The Indian hockey suffered an enormous heartbreak as they lost 3-2 to Germany in the Paris Olympics 2024 semi-finals on Tuesday. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side showcased its fighting spirit so far in the tournament but the Germans managed to seek revenge for their loss in Tokyo 2021.
India came agonisingly close to making its first Olympic final after 44 years but the world champion denied it with a crucial third goal in the last quarter. Despite missing to convert their third penalty corner into a goal, Germany’s repeated attempts at goal finally saw them breach the Indian defence in the 54th minute.
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India had their chances in the game. They got 11 penalty corners but converted only two while Germany converted one out of the four, apart from capitalizing on a penalty stroke and a field goal. The defeat left the Indian shell-shocked as almost every member of the team had tears in his eyes.
So close yet so far away . Feel so sad for sreejesh & harmanpreet. They gave it there all. GER 3 IND 2 final score. It was India’s to take till the end but fate intervened, can’t take anything away from indian players. pic.twitter.com/E0KUnhHYpy— adnan (@doc_adnan) August 6, 2024
Despite not having key defender Amit Rohidas in the line-up, the Indian team fought hard and never looked like fizzling or succumbing to pressure. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh rued the missed chances in the action-packed game against Germany but applauded his teammates.
“That was a difficult match, we got our chances but could not convert them, that’s it. Then you can see it in the scoreline. It’s a matter of homework,” Sreejesh said after India’s close defeat.
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“I think they’ve done a wonderful job against Harman, how to tackle him, because he’s one of the best drag flickers in the world, and definitely, that’s what they’ve done against us. So, some days are like that,” he added.
India coach Craig Fulton also expressed his sadness following the defeat.
“We’re disappointed we could not get over the line. We played a great match, and pushed very hard till the end,” he said.
India still have a chance to win their second consecutive Olympic medal when they play for bronze against Spain on Thursday, while Germany and Netherlands will face off in the gold medal contest.
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