Indian men’s hockey team has created history. He has brought India a bronze medal in hockey, ending a drought of 41 years. The last medal India’s hockey team got at the Olympics was in Moscow in 1980, when the team won gold under the captaincy of Vasudevan Bhaskaran. Team India defeated Germany 5-4 in the bronze medal match.
Trailing 3-1 in the second quarter, India came back strongly and scored four goals in a row. Simranjit Singh (17th and 34th), Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) scored for India. However, in the fourth quarter, Germany scored another goal and made the score 5-4.
Germany dominated in the first quarter. He played attacking hockey. The German team took the lead in the first minute of the match by scoring a goal. Timur Orooj scored the field goal. He got a penalty corner just before the end of the first quarter. India put up a brilliant defense on this and kept Germany’s lead 1-0. Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh made 2 good saves in a row.
Team India made a comeback from the beginning of the second quarter and Simranjit Singh scored a goal in the 17th minute to level the score 1-1. After this, Wellen of Germany scored another goal and the team went 2-1 ahead. After this, in the 24th minute, Valen scored the goal in the 25th minute to make the score 3-1. India did not stop attacking and Hardik Singh scored in the 27th minute and Harmanpreet Singh in the 29th minute to level the score at 3-3. The score remained the same till halftime.
Rupinder Pal Singh scored a penalty corner in the 31st minute after half time to give India a 4-3 lead. Just 3 minutes later, Simranjit Singh scored the goal to reduce the lead to 5-3. The good thing for India is that in this Olympics, it has not lost to any team ranked below it. India lost to Australia in the pool match and Belgium in the last-4 match. Both these teams were above India in the rankings.
Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 5, 2021
Congratulations to our Men’s Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team. 🏑
BREAKING: The #Olympics emoji is here! 😉
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 22, 2021
For the first time ever, it is available in over 30 different languages on Twitter – try it out in the replies! pic.twitter.com/PYJyUlBVoh
Congratulation @TheHockeyIndia
— Physically Challenged Cricket Association of India (@PCCAIofficials) August 5, 2021
Bronze Medal #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/zSHwPVNwU7
Chak de India. Congratulations to #TeamIndia #Hockey .
— Chetan Sharma (@chetans1987) August 5, 2021
Proud Indian. JAI HIND #Olympics
Indian hockey team on the Olympic podium again after 41 years! Pulsating match. Germany giving it their all, but ultimately India win the day. From 1-3 down to a 5-4 win speaks of the skills, resilience, and ambition of this team. Upwards and onwards from here! #Tokyo2020
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 5, 2021
India and Germany have had 12 matches so far in the Olympic Games. India has won 5 out of this and Germany has won 4 matches. 3 matches have been draws.
Team India won 4 or more matches in the pool stage in Tokyo for the first time since 1972. In the 1972 Olympics, India won 5 out of 7 matches in the pool stage. After this, till the 2016 Olympics, India could not win more than 3 matches in the group stage. From 1984 to 2016, the Indian team had never won more than 2 matches in the group stage.
India has won the most medals in Olympics in men’s hockey. The team won gold medals in the 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980 Olympics. Apart from this, he has won silver in 1960 and bronze medal in 1968, 1972 and 2021 (Tokyo Olympics 2020).