Bhuvneshwar: Following the footsteps of Rani Rampal and co., Indian men team on Saturday reached the Summer Olympic Games with a crushing 7-1 win over Russia in the second leg at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Manpreet Singh-led India thrashed Russia 11-3 over the two legs. After getting thrashed 4-2 in the first leg Russia got off to a flying start with a goal in the first minute on Saturday.
After that Lalit Upadhyay scored one and Akashdeep Singh got a brace to put India in a firm 7-3 lead on aggregate at half time. Even after the break, Team India their assault as Nilakanta Sharma scored the fourth goal before Rupinder Singh got a brace through two penalty corners to make it even more emphatic for India.
Moments before the final whistle, Amit Rohidas converted a penalty corner to give India a huge win en route to 2020 Olympics.
Earlier in the day, riding on skipper Rani Rampal's sole goal, Indian eves qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a 6-5 win on aggregate.
After thrashing USA 5-1 on Friday, it was expected to be a formality for the Indian women but they were given a real scare by the USA women, who raced to a 4-0 lead at the halfway mark. However, the partisan fans went into raptures when Rani pulled one back to maintain the slender lead till final hooter.
Indian women have participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and qualified again in Rio after 36 years. This is the second time in a row that they have made it to the tournament proper despite a huge scare after the US-led the hosts 4-0 at half-time.
