Finance
The Indian men’s hockey team played their hearts out but lost 2-3 to World Champion Germany in the second semifinal at the Paris Olympic Games on Tuesday, with players dropping to the ground in tears. India’s quest for its first gold medal in 44 years came to a devastating end when Shamsher Singh fired over the crossbar with his final attempt of the day, missing the equalizer by inches. India was trying to make the final for the first time since the 1980 Games in Moscow.
The bronze medalists from the Tokyo Olympic Games are out of contention for the top two slots, but they may redeem themselves in the bronze medal match against Spain on Thursday. The country is the leading medallist in hockey at the Olympics and has the chance to win its 14th medal at the Games (eight golds, one silver, three bronze). India will be hoping to win back-to-back medals in the Olympics after the 1972 edition in Munich.
India once again depended on their prolific skipper Harmanpreet Singh for goals, with the 28-year-old opening the scoring with another penalty corner in the seventh minute.
India’s decision to go on the defensive after taking the lead benefited the Germans, who responded with a flurry of attempts. The comeback was rapid and immediate, with defender Gonzalo Peillat’s penalty corner in the 13th minute bringing them level.
As the game approached halftime, a German attempt from a penalty corner struck defender Jarmanpreet Singh’s leg, resulting in a penalty stroke for the World Champions. Christopher Ruehr takes a 2-1 advantage into halftime. India maintained their nerves heading into the crucial second half and kept knocking at the German defence. A penalty corner in the 37th minute saw Harmanpreet Singh strike it hard and low, Sukhjeet Singh followed the ball and got to the end of it to deflect it into the goals and level the score for the side.
Germany earned a penalty corner in the 46th minute, which was saved by Sreejesh; nevertheless, the ball dropped to the Germans, who had a free shot at an empty net. However, replacement Sanjay made an incredible goal-line stop to keep the game tied.
Germany’s continuous attempts at goal finally broke through the Indian defence in the 54th minute, with Marco Miltkau scoring the first field goal of the night.
When all hope looked lost, India’s last-ditch effort resulted in the ball falling to substitute Shamsher Singh, who had a clear shot on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat. But his shot went over the goalpost before the final whistle.
India has lost its second consecutive Olympic semifinal, losing 2-5 to eventual champions Belgium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They then defeated Germany 5-4 in the bronze medal final, ending a four-decade drought.
The players will be hoping that history repeats itself in Paris and that they win another bronze medal.
Source:IANS
