The Indian hockey team has ended a 52-year drought against Australia at the Olympic Games with a sensational win in the Pool B match in Paris. Harmanpreet Singh's team defeated the mighty Aussies 3-2 to register a historic win at the ongoing Olympic Games. This was India's third win in the group stage and it all but sealed India's second spot in the Pool.
India pressed strongly and controlled the possession well too. In another positive sign for the Men in Blue striker Abhishek scored first from the field as he found the back of the net in the 12th minute. India doubled their lead in the next minute itself as captain Harmanpreet scored a penalty corner. Australia pulled one back in the 25th minute when Craig put a tap in to beat the Indian goalkeeper S Sreejesh. India led 2-1 at the halftime.
Coming into the next half, the Indians kept the intensity going. Harmanpreet scored a penalty stroke in the 32nd minute to make it 3-1 before Australia threatened and pulled one back in the 55th minute with a strike from Govers Blake. Indian veteran goalkeeper S Sreejesh stood like a wall at the goalpost as he made several saves when the Aussies charged with their tails up.
The Men in Blue had already booked their place in the quarterfinals and are now favourites to finish in the second place. Australia, who have also qualified for the knockouts, will now remain below India in the Pool B standings.
India captain Harmanpreet shared his thoughts on this win. "It was an important match. We needed a match like this before the quarterfinals. From the start we put them under pressure. It's a proud moment to beat Australia," Harmanpreet said after the match. "We took it quarter by quarter. It's always said that Australia is a big team, although we don't approach the match with that mentality, it's big win for us," he added.
The Tokyo 2021 bronze medallists will face either Great Britain or Germany in the quarterfinals on August 4. The Indian skipper knows there is no margin for error now. "There will be no margin for error from now onwards.
We try to win great matches in every major tournament and trying to keep the great legacy of Indian hockey going. "There is never a perfect match. Some or other thing remains. Like if you talk about today's match, possession is one area where we can do well," he said.
