look news india
Paris, August 08 (HS). Two goals from captain Harmanpreet Singh and two brilliant saves from PR Sreejesh helped India beat Spain 2-1 at the Yves du Manoir Stadium on Friday to win their second consecutive bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
Playing in a thrilling atmosphere, the Indian team made a brilliant comeback after trailing 0-1 after the first quarter to add their fourth medal to their tally at the Paris Olympics.
Sreejesh, who was playing his last game for India, walked onto the field full of emotions and the rest of the team joined him to celebrate this momentous occasion in India’s hockey history.
India won consecutive bronze hockey medals for the first time in 52 years since the 1972 Munich Games.
Under coach Craig Fulton, India created history and secured consecutive bronze medals at the Olympics. For India, goals from Harmanpreet Singh (30′, 33′) were enough to take them across the finish line. For Spain, Marc Miralles (18′) was the only goal scorer.
India had the upper hand in the head-to-head record against Spain at the Olympics. In their ten meetings, they had defeated the Spanish side seven times.
Spain started the match well. The game started in the second quarter when Manpreet tackled Gerard Claps inside the D, which led to a penalty stroke for Spain.
Spanish captain Marc Miralles converted this opportunity into a goal and gave the team a 1-0 lead.
With a 1-0 lead, Spain continued to dominate India with their possession game in the second quarter as well. Basterra had chances to double Spain's lead but he failed to convert two penalty corner chances.
In the 30th minute of the match, captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner with his trademark drag flick to give India a 1-1 draw.
In the third quarter, India got another penalty corner, which Harmanpreet converted into a goal to put India 2-1 ahead and ultimately this score proved to be decisive and India won the bronze medal for the second consecutive time.