India beat Spain 2-1 in a cliffhanger to clinch the bronze medal in the men's hockey event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, August 8 and gave a memorable farewell to their legendary goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. India's captain Harmanpreet Singh emerged as the hero for the side as he scored two sensational goals to help the country retain the bronze it had won at the Tokyo Olympics.
Marc Miralles Portillo gave Spain a fantastic opening as he converted a penalty stroke in the 18th minute by outmanoeuvring PR Sreejesh. Spain got multiple other opportunities in the form of penalty corners in the second quarter to add to their lead but India's proactive defence supervised by Sreejesh foiled all those attempts.
Desperate for an equaliser, India looked at Harmanpreet Singh with hope and the skipper delivered. Harmanpreet's drag flick found the back of Spain's net in the 30th minute and brought India back into the contest. The India captain scored yet again in the third quarter (33rd minute) to give a 2-1 lead and it turned out to be decisive.
Spain fought valiantly and tried dead level best to come back into the contest but a circumspect Indian defence ensured a bronze in the evenly contested clash.
Earlier. India kicked off their campaign with a nerve-wracking 3-2 win over New Zealand. The game turned out to be a thriller for the hockey fans as the Black Sticks were leading 1-0 initially after Sam Lane's eighth-minute goal.
The Men in Blue roared back into the contest as Mandeep Singh (24') and Vivek Sagar Prasad (34') penetrated the Kiwi defence and gave India the lead 2-1. However, New Zealand showed immense grit and struck the equaliser in the 53rd minute with the help of a goal from Simon Child.
With just a few minutes left on the clock India needed to turn the tables around and it happened as skipper Harmanpreet Singh struck and scored the decisive goal.
India took on Argentina in their second Pool B fixture and were tested to the core. Argentina attacked from the opening minute and kept the Indian players on the back foot.
Lucas Martinez gave Argentina the lead and the team was inches away from maintaining a clean sheet before the India captain came to the rescue yet again and scored a goal in the 59th minute to take India to safer shores.
The Harmanpreet Singh-led side dominated Ireland in the third match and won the contest 2-0 with the help of a twin strike by Harmanpreet.
India suffered their first loss of the tournament at the hands of Belgium as they went down fighting 2-1. In their last group stage match against Australia, the Men in Blue displayed a lot of flair and stunned the Kookaburras 3-2.
The quarterfinal match against Great Britain was nothing less than a spectacle. India played for almost three quarters with just 10 players after the TV umpire asked one of the referees to give a red card to Amit Rohidas for an intentional tackle.
India scored in the 22nd minute with the help of a penalty corner and Great Britain equalised just five minutes later as they had the numbers game in their favour. However, India defended brilliantly and kept Great Britain at bay for the remaining period to push the game into a penalty shootout.
PR Sreejesh stepped up to the occasion and defended well to propel India into the semis. India locked horns with Germany in the semis and fought with all their heart before Marco Miltaku's goal in the 54th minute ended their dreams of making it to the finals.
