Paris (France): The Indian men's hockey team defeated Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024 here on Thursday. With this incredible victory, the Indian hockey team won back-to-back medals after 52 years at the Olympics. India last won back-to-back medals at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics when they clinched bronze medals on both occasions.
This medal match will also go into history as legendary goalkeeper Parattu Reveendran Sreejesh's last international match as he hangs up his boots on his elusive 18-year-long career. Sreejesh had announced his retirement before the commencement of the Summer Games 2024. With this medal triumph, the Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian team paid tribute to the 36-year-old by clinching a bronze medal.
The Indian men's hockey team has won 13 medals at the Olympics including eight gold, one silver and four bronze.
The Indian Hockey team's experienced goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh, celebrated emotionally. He recreated his viral celebration from India's Tokyo Olympics bronze win by sitting on top of the goal post and throwing his hands into the air with excitement.
Coming to the match, India made a remarkable start to the first quarter, creating a couple of chances to score a goal. Sukhjeet Singh missed the shot in the sixth minute despite doing all the hard work to take the ball into the D while Spain's goalkeeper Basterra Jose Maria saved the goal with his left leg, showing remarkable game sense.
India kept 51% of the possession and made nine circle penetrations while their rivals Spain could manage to make only two circle penetrations. The match didn't see any team receiving a penalty corner in the first quarter and both teams went to the break with the scoreline at nil.
The Spain team took the aggressive route in the second quarter and were successful in registering the first goal. It was Miralles Marc who scored a goal on the penalty stroke after an Indian player made a foul in the third minute of the second quarter. The Spanish player created a penalty corner chance in the 21st minute when Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh touched the opponent player's stick with his hockey stick. However, the wall of the Indian hockey team, PR Sreejesh, once again proved why he is the best in the business, saving a goal for India.
The Indian player then looked charged up after that PC and created a couple of chances, but failed to score on any. Lacalle Borja's shot landed on the post and was given a penalty corner in the process which was exceptionally saved by Sreejesh. With 21 seconds left on the clock, Indian players created a penalty corner and Harmanpreet came to the rescue, scoring an equalizer. The scores are now level at 1-1 after the second quarter.
India received a penalty corner early in the third quarter, courtesy of a great review after their attack was thwarted from the right side of the pitch. The Indian captain scored a goal for India on the PC and took the 2-1 lead against Spain.
India won the second PC after half-time after Harmanpreet hit the ball but got blocked. Abhishek earned the first green card of the match for not being five meters during the PC and did not take part in the match for the next two minutes. Harmanpreet failed to give extra cushion to India's lead, missing the second PC of the third quarter which India had won. Spain's Jordi Bonastre was down on the ground with some serious discomfort after Harmanpreet's flick hit him straight on the knee. Jordi is being taken off the field with some assistance from the Spanish medical staff.
Harmanpreet Singh comes close to making it 3-1 for India, but his flick just goes inches wide from the Spanish goal after kissing the goalkeeper's right hand, 'the save of the tournament by a goalkeeper'. So, India leads 2-1 after the third quarter and would want to add one more goal to the tally and not concede any goal from here on as the game enters into the final quarter. India is just 15 minutes away from the bronze medal triumph and if they don't falter, they can give a memorable send-off to veteran PR Sreejesh.
Sukhjeet could have sealed it for India, but he failed to keep his shot on goal. Sukhjeet was already on his way down to the ground while taking the shot, giving him very little chance to place it well. In the process, Hardik Singh got injured after a big collision and was taken off the field. The referee ruled it as a simple collision and kept his cards in the pocket. India needed to maintain composure to their finest with just 6 minutes to go in this bronze medal match but then conceded a PC with 1:30 minutes remaining on the clock. However, the most experienced player of the Indian hockey team came as the saviour as he saved the goal and match for India.
Spain took the referral for a dangerous ball, but the TV umpire thought otherwise. India failed to keep their calm and they made plenty of mistakes in the final two minutes, conceding three PCs in the final minute of the match. However, they didn't falter and emerged triumphant in the bronze medal match, scripting a historic win.
