The Indian men's hockey team defeated Great Britain 3-1 in a quarterfinal match to qualify for the semifinals of the Olympics Games after 49 years in Tokyo on Sunday. India scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win for the eight-time Olympic champions. The lone goal for Great Britain was scored by Sam Ward in the 45th minute.
Even though India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games, there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event. The last time India featured in the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan. India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.
Belgium defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal to seal their place in the last four round. The other semifinal of the men's hockey competition will be played between Australia and Germany.
Earlier, PV Sindhu secured the third medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics, as she won bronze after defeating China's He Bing Jao 21-13, 21-15 in the third-place playoff of the badminton women's singles. She is also only the second Indian and the country's first woman to win two Olympic medals.
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has already gone back after collecting a silver, while boxer Lovlina Borgohain is assured of at least a bronze so far. Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals, following up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with a silver at the 2012 London edition.
India dribbles & dashes it’s way into the Semi-Finals!
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) August 1, 2021
Brilliant performance by Mens Hockey team #Tokyo2020 !
| @TheHockeyIndia | pic.twitter.com/hm18rtIquS