Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Indian men's hockey team over a phone call following their bronze-medal finish at the Paris Olympics. PM Modi continued with his ritual of speaking to athletes following their medal finish at the Olympics.
"Heartiest congratulations to you and the entire team. You guys have made the entire country proud. If you remember I had told you after your win at the Tokyo Olympics that you all have broken the string of losses in the Olympics. We have registered a tremendous amount of progress this time around as well under your leadership and with the efforts of the entire team," PM Modi told the unit via a phonecall.
"I have complete faith that you will bring back the golden age of hockey in India," he added.
PM Modi also extended his heartiest congratulations to the retiring goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and urged him to contribute towards building a new team. He heaped praise on the players for their hard-fought win over Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
"I feel your 10-man effort against Great Britain in the quarterfinals will be remembered by every hockey fan in the country. It will serve as a template and will be discussed actively in the world of hockey in the days to come," he concluded.
Notably, India played for almost three quarters with just 10 players on the pitch after the TV umpire asked one of the referees to give a red card to defender Amit Rohidas. The TV umpire felt that Rohidas intentionally hurt one of the Great Britain players with his hockey stick and therefore penalised him.
Rohidas was subsequently suspended for the semifinal clash against world champions Germany and it derailed India's campaign in Paris. India lost to Germany 3-2 and crashed out of the race to clinch gold.
