India beat GB to move into hockey semis

PARIS: Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh produced a stellar performance in India’s iconic 4-2 win over Great Britain in the penalty shootout to earn a place in the semi-finals of Paris Olympics Hockey at Yves Du-Manoir Stadium Paris.

The Indian team was one man down for about 42 minutes, but the 10 players in the middle fought well throughout the match and took it into the penalties. The Indian penalty-takers held their nerves in the shootout and converted their chances but it was Sreejesh who once again proved to be the Great Wall of India with a couple of incredible saves.

Earlier, Lee Morton scored the equaliser for Great Britain at halftime to make it 1-1. He was in the right place at the right time to put the ball inside goal. For India, Harmanpreet Singh once again scored the goal, opening the scoring here from the penalty corner to put the Asian giants ahead in the game but Morton equalised quickly for Britain.

India, who are fifth in hockey rankings, finished second in Pool B, with 10 points from five matches. They had already qualified for the quarters after beating Ireland and New Zealand, before holding Argentina to a 1-1 draw.

Although they lost 1-2 against defending champions Belgium in their next match, they secured a second spot in the table, behind the unbeaten Black Sticks, after beating the mighty Australian side 3-2 in their final group game. It was, in fact, their first win against the Kookaburras in 52 years at the Olympics.

On the other hand, Great Britain finished third in Pool A, with eight points from five matches. Although they started their campaign in Paris on a winning note, beating Spain 4-0, Great Britain were held to a 2-2 draw against both South Africa and Netherlands.

They bounced back eventually to take down host nation France 1-2, which guaranteed them a spot in the quarter-finals. However, they ended their group-stage campaign with a 1-2 loss against table-toppers Germany, which saw them slip to the third spot on the table from the second.

In the second quarter-final, eighth-ranked Spain upset reigning champions Belgium 3-2 as skipper Marc Miralles netted a crucial third goal with three minutes to go before the defence stifled an attempted comeback.

Spain had not made it past the last eight since Beijing 2008, while Belgium reached the last two Olympic finals, with several of their players holding gold and silver medals from the Tokyo and Rio Games, respectively.