PARIS:Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored twice as India won the Paris Olympics 2024 men’s hockey bronze medal after beating a gritty Spain 2-1, at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, here, on Thursday. The hockey bronze was India’s fourth medal at Paris 2024. The first three were won by shooters.
It was veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh’s final international match and the four-time Olympian once again stood like a rock to deny the Spanish armada that came close to scoring several times and was once denied by the post in the 21st minute.
The hard-fought win against Spain was a perfect farewell gift for the 36-year-old Sreejesh, who dismissed talks of taking his retirement plans back. He said the bronze medal was a confirmation of India’s growing status in world hockey. “If I can inspire at least one kid who wants to be the next Sreejesh PR, I will know I have left an impression,” he said.
“We will miss Sreejesh for sure on the pitch but he will always be in our heart,” said skipper Harmanpreet, who added that “being surrounded by quality players who want to win a medal and not just participate” made his job easier as a leader.
Statistically speaking, the success rate of Indian men in a bronze medal match at the Olympics has been 100 per cent with an assured medal every time they have competed for the bronze. In 1968 and 1972, India won the bronze and then repeated that at Tokyo 2020 and now Paris 2024.
“This victory is for Sreejesh for his amazing service to Indian hockey. This medal will also inspire the next generation to play the game and win more Olympic glory. After the semi-final defeat (against Germany) we were determined not to go back empty-handed,” said former skipper Manpreet Singh.
Spain drew first blood in the 18th minute after India conceded a stroke. A stick check by Amit Rohidas was quickly spotted by the umpire. Skipper Marc Miralles made no mistake. India capitalised on their second penalty corner and Harmanpreet found the equaliser with a trademark crisp finish with less than a minute left for half-time.
Harmanpreet was on target again in the 33rd minute. He went on top pf the goalscorer’s chart when his 10th goal of Paris 2024 added the insurance goal for India (2-1). It was India’s third penalty corner of the match and the conversion drastically improved in the bronze medal match. India were terrible with their finish against Germany.
Spain had a goal disallowed in the 40th minute after India were successful with their video challenge. Spain played their hearts out in the final quarter. They just failed to score. In the 49th minute, India survived a huge scare as Marc Reyne missed from a one-to-one situation. The Indian goal survived several close calls and Sreejesh demonstrated why he is still one of the best in the world.
It was an emotionally charged afternoon for the Indians present at the stadium. Diehard fans had not gotten over Wednesday’s shattering news of how wrestler Vinesh was disqualified from the 50kg freestyle final for being “100 grams” overweight. The bronze medal in hockey came as a soothing balm of sorts.
Credit is also due to India’s South African coach Craig Fulton, who took over the national side in March 2023 after India failed to qualify for the FH World Cup at home. Fulton replaced Aussie Graham Reid. “We needed to build trust, because that’s the number one thing that you can rely on,” said Fulton.
Fulton said India came to Paris 2024 as rank outsiders to win a medal.
“Nobody expected us to reach the last four. That was good for us. We did a good job in the Asian Games (winning the gold medal and qualifying for the Olympics) to start that process. We had some tough times in Australia, in the Pro League. We knew we had it in us, and we came in here as underdogs. But we knew we could compete against all these teams and we had good results. You’ve gone two cycles back-to-back, medals. Only India and Germany have reached the top four.”