India beat Spain 2-1 to clinch hockey bronze in Paris Olympics
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scores a brace as Sreejesh stays strong to pull off a win
Dubai: India clinched the bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics after defeating Spain 2-1 in the third-place match at the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Paris on Thursday.
Spain went into the lead when Marc Miralles beat P.R. Sreejesh off a penalty stroke in the second quarter, but India equalised through Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flick with 14 seconds left in the first half.
Resuming the second half 1-1, Indian captain continued to lead from the front when he gave the 2019 Tokyo bronze medallists the decisive lead three minutes into the second half off a penalty corner.
Hockey tally to 13
It is India’s fourth bronze medal, and second in succession following Tokyo, and adds to those eight golds, the last of which came in 1980, and three silvers, taking the hockey tally to 13 in Olympics.
India had won seven of their previous 10 encounters with three-time champions Spain, but after a cagey first half they found themselves trailing when Miralles fired an 18th minute penalty stroke past the ‘Wall of India’ Sreejesh Raveendran, playing his 336th and final international.
Borja Lacalle almost made it two, beating Sreejesh only to see his shot rebound off the post.
With the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani supporting from the stands, India began to press hard and with just a few seconds remaining of the first half, Harmanpreet buried a penalty corner to level the scores.
Top-scorer at Olympics
Three minutes after the break, Harmanpreet repeated the trick, sweeping another penalty corner just inside the Spanish post.
It was his tenth goal of the tournament, making Harmanpreet the top scorer at these Olympics.
Spain picked up the tempo in the final quarter, forcing a series of late penalty corners and one outstanding save from Sreejesh which ensured that India would take the bronze medal, the country’s fourth medal in Paris.
— With inputs from AFP