Team India has a real chance to secure its second consecutive medal in hockey at the Olympics. The team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, made it to the semifinal of the Games beating Great Britain in a thrilling quarterfinal. The game went to the penalty shootout with both teams locked at 1-1 at full time. PR Sreejesh, India's veteran goalkeeper, showed off his experience keeping the opposition strikers at bay as India won the clash 4-2.
Meanwhile, India's opponent in the semifinal will be Germany at the Paris Olympics. Germany defeated Argentina 3-2 in the quarterfinal that ended in the wee hours of Monday (August 5). India will now face Germany in the semifinal on August 6 (Tuesday) at 10:30 PM. Interestingly, the two teams had locked horns in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
India had won that clash then 5-4 to secure a historic bronze medal, the first since winning the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This time around, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side has a great chance to make it to the final as well having beaten Germany before.
However, India will be without Amit Rohidas in the semifinal as he has been suspended for one match by the FIH Technical Delegate for a breach of the FIH Code of Conduct. Amit was sent off in the first half controversially during the game against Great Britain and the team played admirably well with just 10 men for almost 38 minutes.
As far as the other semifinal is concerned, the Netherlands will take on Spain at 5:30 PM IST on August 6 (Tuesday). Spain stunned the reigning Olympic champions Belgium 3-2 scoring two goals in last five minutes of the game while the Dutch got the better of Australia, silver medallists at the Tokyo Olympics, 2-0 to make it to the last four.
Paris Olympics 2024 - Hockey semifinals Schedule
Netherlands vs Spain - 5:30 PM IST on August 6
Germany vs India - 10:30 PM IST on August 6
