The wait for a hockey men’s Olympic medal has ended today. India beat four-time champions Germany 5-4 in a nail-biter game. On Thursday, India won the first ‘Olympic bronze medal’ since the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Simranjeet Singh scored two goals while Hardik Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored from penalty corners. Once, India went 3-1 down and then came back strongly and level the score 3-3, in the second quarter. After this, Rupinder Pal Singh scored through a penalty stroke and gave India the lead and Simranjeet scored the final goal.
However, India has won its fourth bronze medal at the Olympics. They won the last bronze in the year 1972 at Munich Olympics. India is the most successful team at the Olympics in men’s hockey with eight gold medals.
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After losing to Australia with 1-7, India came back strongly and won 4 matches out of their 5 group games and finish second in Pool A. In the quarter-final against Great Britain, India showcased their class and registered a 3-1 win to end their 49-year-long wait for a semi-final berth. However, on August 3, Belgium proved too good for the men’s side in the semi-final.
Indian men’s hockey team once ruled the Olympic hockey tournament, winning six successive golds from 1928 to 1956. After this, they claimed the top prize for the eighth time in the 1980 Moscow Games.
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Also, India reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar and performed exceedingly well in the FIH Hockey Pro League under Manpreet before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the schedule.
