PARIS:India’s defence, usually suspect under pressure, rose to the occasion when it mattered most as the Men in Blue stormed into the Paris Olympics 2024 hockey semifinals here on Sunday morning.
Down to 10 men in the 17th minute, India did everything to deny a profligate Great Britain and take the contest to the shootout. India triumphed 4-2 with, no prizes for guessing, PR Sreejesh emerging hero with two tactically brilliant saves.
At a packed Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, regulation time ended 1-1. India scored first in the22nd minute when skipper Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner with a classic finish to the goalkeeper’s left. But Great Britain roared back in the 27th when an unmarked Lee Morton put the finishing touches to a cross from the right.
After veteran defender Amit Rohidas was sent off for striking Britain’s William Calnan on the head with his stick, India were forced to reorganise their strategy. Former skipper Manpreet Singh fell back and with Harmanpreet, manned the area around the striking circle admirably.
With Britain playing an attacking game throughout, several Indians fell back in an outstanding display of merry-go-round type of defending. The red card to Rohidas, which was met by boos from the Indian fans in the stands, certainly galvanised the team’s morale and Britain’s shoddy finishing only helped matters for India.
“We had no option but to defend. It’s for you to say if that red card was harsh or not but since we could not have overturned the umpire’s decision, the only thing we could have done was focus on our defence and communicate well,” said Harmanpreet. India certainly did that well.
“It was a perfect team effort. It was extremely tough to play for 45 minutes with 10 men and I can’t remember having played a match like this. At this stage of the competition, we cannot afford to be nervous. The win today will give us plenty of confidencegoing into the semifinals,” said the Indian skipper. India will play the winners of Germany vs Argentina.
Sunday’s match was a repeat of the men’s quarterfinal at Tokyo Olympics 2020. India had beaten Britain 3-1 in Tokyo and went on to win a bronze medal. Ahead of the quarterfinals here, Britain had a slender 4-3 lead in head-to-head clashes against India at the Olympics.
In FIH Pro League matches in June this year, Britain have beaten India twice. They could well have carried that momentum forward and will only regret the number of scoring opportunities wasted at the Yves-du-Manoir today. Not a single goal came from the 10 penalty corners Britain earned.
The Indian camp was already upbeat once the final hooter was sounded. They had lived with a prayer on their lips for more than two quarters and there was a sense of relief now. With Sreejesh in superman-like form in his last Olympics, relief turned into belief.
The 36-year-old from Kochi, who is playing his fourth Olympics, once again produced a memorable performance in the shootout.
Great Britain scored from their first two chances. India responded well through Harmanpreet and Sukhjeet Singh. Then Sreejesh came into the picture. Twice in succession, the six-footer charged out quickly and put Conor Williamson and Philip Roper under serious time pressure. A goal must be scored inside eight seconds once the whistle goes off. Both attempts were missed. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal made no mistake with their attempts as India celebrated a famous victory with Sreejesh once again the saviour.
“It wasn’t a win, it was a statement,” said India’s South African coach Craig Fulton. “What an amazing day ... we had our backs to the wall … we had to score and then had to defend and then the guys just carried on. We were all in it together. It was a statement to ourselves and the world. It was never going to be pretty with 10 men in a quarterfinal but we responded,” added the Indian coach.