A ten-man Indian hockey side showed resilience and skill when they defeated Great Britain in a shoot-out to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics here on Sunday.
India suffered an early blow when they were reduced to 10-man in the 17th minute of the game.
Despite the obstacle, Indian players displayed their courage and determination on the field and Harmanpreet Singh led from the front to give India the first lead in the match.
It was Singh’s seventh overall goal in the tournament so far.
He scored the goal by converting a penalty in the 22nd minute of the encounter.
Great Britain scored the equaliser when Lee Morton netted one five minutes later.
The thrilling encounter remained 1-1 in the regulation time.
Displaying extraordinary efforts in front of the goal, the credit of India’s 4-2 victory over the opponents in the dramatic match goes to PR Sreejesh’s brave efforts in the showdown.
During the normal regulation time, PR Sreejash remained impenetrable and British players tried their best efforts to cross the Indian goalkeeper.
It was his never-die attitude and the entire team’s joint team game which helped the South Asian squad give a tough fight to the opponent despite losing one man early when Amit Rohidas was shown the red card.
Sreejash, one of the senior players in the team, still remained athletic and competitive when he kept saving one goal after the other with agility.
Having reached the semi-finals, India will now aim to end the Olympics with a podium finish just like it did in Tokyo where the team won the bronze.
India came to play this match after beating the mighty Australians in the previous game.
