How Indian hockey team ended half a century of hurt at Paris Olympics

It's looking promising: Hockey team beats Australia in Olympics for first time since 1972, ends 2nd in Pool B
PARIS: This was a match to decide where India would finish on the points table in Pool B of the hockey competition - a match against a team India have suffered against over the years. In fact, India had not beaten Australia since the 1972 Munich Games in the Olympics. One would not have blamed the Indian supporters for being a bit apprehensive at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium here on Friday afternoon.

For the Indian team, there was nothing to look back at. It was a clean slate. Ahead of them, on Pitch 2, was a rival they had to beat. They were ready, they were motivated, and they won it 3-2, fighting till the last second.

It was a long time coming. 52 years to be precise, and it felt good to have witnessed that.

What stood out in India's victory was their outstanding defence - when the Aussies counter-attacked or when they got the penalty corners. Their off-the-ball running was spot on. They tried to close the channels in the midfield, which was manned well by veteran Manpreet Singh and Hardik Singh. If the Aussies attacked through the flanks, the defenders, midfielders and even the strikers fought together to thwart them.

"We knew that they could be very dangerous in counter-attacks. We had decided that we would win the one-on-one battles, concede penalty corners but not give them a free run at our goal. We have a good penalty corner defence. We also kept changing our strategy according to the situation. We kept calling each other out when we needed man-to-man marking or zonal marking. It worked," Manpreet said later.

The defence was the platform which the strikers used very well to hit the Aussies hard. In fact, India's first goal came through field play in the opening quarter. On an attack from the left in the 12th minute, Lalit Upadhyay hit hard at the goal and Abhishek slammed the rebound off the goalkeeper Andrew Charter's pads.

This came after Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh had made two superb saves in the initial minutes. The 36-year-old- playing in his last Olympics- like always was a rock in the goal.

Even as the Kookaburras were looking to hit back, came the second goal. In the very next minute (13th minute), the Aussies tried to clear a long ball in their circle and conceded a penalty corner. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who already had four goals in his bag here, got his fifth one, hitting flat and straight through the middle to slam the board.

In the second quarter, Australia pulled one back Craig Thomas' penalty corner conversion. It was an indirect combination. A string of five passes beat the Indian defenders. At 2-1, India knew they needed to score more to ensure they got full points.

It came just minutes into the third quarter. India won a penalty corner, their third, which was saved on the goal-line by an Aussie player. India asked for a video referral which revealed a foul and a penalty stroke was rewarded. Harmanpreet had no trouble slotting it home. At 3-1, India had a cushion.

In the last quarter, India seemed to have gone up 4-1 as Abhishek scored in a goal-line melee. The Aussies called for a video referral which showed a foul by Mandeep Singh before the final finish.

Relieved, the Aussies pressed and got their second when a penalty stroke was given for a foul inside the Indian circle. Blake Govers scored to make it 2-3. It stayed that way as Sreejesh made a valiant save in the dying seconds.

The goalkeeper later said that the strategy worked. "We played well against Belgium too on Thursday but failed to take our chances. Today, our forwards seized the opportunity. That worked for us. Yes, we defended very well."

When asked about the 'Win it for Sreejesh' campaign, he said: "It feels good. I am trying my best not to disappoint fans back home. I got a couple of knocks in the end; my ribs are swollen but I am happy."


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