India men’s national hockey team after losing semi-final defeat to Germany at the 2024 Paris Olympics.©AFP
India missed a golden chance to enter the Olympics hockey final for the first time in 44 years as they lost 2-3 to Germany in a tight encounter in the semi-finals of the Paris Games on Tuesday. The Indians started brightly and dominated the early exchanges, before the Germans regrouped. It was a great opportunity for India to enter their first Olympic Games final since the 1980 Games, but Germany dashed their hopes with a decisive goal in the fourth and final quarter.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh (7th) and Sukhjeet Singh (36th) scored for India, while Gonzalo Peillat (18th), Christopher Ruhr (27th) and Marco Miltkau (54th) scored for Germany.
India will now face Spain in the bronze medal match while Germany will face the Netherlands in the final.
The Indians were on the front foot, putting heavy pressure on the German defense in the first quarter and in the process scored the first goal of the match through Harmanpreet.
But the Germans, known for their steely determination, came back strongly in the second quarter and equalized from a Peillat penalty corner, before taking the lead through a Ruhr penalty conversion.
The Indians secured both goals through penalty corners as in the 36th minute, Sukhjeet deflected well off a variation of Harmanpreet’s shot.
The Germans attacked with intensity in the fourth and final quarter and, just six minutes from the final whistle, scored the winning goal when Miltkau deflected in a cross to break Indian hearts.
The Indians had their chances in the match as they took as many as 11 penalty corners but converted just one.
Germany, on the other hand, only secured four penalty corners.
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