Paris Olymics: Indian hockey team misses gold medal chance, to face Spain for bronze
In a closely contested match at the Paris Olympics, India's hockey team lost 3-2 to Germany, ending their gold medal hopes. India will now compete against Spain for the bronze medal.
- Aug 07, 2024,
- Updated Aug 07, 2024, 8:13 AM IST
India lost its chance to clinch a gold medal in hockey at the Olympics after tasting defeat against Germany.
The world champions qualified for the gold medal after defeating India 3-2, on August 6.
India had led the match in the 7th minute, however, Gonzalo Peillat and Christopher Ruhr totally turned the tide of the game.
Meanwhile, Sukhjeet had restored India's parity before Marco Milktau scored the winning shot in the dying moments of the game to seal the win and progress to the final against Netherlands on August 8.
India will next face Spain in the bronze medal match.
India suffered a hit due to low PC conversion rate and Amit Rohidas missing in defence despite starting off the game early. They looked to be the better side in the first half having attack after attack on the German circle but received a PC early on in the second minute.
The Indian team got 4 PCs in a row, with the first 3 being saved by the first rusher. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet, with a stroke of luck, put India in the lead in the 7th minute.
India led with another PC as the Germans looked for an escape.
India, however, seemed like the team likely to score the next goal. When the first quarter came to an end, India had 66 percentage of the possession, 7 circle penetrations to Germany's 2 and 7 PCs as the world champions couldn't muster even one.
The second quarter needed to be different for Germany as they started on the attack and almost got a ball into the D which Kauffmann struggled to control. They got their first PC in the 18th minute and Gonzalo Peillat made no mistake as the score was all level.