Paris Olympics: Upbeat Harmanpreet & Co brace for the ‘main tournament’ now

Can the Indian hockey team do one better than the bronze medal which they won after a gap of 41 years in Tokyo? Harmanpreet Singh, their feisty captain and goalscorer says they are in Paris to give the country their ‘ninth gold’ of the Olympics but also sounds an alert as their knockout campaign begins on Sunday, 4 August.

‘’'There’s no room for mistakes,’’ was the penalty corner specialist’s red alert as they run into Great Britain in the quarter-final on Sunday. They just have a day to recover after what must have been a draining 3-2 win against Australia in their last league game on Friday, a historic moment of sorts as they had done so 52 years back.

India have qualified for the final eight match-up in Paris alongside defending champions Belgium, Argentina and Australia from Pool B. They finished second in the group in an overall consistent campaign with three wins, a draw and one defeat against Belgium. Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Spain made it to the quarters from Pool B.  

The 12-team hockey competition at the Games is quite a demanding one where any team aspiring to go the distance has to play a maximum of eight games – five in group stages, then the quarters, semi-finals and final. ‘’….the main tournament is starting now. So the quarter-finals, semi-finals, those matches are very crucial. So we are just looking to give our best, said Harmanpreet, a two-time FIH player of the year.

The possibility of a back-to-back medal in the Olympics may be a tough challenge, but the current lot has shown what it takes – including keeping their shape in the last quarter against formidable teams like Australia or Argentina. There are a number of personal landmarks waiting to happen if the Men in Blue manage a podium finish, a significant one of them being making the ‘Rock’ P.R. Sreejesh’s swansong in international hockey a memorable one.

The former captain, playing his fourth Olympics in Paris, turned up with another masterclass against Australia. Manpreet Singh, the midfield general and another four-time Olympian, will want another feather in his cap too while Harmanpreet surely wants to make amends for failing to take his men deep in the FIH Men’s World Cup before a home crowd in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha in early 2023.    

All four quarter finals will be played on Sunday and interestingly, they have produced identical match-ups like Tokyo. India had beaten Great Britain 3-1 on the last occasion, while the other matches are: Belgium vs Spain, Netherlands vs Australia and Germany vs Argentina. The semi-finals will be played on 6 August and final two days later.