Players’ wild on-field celebrations after India win hockey bronze at 2024 Paris Olympics – Watch

The Indian men’s hockey team won a second consecutive bronze medal at the Olympic Games for the first time in 52 years with a 2-1 victory over Spain, giving veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh a befitting farewell on Thursday. The last few minutes were tense for the Indians as they faced two short corners in the last minute, but the defense stood firm and absorbed the pressure. India, which won bronze at the Tokyo Games after a gap of 41 years, lived up to expectations despite not having perfect preparation for the Games. The last time India won consecutive Olympic medals was in the 1968 (bronze) and 1972 (bronze) editions.

The bronze medal was also a desperate wait for the Indian contingent in Paris, who have already achieved six fourth places so far, in addition to the painful disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat.

Spain advanced with captain Marc Miralles (18th) converting a penalty while Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh (30th, 33rd) stole the limelight with two goals.

INDIA WINS BRONZE MEDAL IN HOCKEY IN #Paris2024!

Keep watching the Olympics action LIVE at #Esportes18 and stream for FREE on #JioCinema#OlympicsonJioCinema #OlympicsonSports18 #Olympics #JioCinemaSports #Hockey #Cheer4Bharat #INDvsESP pic.twitter.com/r6VKxI5htY

-JioCinema (@JioCinema) August 8, 2024

Ignoring the painful 2-3 defeat against Germany in the semi-final, India came out with all guns blazing to dominate possession in the first quarter.

It was an offensive start from India, who regularly penetrated the Spanish defense in the first 15 minutes and created the first scoring opportunity of the game in the sixth minute.

Vice-captain Hardik Singh made a fine move down the right and passed the ball down the D to Sukhjeet Singh, whose shot went wide of the Spanish goal on the left as the Europeans survived.

The Spanish arrived with more determination and intensity in the second quarter and put strong pressure on the Indian goal. They took the lead in the 18th minute through a Miralles penalty conversion after Manpreet Singh was needlessly fouled inside the D.

Spain kept the momentum going and secured back-to-back penalties in the 20th minute, but the Indians defended steadfastly. In the 28th minute, Spain secured another penalty corner after Borja Lacalle hit the post, but it was in vain.

Still at a disadvantage, India put heavy pressure on the Spanish defense and secured the first corner in the 29th minute, but were unable to convert.

Just 21 seconds before half-time, Manpreet made up for his miss by giving India another penalty corner and this time Harmanpreet got it right.

India scored another corner in the 35th minute but Harmanpreet’s powerful strike was blocked by Spanish goalkeeper Luis Calzado.

Mandeep Singh’s excellent play down the left flank resulted in another short corner, but Spaniard Jordi Bonastre took a knock to his left knee to deny India a goal.

Sreejesh then thwarted a Spain attempt as India maintained a 2-1 lead until the end of the third quarter.

Hardik had to be taken off the field five minutes into the fourth quarter after colliding with a rival player and suffering a hand injury.

This happened after India once again made a corner save. It was Manpreet who mistakenly hit the ball at Hardik’s foot.

However, Marc Recasens shot wide, much to the relief of the Indian field.

Three minutes from the final whistle, Spain substituted goalkeeper Calzado in a desperate attempt to equalize, but India made no mistakes in the final moments.