Paris Olympics 2024 Hockey: India clinches semifinal spot with penalty shootout win over Great Britain

Paris Olympics 2024: On August 4, Sunday, India overcame Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout to advance to the men’s hockey semifinals. PR Sreejesh was the game’s MVP. After Amit Rohidas was sent off, India played with 10 men for the whole of the third quarter, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw in normal time.

They finished off an incredible effort to qualify for the last 4 of the Olympics for the second consecutive year, with Rajkumar Pal scoring the game-winning goal and Sreejesh making a superb save to deny Philip Roper. Before Lee Morton equalized, Harmanpreet Singh had taken India the lead in the 22nd minute.

#WATCH | Varanasi: On the Indian team beating Great Britain in Men’s Hockey quarterfinal to enter the semi-finals, Indian Hockey player Lalit Upadhyay’s father Satish Upadhyay says, “I am very happy. We watched the man from the beginning. A player was evicted from the match after… pic.twitter.com/xmkz70UB5L

— ANI (@ANI) August 4, 2024

How the match unfolded?

Great Britain went on the attack early in the contest and applied a lot of pressure. The Indian defense held firm, but Great Britain increased their pressure and managed to take down two PCs in just five minutes. The Indian players were unaffected by either attempt, but Britain persisted in its offensive.

India would apply more pressure in the last few minutes as Sreejesh made an amazing stop against Samuel Ward in the eleventh minute. They would receive three PCs in a row, but Great Britain kept them all alive. All of the drama began in the second quarter.

Sreejesh made a save to start the game after Great Britain gained possession of the ball in the Indian circle due to a mistake in midfield.

The main talking point of the contest came when Amit Rohidas was sent off in the 17th minute. Calnan challenged the Indian defender from behind as he attempted to run with the ball. But the Indian defender struck Calnan in the head with an unusually positioned stick. After deliberation, the referees decided to give Rohidas a straight red card.

India would seize the lead against the flow of play despite trailing by just one man. The ball went past Payne in the goal, and Harmanpreet made no mistakes with his PC. India’s defense would continue to be robust despite increased pressure from Great Britain.

But in the end, it was broken when Lee Morton scored in the 27th minute, sending us into halftime with a 1-1 result. In the third quarter, it was all Great Britain from the start, with Sreejesh denying Rupert Shipperly in the 32nd minute with a crucial stop. Throughout the quarter, India would be the only team defending, increasing the number of penalty corners to 10. However, with Sumit receiving a green card, India would now only have nine players.

In the fourth quarter, India would gradually begin to show a little more bravery as they attempted to attack the Great Britain circle. A huge event occurred in the 56th minute when Sreejesh used incredible skill to save a shot by Calnan.

India’s outstanding defense made guaranteed the match would go to the dreaded penalty shootout to be decided.

Albery took Sreejesh on in the opening shootout. Sreejesh would challenge the man from Great Britain, but he managed to slot it home.

When the timer was about to expire, Harmanpreet Singh took his turn and scored a goal to tie the score at one. The ball managed to find its way into the net by Wallace, who was the next man up.

To tie it 2-2, Sukhjeet had Payne work hard before slotting it home with a nice finish. Then, Williamson would miss Great Britain’s next chance, firing it far wide.

Then, Lailit Upadhyay’s exertion gave India the lead. Rajkumar did not make a mistake in leading India through, and Sreejesh would then make the crucial save to deny Roper. In the semifinals, they will now play Germany or Argentina.

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