals through penalty shoot-out.
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar
A 10-man India, toughened by sessions of mental training with Paddy Upton and adventurer Mike Horn, showed character in a nerve-wracking, drama-filled quarterfinal contest to edge past Great Britain through penalty shootout in the Olympics at the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Paris on August 4.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winning Indians beat the Britons 4-2 in a tense shootout following a 1-1 deadlock in the regulation period and claimed a spot in the semifinals in successive Games.
Playing with one man down for nearly three quarters, India quickly adapted to the unexpected situation and displayed one of its best shows of clinical and compact defence in a do-or-die situation.
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In the gripping encounter in front of a near capacity house, with strong and noisy spectators rooting for their own sides, Great Britain applied pressure early to secure two penalty corners and created two more moves from the right, which was superbly blocked by a dashing Sreejesh.
India impressed with a couple of moves. On one occasion Hardik Singh and Mandeep Singh combined beautifully and later a well-coordinated chain of supply, through Harmanpreet-Hardik-Abhishek, threatened the Great Britain post.
SHOOT-OUT is 🔛#Paris2024pic.twitter.com/fqLLaR2B43
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) August 4, 2024
Great Britain earned another short corner, while India secured three consecutive ones towards the end of the opening quarter.
In the action-packed second period, India received a major setback in the 17th minute when Amit Rohidas’ stick hit William Calnan’s head. Rohidas, carrying out the triple responsibility of a defender, a penalty corner defender and scorer, was red-carded and it brought a huge burden for India.
With Manpreet replacing Rohidas at the back, India not only guarded its citadel well, but also counterattacked with more determination. Harmanpreet nicely found a gap to convert the fourth penalty corner and pump up the whole team.
Also Read : Paris Olympics: Indians in action on August 4, 2024 — Day 9
Great Britain’s effort on the right flank brought it success as Lee Morton capitalised on a cross and his shot got deflected from Sreejesh’s left hand into the goal close to the half-time.
The Britons maintained pressure after the change of ends and picked up three penalty corners but their attempts were foiled by the alert Indian defenders, who showed intent and character and ward off dangers calmly.
Indian hockey players celebrate their win over Great Britain in the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics on August 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
India was down to nine men at the stroke of the third break when Sumit was issued a green card for a dangerous clearance amid a round of booing from the British supporters.
Coach Craig Fulton’s stress on defence and flexibility worked wonders. Even as Great Britain relentlessly pushed the Indian defence from both flanks, the Harmanpreet-led backline stood as firm as a rock. When the regulation period ended in a 1-1 deadlock, the Indian camp punched in the air.
Harmanpreet, Sukhjeet, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal scored for India in the shootout, which had more drama in store than one expects in pure action.
There was a halt prior to Sukhjeet’s attempt as British goalkeeper Ollie Payne appeared to have used an iPad on the pitch, which apparently is not allowed in the rule books. The device was removed before action resumed.
After Conor Williamson shot the ball over the bar, Sreejesh, who made 20-plus saves despite a hamstring issue and applied a spray before going into the penalty shootouts, made an excellent save off Phillip Roper’s last attempt.
Pal beat Payne to trigger wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
The result:
India 1 (Harmanpreet 22) vs Great Britain 1 (Morton 27); Penalty shootout: India 4 (Harmanpreet, Sukhjeet, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal) bt Great Britain 2 (James Albery, Zach Wallace).
It was going to be ‘India’s day’, will play our game in semifinal: PR Sreejesh
Going into the men’s hockey quarterfinal match against Great Britain at the Paris Olympics in Paris on August 4, veteran India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh’s wondered if this would be his last match or would he get two more games before calling time on an illustrious career.
Sreejesh starred with some incredible saves to deny Great Britain and help his team to a 4-2 win in the penalty shoot-out after the regulation time ended with the score locked at 1-1.
Playing in his last international tournament, Sreejesh was the cynosure of all eyes as he consistently denied Great Britain scoring opportunities while the others rallied around him. In the penalty shoot-out, he saved the third and the fourth shots to help India win.
“(It is a) daily job of a goalie. Some days it’s a different effort (but) today is our day. Even in the shootout, the guys who took shots didn’t disappoint,” he told the broadcaster after India’s stunning win.
“They scored and that gave me enough confidence,” the Indian goalkeeper said.
India produced a unified effort on the field to thwart consistent challenges from the world No 2 Great Britain side and forced the game into the penalty shootout, from which they emerged winners at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
Sreejesh said it was a “do-or-die” like situation for him and he was absolutely ready to take the game head on.
“When I stepped on this field today, there was two options for me. This can be my last match, or I got an opportunity for two more matches and I think, yeah, I got two more matches now,” he said.
Sreejesh said Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist India will focus on their game in the semifinals.
“See, whoever comes in the semis, we (will) just play our game. That’s it, that’s important, because now it’s a different game, because we are one man down and we need to focus on that now,” he said.
Sreejesh said India will wait for the FIH’s (International Hockey Federation) decision on the red card shown to Amit Rohidas with more than 40 minutes left in the game.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be. They must take a decision on that. We are just waiting for that, but still, we need to play our best game in the semifinals,” he said.
(with inputs from PTI)
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