41 YRS: THE WAIT IS OVER
Indian men’s hockey team wins bronze at the Olympics after a 5-4 victory over Germany, the first podium finish since the 1980 Games
India erupted in celebration as the country’s resolute men’s hockey team rewrote history and claimed an Olympic bronze medal after defeating a plucky Germany 5-4 in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match at the Tokyo Games on Thursday -- with the most successful nation in men’s Olympic hockey claiming their first podium finish in 41 years.
The eight-time former gold-winners, who battled a heartbreaking slump in the last four decades, made the resurgence of the last couple of years count in the best way possible with an Olympic medal.
Their bronze is worth its weight in gold for the sheer emotion and nostalgia that hockey invokes in the country.
Simranjeet Singh (17th, 34th minutes) scored a brace, while Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) were the other goal-getters for world no 3 India.
Germany’s goals were scored by Timur Oruz (2nd), Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th).
Determined to clinch a medal, the Indians made one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the game, fighting back from a two-goal deficit to turn the match in their favour after being 1-3 down thanks to some defensive lapses.
There were tears and hugs on the field as the Indians led by Manpreet Singh and coached by Australian Graham Reid savoured the historic moment.
It is India’s third hockey bronze medal in the history of the Olympics. The other two came in 1968 Mexico City and the 1972 Munich Games. In all, the country now has 12 Olympic medals, eight of them gold, making it the most successful at the showpiece. They won the last of their eight Olympic titles in Moscow in 1980.
“The whole nation is dancing,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told captain Manpreet Singh and coach Graham Reid in a celebratory call to the team after the win. He hailed the win as “historic”.
And goalkeeper Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh
echoed Modi’s hopes that the result would inspire a new generation to take up hockey.
“It’s a rebirth. That’s it. It’s been 41 years,” he said.
“In 1980, we won the last medal and after that, nothing. This gives a boost and gives energy to the youngsters to pick up hockey and play this game. This is a beautiful game.”
For world no 5 Germany, it was heart-break as they couldn’t repeat their bronze medal winning feat of the 2016 Rio Games.
The Indians were slow to get off the blocks as Germany were the dominant side on display in the first quarter.
The Germans pressed hard on the Indian defence from the word go and took the lead in the second minute through Oruz.
India then secured a penalty corner in the fifth which was wasted. Five minutes later, experienced goalkeeper Sreejesh came out of his line and closed down the angle to deny Mats Grambusch.
The Germans put relentless pressure on the Indian defence and seconds from first quarter, earned as many as four penalty corners which the Indians defended stoutly this time.
Manpreet’s men came out with more purpose in the second quarter and upped their pace a bit and the ploy worked wonders as Simranjeet scored a brilliant goal with a reverse hit from top of the German circle after being fed by Nilakanta Sharma’s pass from the midfield.
The Germans continued their attacking game and two minutes later Florian Fuchs brought Sreejesh again into the game, saving his reverse hit from a tight angle.
The Indian defence once again gave away the advantage to Germany, committing soft errors which resulted in two German goals in a span of two minutes.
Christopher Ruhr was the creator for Germany turning over from just outside the Indian circle and then slipped the ball onto Wellen who scored with a reverse hit past Sreejesh.
A minute later, another defensive lapse cost India dearly.
It was Surender Kumar this time who was dispossessed just outside the Indian circle by the ever-pressing German forwards and Constantine Staib passed it on to Benedikt Furk, who made no mistake in finding the net.
Although stunned, India didn’t lose hope and made a brilliant comeback soon by levelling the scores in a span of three minutes.
There was grit and determination writ large on the Indian faces and they succeeded in turning them into results.
In the 27th minute, India secured their second penalty corner and Hardik scored from a rebound after Harmanpreet Singh’s flick was saved by German custodian Alexander Stadler.
Two minutes later, India secured their third penalty corner and this time, Harmanpreet was bang on target with a powerful flick past young Stadler to make a dramatic turnaround in the match.
Their confidence on an alltime high after the remarkable rally, the Indians came out all guns blazing after the change of ends and took the lead for the first time in the match when they were awarded a penalty stroke for a push on Mandeep Singh inside the circle.
Rupinder stepped up to gleefully grab the chance with both hands.
Three minutes later, India doubled their lead when Simranjeet scored his second goal of the day, tapping in Gurjant Singh’s pass from the right to take a 5-3 lead.
India didn’t stop there and secured three back-to-back penalty corners in the 41st minute but wasted all.
It was Germany’s turn next as they got three penalty corners two minutes later but failed to breach the brave Indian defence, as the players put their bodies in line to deny Germany any opening.
Trailing by two goals, the Germans were expected to come hard on the Indian defence and they did exactly that, securing another penalty corner three minutes into the final quarter and this time Windfeder put the ball into the net through the legs of Sreejesh to bring a goal back.
In the 51st minute, Mandeep Singh had a golden chance to restore their two goal lead from a one-on-one situation but he squandered the opportunity.
In search of the equaliser, the Germans put the Indian defence under immense pressure in the remaining minutes of the game, securing three more penalty corners but couldn’t get past the determined back-line led by gigantic Sreejesh in front of the goal.
There was more drama in store as India conceded a penalty corner six seconds from the final hooter, but Sreejesh and the defence once against came to the side’s rescue.
Sreejesh said before the Games that India would be playing in memory of medal-winning hockey heroes who lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic.
Two members of India’s 1980 gold medal team, Ravindra Pal Singh and Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, died from Covid-19 on the same day in May.
Coach Graham Reid said he felt “privileged” to be a part of the game’s revival in India, crediting togetherness and a team first mentality for the triumph.
“It is a fantastic feeling, it has come after a lot of sacrifices that the whole group has made,” Reid, who was a part of Australia’s silver-winning team in the 1992 Barcelona Games, said referring to the time the players spent away from their families and in some cases, battling Covid-19 as well.
The bonding that developed between the players during their 16-month stay at a camp in Bengaluru, mostly in isolation, played an instrumental role in the team’s bronze medal-winning feat, said vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh.
“It’s a nostalgic moment for us. It’s a special moment for every Indian. It’s a big achievement. We have made a lot of sacrifices but our focus was on being mentally stronger,” said Harmanpreet.