The Indian men’s hockey team, on Thursday, retained their bronze medal from three years ago as they beat Spain 2-1 at the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal match.
After a sedate first quarter, it was the underdogs Spain who drew the opening blood, thanks to a foul from Manpreet Singh inside the circle. Spain were handed a penalty stroke and captain Marc Miralles made no mistake in slotting the ball past PR Sreejesh to take the lead.
India, however, equalised soon after the half-time break as Harmanpreet Singh put a dragflick past the Spanish goalkeeper in the right corner.
Within minutes of the third quarter, India earned yet another penalty corner and captain Harmanpreet Singh stepped up once again as he slotted the ball towards the left side of the goalkeeper this time to hand India a 2-1 lead.
India controlled the proceedings for the rest of the match, before a few nervy final moments saw them defend penalty corners back to back.
However, Sreejesh, playing his last international match, stood tall once again as the men in blue won a second consecutive Olympic bronze.
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