PC- Olympics
The main reason for that has been the ever learning and improving attitude. The resurgence of the team ever since they hit the rock bottom in 2008 has been phenomenal.
Indian Hockey team is the most successful team in Olympics as they have won 8 gold medals, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals till now. The last medal which was gold came at Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.
Quarterfinal Match Report
The highly anticipated match started on a quick note as the Indian forwards took charge of the ball and found the back of the net in the 4th minute itself. It was Dilpreet Singh who scored the first goal for the team. The first quarter ended with the Indian team dominating most of it.
At the start of the second quarter, Indian Forward Gurjant Singh took charge and netted the ball with a great field play. GB (Great Britain) team was now under tremendous pressure to perform and come back in the game. At the 25th minute of the second quarter, Zachary Wallace and James Gall produced a great opportunity but was denied a goal by Sreejesh's brilliant goalkeeping.
The third Quater saw great ball possession and strategy by the GB team as they dominated the quarter. Finally reaping the result of it through a goal by Samuel Ward.
The fourth and the final quarter was the tensest as the GB team again dominated the play and induced plenty of PC's (Penalty corners) but unfortunately for them were unable to convert any of them. From India's point of view all thanks to Sreejesh's brilliant stops.
With just 3 min from the end of the match, India witnessed another brilliant turnover play by Hardik Singh to inflict another blow to the GB team by scoring a goal. This meant the fate of the match was sealed and the Indian won it 3-1.
The Indian team will face World cup winner Belgium in the Semifinals.
Road to Semifinals
Group A Results
India vs NewZealand -> 3-2
India vs Australia -> 1-7
India vs Spain -> 3-0
India vs Argentina -> 3-1
India vs Japan -> 5-3
Quater-Finals
India vs Great Britain -> 3-1
The Team
A successful team never depends on few star players, it's always a team effort that helps in winning in Big tournaments, which has led to the success of this team. In the last 3 to 4 decades India produced some great individual Hockey players but failed to deliver as a team.
The current Indian team is a great mix of experienced and young players. A few of the names that come to mind are-
P.R. Sreejesh - He is the Goalkeeper in the team and have won several "Goalkeeper of the tournament" awards and was also the Captain of the team. At Rio 2016 Olympic games Sreejesh led Team to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Birendra Lakra - Plays as a Defender and is also the Vice-captain of the team. He is the second-most experienced member of the team. He has been with the team for a long time now. Has 10 Goals to his name.
Rupinder Pal Singh - Plays as a Defender and is also the Penalty Corner specialist in the team. Has 115 goals to his name.
Manpreet Singh (C) - He is the Captain of the team and plays as a Midfielder. Has 22 goals to his name. He is the glue that binds the midfield together and orchestrates the strategies of the team.
Harmanpreet Singh - He is one of the young guns of the Team. Plays as a defender and Penalty corner Specialist. Has 74 goals to his name.
Some of the young forwards of the team worth mentioning are Gurjant Singh and Dilpreet Singh.
The amalgamation of the heterogeneous group of players and the dedicated coaching staff has lead to the resurgence of this team.
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