New Delhi: India men’s hockey team on Sunday reached the semi-final of the Olympics for the first time in 41 years as the team defeated Great Britain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh didn’t miss the opportunity to congratulate the Indian Hockey team and at the same time he played petty politics over it.
Taking to Twitter, CM said that all 3 goals were scored by Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Hardik Singh, all three players from Punjab.
“Stellar performance by the Indian Men’s Hockey team at #TokyoOlympics to beat Great Britain by 3-1 & entering Olympic top 4 after 41 years. Happy to note that all 3 goals were scored by Punjab players Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh & Hardik Singh. Congratulations…go for Gold!,” he Tweeted.
A semi-final berth had eluded the Indian men’s hockey team since the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games where the team led by V Baskaran won the eighth Gold medal for India. Coming back to the game, India suffered a blow when skipper Manpreet Singh received a yellow card in the dying minutes, but Hardik scored in the 57th minute to extend India’s lead.
Dilpreet Singh got India off the mark early as he netted a goal in the seventh minute of the match.
Simranjeet stole the possession and passed through England’s defenders to Dilpreet who gave India the lead.
Gurjant Singh doubled the lead as he scored right at the start of the second quarter. India maintained the lead and went to the second half of the game with a score of 2-0.
In the third quarter, Sam Ward gave Great Britain something to play for as he netted a goal in the dying minutes of the essay. Great Britain won three back-to-back penalty corners and finally converted the last one into the goal.
Despite the goal, India went into the fourth and final quarter with a lead of 2-1 with a thrilling essay on cards for both sides.
In the final quarter, Great Britain tried hard to score a goal after breaching the Indian defence. The side even won a penalty corner but PR Sreejesh made a fine save to keep India on top.
Hardik scored in the closing stages as India defeated Great Britain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics. The team will face Belgium in the semis.
Here is who said what:
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulates the Indian men’s hockey team for storming into the Olympic Semi-finals after 41 years: Odisha CMO pic.twitter.com/G44PcGxB5l
— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2021
Chak De India ??
Brilliant performance by Indian Men’s Hockey Team at #Olympics
Best wishes for the next match! #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/UjcsqlUOgd
— Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 1, 2021
I’ve no words to express how much excited I’m at this moment! After 49 long years wait, India is going to play in Semi-finals at the Olympics!
India beats Great Britain 3-1 to enter semis at #Tokyo2020 Olympics!#Cheer4India ?? https://t.co/3swWYTvH6O pic.twitter.com/2aC0mHuqpt
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) August 1, 2021
(With Inputs from ANI)
