Courtesy: X
On Sunday, August 4, the Indian men’s hockey team defeated Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout to reach the semi-final of the Paris Olympics 2024. At the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, India were down to 10-men for the majority of the contest, but they managed to keep the scoreline to 1-1 at full-time versus Great Britain in the quarter-final.
In the first quarter, Great Britain started on the front foot with a few attacks, but the Indian defence stayed resolute in their own half. The forward line for India also created a couple of decent counter attacking chances, but the scoreline stayed 0-0.
The start of the second quarter saw a massive moment happen in the men’s hockey quarter-final when Amit Rohidas lifted his stick into the face of Will Calnan in the 17th minute. The TV official judged that it was a dangerous play, leading to a red card for Amit Rohidas, which meant that India had to play the remainder of the contest with just 10-men against 11-men from Great Britain.
Despite being a man down, the Indian team managed to take the lead in the 22nd minute when the captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner. This was the seventh goal for him in the men’s hockey competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Great Britain, who were constantly peperring the Indian final third, found a way to make it 1-1 in the 27th minute with a Lee Morton equaliser. In the third quarter, the attacks from Great Britain were relentless, but India managed to keep them at bay.
The first couple of minutes in the fourth quarter started with India going down to nine-men after Sumit got a yellow card in the 45th minute. Despite that, they kept fighting against the odds in defence to force a penalty shootout with 1-1 scoreline, where they won 4-2.
