For more than four decades, Indian hockey has been languishing in despair as teams returned home empty-handed from the Olympics. At the Tokyo Olympics this week, the tide turned. The men's hockey team won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after defeating Germany 5-4 in a playoff, their first medal in 41 years. They battled like warriors and were hailed as legends when they got home. The victory highlighted this team's never-ending supply of grit and energy, as well as all of the work they put in while training in isolation in Bengaluru for more than a year. Experts predicted that the men's team would easily reach the quarterfinals at the start of the tournament, but a lot will rely on who we play in the quarterfinals.
This is India's 12th Olympic medal in men's hockey, the most in the history of the Games, but the first since winning gold in Moscow in 1980. Their outstanding performance at the Tokyo Olympics, when they finished third, has helped them climb the FIH World Rankings. The updated rankings have been revealed by the International Hockey Federation. The Indian men have climbed to third place. The Olympics, on the other hand, are over. It's now up to us to build on our achievements and move forward. The teams' accomplishments have boosted hockey's popularity. We take a look at the team's performance during the competition in this section. But first, let's take a look at the bronze-medal-winning hockey team.
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra
Midfielders: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit
Forwards: Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh
Stand-bys: Krishan Pathak (Goalkeeper), Varun Kumar (Defender), Simranjit Singh (Midfielder)
Coach: Graham Reid
Analytical Coach: Gregg Clark
Assistant Coach: Shivendra Singh
Assistant Coach: Piyush Kumar Dubey
Scientific Advisor: Robin Anthony Webster Arkell
Physiotherapist: Ratinasamy Bose Kannan
Video Analyst: Ashok Kumar C
Masseur: Arup Naskar
Indian Men’s Hockey Team’s Performances at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics:
1st Group Game vs New Zealand (won by 3-2)
Goals – Rupinder Pal Singh (10th min), Harmanpreet Singh (26th, 33rd mins) | Kane Russell (6th min), Stephen Jenness (43rd min)
In the first hockey match, India defeated number eight-ranked New Zealand 3-2. The world's eighth-ranked team put up a valiant fight, even taking the lead in the opening quarter. Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat trick, and veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh remained firm in the last minutes as India's men's hockey team held off a late onslaught from New Zealand to win 3-2 in their Olympic debut. Rupinder Pal Singh scored the other goal for the eight-time world champions, who are presently placed third. New Zealand, on the other hand, gave the Indian defense a run for its money, earning ten penalty corners but only converting one.
2nd Group Game vs Australia (lost by 1-7)
Goals – Daniel Beale (10th min), Joshua Beltz (26th min), Andrew Flynn Ogilvie (23rd min), Jeremy Hayward (21st min), Blake Govers (40th, 42nd min), Tim Brand (51st min) | Dilpreet Singh (34th min)
A game to forget for India. Nobody anticipated India to win on its own, but they were expected to battle hard against the World No. 1 team. In their Men's Hockey Pool A match, India was defeated 1-7 by Australia. India's consolation was scored by Dilpreet Singh, who was joined by Tim Brand, Joshua Beltz, Daniel James Beale, and Flynn. For Australia, Andrew Ogilvie and Jeremy Thomas Hayward both scored a goal. For the champions, Blake Govers scored a hat trick. From the first whistle, the eight-time previous champions appeared completely out of sorts, as the Australians relentlessly pressed the team's backline.
3rd Group Game vs Spain (won by 3-0)
Goals – Simranjeet Singh (14th min), Rupinder Pal Singh (15th, 51st min)
Graham Reid's team did everything they could to ensure victory. India substituted Simranjeet for forward Gurjant Singh, who scored India's first goal of the match. Spain had a few penalty corners, but Sreejesh kept a clean sheet under the bar with his calm and calmness. Rupinder Pal Singh, a drag-flicker, scored a brace to help India bounce back after a humiliating loss to Australia in the previous game.
4th Group game vs Argentina (won by 3-1)
Goals – Varun Kumar (43rd min), Vivek Sagar Prasad (58th min), Harmanpreet Singh (59th min) | Maico Casella (48th min)
Coach Graham Reid made another change for the fourth game, bringing in Varun Kumar in favour of veteran defender Birendra Lakra. Varun scored India's first goal in the second quarter after a scoreless first quarter. India's forwards were on fire, earning 8 penalty corners for the team. Argentina was defeated 3-1 by India.
5th Group game vs Japan (won by 5-3)
Goals - Gurjant (17th min, 56th min), Harmanpreet Singh (13th min), Shamsher Singh (34th min), Nilakanta Sharma (51st min) | Kenta Tanaka (19th min), Kota Watanabe (33rd min) Kazuma Murata (59th min)
Harmanpreet's team finished second in Pool A after defeating host Japan 5-3 in the last group game of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday. India got off to a great start as Harmanpreet Singh scored his fourth goal of the season in the 13th minute to put his team ahead. Within two minutes of the start of the second quarter, the team had increased their lead, with Gurjant Singh scoring off a Simrajeet Singh pass.
Quarter-final vs Great Britain (won by 3-1)
Goals – Simranjeet Singh (7th min), Gurjant Singh (16th min), Hardik Singh (57th min) | Sameul Ward (45th min)
India defeated Great Britain 3-1 to advance to the men's hockey semifinals, where they will meet the 2018 World Champions Belgium. Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, and Hardik Singh score goals to help India defeat Britain and go to the Olympics' last four. Great Britain dominated this match, but it struggled to finish on the front row. Britain's lone goal came from Samuel Ward.
Semi-final vs Belgium (lost by 5-2)
Goals - Loick Luypaert (2nd min), Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th, 53rd min), John-John Dohmen (60th min) | Harmanpreet Singh (7th min), Mandeep Singh (8th min)
In the last quarter, Alexander Hendrickx scored two more goals to extend Belgium's lead to two goals. India loses 2-5 to Belgium and misses out on the final. John-John Dommen scored the fifth goal. India took a 2-1 lead thanks to a fantastic strike by Mandeep Singh. After losing a goal in the second minute of the game, India put up a fantastic fightback. Hendrickx, on the other hand, scored a hat trick to put an end to India's final dreams.
Bronze medal match vs Germany (won by 5-4)
Goals – Simranjeet Singh (17th, 34th min), Hardik Singh (27th min), Harmanpreet Singh (29th min), Rupinder Pal Singh (31st min) | Timur Oruz (2nd min), Niklas Wellen (24th min), Benedikt Furk (25th min), Lukas Windfeder (48th min)
India won the bronze medal in hockey for the first time in 49 years and their first podium in 41 years, defeating Germany 5-4 in the bronze medal match. Simranjeet Singh equalized for the Indian men's hockey team after Timur Oruz scored an early goal for Germany. The second and third goals were scored by Benedikt Furk and Niklas Wellen, respectively, after Hardik and Harmanpreet had equalized. Rupinder Pal Singh converted a penalty stroke and Simranjeet scored his second goal of the match to give India a two-goal lead, but Germany equalized through Lukas Windfeder.
