Kochi: India achieved an incredible feat by winning a medal in the men’s hockey after a gap of four decades in the Olympics. India played miraculously to bounce back after trailing 1-3 to lift the cup 5-4 in the bronze medal play-offs at the Tokyo Olympics today.
India had last won in the 1980 Moscow Olympics by claiming the gold. This is the third time that India is winning bronze in the Olympics. India has won eight gold, one silver. Simranjit Singh scored a brace while Roopinder Pal Singh, Hardik Singh and Harmanpreet Singh hit one each.
India custodian P R Sreejesh made a meticulous save when he stopped a penalty corner hit by the Germans in the dying seconds. India won bronze in 1968 and 1972. For Germany, Timur Oruz (2nd), Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th) netted goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the men’s hockey team after it won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. He tweeted,”Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian. Congratulations to our Men’s Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team. Field hockey stick and ball.”
PM released video on historic hockey win
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s applause to the victorious Indian hockey team for bringing home a medal after a gap of four decades went viral today. The call came to the captain Manpreet Singh when the team was at its crescendo of celebration for outplaying mighty Germany 5-4. The voice of the Prime Minister on the other end enthused the captain.
The 2:15 minute video showed Manpreet thanking Modi for his encouragement before they left for Tokyo. The Prime Minister also congratulated coach Graham Reid and assistant coach Piyush Dubey. Modi used Twitter to write that this day would be etched in the memory of every Indian. PM Modi tweeted, “Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian. Congratulations to our Men’s Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team”, media reports said.