A determined Indian men’s hockey team advanced to the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in 49 years, beating Great Britain 3-1 in the quarter-finals in Tokyo on Sunday, a triumph that leaves the side within one win of a medal that has proved elusive for over four decades.
The eight-time former Olympic champions scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win.
Great Britain’s lone goal was scored by Sam Ward from a penalty corner in the 45th minute.
India will take on world champions Belgium in the semi-final on Tuesday.
India’s last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games but there were no semi-finals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.
For a country that gave the world stalwarts like Major Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Senior among others, it has been especially painful to watch the hockey teams’ Olympic debacles before this edition.
The last time India featured in the semi-finals of the Olympics was in the 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan.
Here are some Twitter reactions to the Indian men’s hockey team’s quarter-final win at Tokyo 2020:
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