The biggest Maha Kumbh of sports, Olympic Games, is being held in Paris this time. The Indian men’s hockey team is also making a splash in Paris Olympics 2024. The Indian team has reached the semi-finals, where it will face world champion Germany. The India-Germany semi-final will be played today (August 6) at 10.30 pm Indian time. If the Indian team defeats Germany, it will be sure to win at least a silver medal, which it last won in Rome in 1960. The form the Indian team is in will definitely create tension in the German camp. In the second semi-final, the Netherlands will face Spain.
Despite being reduced to 10 players in the quarter-finals against Great Britain, the courage and skill displayed by the Indian team to take the match to a shootout was commendable. Then in the shootout, two brilliant saves by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh gave the Indian team the victory. Earlier, within the stipulated time, Britain attacked the Indian goal 28 times and created ten penalty corners, but got only one success. This is the last tournament of 36-year-old Sreejesh and the mission to send him off with a gold medal has become an additional motivation for the Indian team. Anyway, the Indian team won its last gold medal in Moscow in 1980 and now it has a chance to create history in Paris after 44 years.
Rohidas will not be able to play in the semi-finals
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Against Britain, India played with 10 players for about 40 minutes because Amit Rohidas was shown a red card. Amit has been banned for the semi-final match. This means that India will have to play against Germany without its number one first rusher. India will also miss Rohidas’ absence in penalty corners because after captain Harmanpreet Singh, he is India’s drag flick specialist. In his absence, there will now be additional pressure on Harmanpreet who is in great form and has scored seven goals so far.
This was the best performance of Indian defence in modern hockey and as coach Craig Fulton said, it was not a victory but a ‘statement’. Sreejesh said after the match, ‘When I came on the field, I had only two options. This could have been my last match or I would have had the opportunity to play two more matches. Now I have the opportunity to play two more matches.’
On the other hand, captain Harmanpreet said, “Some things are not in our hands. Amit’s absence in the semi-finals will be missed, but our focus is on the match and our performance. In the quarter-finals, every player tried to make up for Amit’s absence till the last minute. We wanted to play against Germany in the final. We also discussed this in the team meetings. They are a tough opponent and matches against them go till the last minute.”
Germany is at number four in the world ranking
If we look at the world rankings and the record against each other, there is not much difference between the current world champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist Germany and India. Germany is fourth in the world rankings and India is fifth. Germany also faced India in the bronze medal match during the Tokyo Olympics, in which India won 5-4. Before the Paris Olympics, India played practice matches against Germany and won five out of six. In June this year, in the London leg of the FIH Pro League, India defeated Germany 3-0, but lost 2-3 in the return match.
The Indian team was placed in Pool B in the Paris Olympics. The Indian team defeated New Zealand 3-2 in its first pool match. Then it played a 1-1 draw against Argentina. After this, the Indian team defeated Ireland 2-0 in the third match. However, it had to face a 1-2 defeat against Tokyo Olympics champion Belgium. In this match, the Indian team defeated Australia 3-2. The Indian hockey team defeated Australia in the Olympic Games after 52 years.
Apart from India, Pool B also had teams from New Zealand, Argentina, Ireland, Belgium and Australia. Pool A included Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Spain, South Africa and host country France. Four teams from both the groups reached the quarter finals. India reached the quarter finals by finishing second in Pool B. While Belgium topped Pool B. Australia and Argentina also reached the quarter finals from Pool B. While Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and Spain made it to the quarter finals from Pool A.
Indian Hockey Team for Paris Olympics 2024
Goalkeeper: P R Sreejesh.
Defender: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas (out of semi-finals), Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay.
Midfielder: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Ahead: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh.
Alternate players : Neelkant Sharma, Jugaraj Singh, Krishna Bahadur Pathak.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)