India beat Great Britain 4-2 in penalty shootout to reach semifinals
India vs Great Britain Highlights, Men’s Hockey quarterfinals Paris Olympics 2024: Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh produced a stellar performance in India’s iconic 4-2 win over Great Britain in the penalty shootout. The Indian team was one man down for about 42 minutes, but the 10 players in the middle fought like warriors throughout the match and took it into the penalties. The Indian penalty takers held their nerves well in the shootout and converted their chances but it was Sreejesh who once again proved to be the Great Wall of India with a couple of incredible saves.…Read More
Earlier, Lee Morton scored the equaliser for Great Britain at half time to make it 1-1. He was in the right place at the right time to put the ball inside goal. For India, Harmanpreet Singh once again scored the goal, opening the scoring here from the penalty corner to put the Asian giants ahead in the game but Morton equalised quickly for Britain. The Indian men’s hockey team is all set to take on Great Britain in the 2024 Paris Olympics hockey quarterfinals at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes. India, who are fifth in hockey rankings, finished second in Pool B, with 10 points from five matches. They had already qualified for the quarters after beating Ireland and New Zealand, before holding Argentina to a 1-1 draw. Although they lost 1-2 against defending champions Belgium in their next match, they secured a second spot in the table, behind the unbeaten Black Sticks, after beating the mighty Australian side 3-2 in their final group game. It was, in fact, their first win against the Kookaburras in 52 years at the Olympics.
Great Britain, on the other hand, finished third in Pool A, with eight points from five matches. Although they started their campaign in Paris on a winning note, beating Spain 4-0, Great Britain were held to a 2-2 draw against both South Africa and Netherlands. They bounced back eventually to take down host nation France 1-2, which guaranteed them a spot in the quarterfinals. However, they ended their group-stage campaign with 1-2 loss against table-toppers Germany, which saw them slip to the third spot on the table from the second.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh will be the player to watch out for, having scored six goals so far in the competition, which makes him the second-highest scorer. For Great Britain, Gareth Furlong leads the scoring chart with three goals.
This is the second straight time India will be hoping to make the semifinals at the Games. In Tokyo, it was Great Britain, whom India beat in the quarters to make their first semifinal since clinching the gold medal in 1980. India now stand two wins away from assuring themselves a 13th medal in men’s hockey, eight of which are golds. Great Britain, on the other hand, are yet to win an Olympic hockey medal in 36 years, having last finished on the podium at Seoul 1988 by beating West Germany 3-1 in the final.
Since the last Olympics, India have faced Great Britain four times, all in the FIH Pro League 2023-24, and managed just one win, via shootout.