Paris Olympics: India enters hockey men's semifinal, beats Great Britain 4-2 in penalty shootout

India entered the semifinals of the men's hockey event on August 4 after defeating Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout. 

India played for most of 3 quarters with 10 men as Amit Rohidas was given a red card. Meanwhile, the match had finished 1-1 in normal time.

PR Sreejesh emerged the star of the penalty shootouts, making a fine save to deny Philip Roper as Rajkumar Pal scored the decisive goal. Harmanpreet Singh had given India the lead in the 22nd minute before Lee Morton equalised.

Great Britain was on the offensive as the match began. While the Indian defence stood strong, Great Britain were piling on the pressure and they got 2 PCs with 5 minutes done. 

Meanwhile, Sreejesh pulled off a great save from Samuel Ward in the 11th minute as India would get 3 PCs in a row, however, they were all saved by Great Britain. 

In the second quarter, the drama began. Sreejesh made a big save after a mistake in midfield gave Great Britain the ball, which they got into the Indian circle.

In the 17th minute, Amit Rohidas was given a red card when he was trying to run with the ball and got challenged by Calnan from behind when his stick hit Calnan on the head. 

Despite being down by 1 man, India took the lead with Harmanpreet making no mistake with his PC. 

Towards the end, Lee Morton scored in the 27th minute as we went into half-time 1-1. Later, India dropped down to 9 players as Sumit was given a green card.

India geared up in the 4th quarter and as they looked to attack the Great Britain circle, there was a big moment in the 56th minute as Sreejesh was able to save Calnan's shot with a brilliant effort.

India's defence ensured the dreaded penalty shootout to decide the contest, with Albery starting against Sreejesh. The Great Britain man would be challenged by Sreejesh, but was able to slot it home.

Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake to make it 1-1 with the timer about to run out. Sukhjeet made Payne work a lot and then slotted it home with a fine finish to make it 2-2. 

Lailit Upadhyay then ensured India into the lead with his effort. India will now face either Argentina or Germany in the semi-finals.