India men hockey team has continued its winning march at the Tokyo Olympics as they defeated Great Britain 3-1 in the quarterfinals to qualify for the semifinals for the first time in four decades. Goals from Dilpreet Singh, Gurjan Singh and Hardik Singh spread across the four quarters helped the eight-time Olympic champions to progress to the last-four stage.
Check out: Tokyo Olympics Highlights, Day 8
India started aggressively and took a 1-0 lead as early as seventh minute after the pushback through a field goal from Dilpreet. Another field goal, this time from Gurjant, helped them double their lead but Britain pulled one back through Samuel Ward in the third quarter to make it 2-1.
With three minutes remaining and the contest still open with India leading by a solitary goal, Hardik sealed the fate in his team’s favour with another field goal.
India started their campaign on a winning note thanks to a hard-fought 3-2 win over New Zealand in their Pool A opener. However, a 1-7 thrashing at the hands of world No. 1 Australia raised alarm bells but the Manpreet Singh-led side quickly recovered to beat Spain 3-0, reigning Olympic champion Argentina 3-1 and outclassed Japan 3-5 en route to the quarterfinals.
India next face Rio Olympics runners-up and current world champion Belgium in the semifinals on August 3 - the winner of which will progress to the final for the gold medal match. The two losing semifinalists will contest for bronze on August 5.
More to follow…
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