Road to the semi-finals for the Indian men's hockey team

It wasn't just 6 matches, it was a wait of 49 years and the big day is finally here after a long long time

India Men Hockey Team (Source: Hockey India)

There is no doubt that India's road to the Olympics has been tough. Especially in the last 12 years, from not qualifying for the 2008 Olympics to making it to the semifinals in 2021, India has weathered the toughest journey to get to where they are. We take a look at their journey over the tournament to the semi-finals.

How did they qualify for the Olympics?

India qualified by beating Russia in the 2019 Olympic qualifiers held in Bhubaneswar. They won by an aggregate score of 11-3 over two legs.

India v New Zealand

India kicked off their Tokyo Olympics campaign with an intense 3-2 victory over the Kiwis. It was the heroics of Harmanpreet and Rupinder Pal Singh that brought the much needed first match confidence. Despite being pegged back twice, India managed to keep their nerve and finish with the targeted victory.

India v Australia

It was thought to be India's day when they went up by a goal in the second minute. Australia however are never ones to take lightly and in the 2nd quarter, they scored 3 goals in 5 minutes. The final score was 7-1 and it was a complete disaster for India as far as everything was concerned.

India v Spain

Simranjeet and Rupinderpal Singh stepped up to give India a comfortable victory over Spain. It was a much-needed victory after the drubbing by Australia, but India was never going to lose this one given that their position in the table had to be 2nd in order to comfortably make it to the quarter finals.

THIRD CONSECUTIVE WINS! 🎉

Spain, Argentina, and now Japan.#TeamIndia finish SECOND in the group stage and advance into the quarter-finals of #Olympics.#Hockey | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/MI1yW3z79Z
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) July 30, 2021

India v Argentina

This was supposed to be the toughest groups stage match after Australia given that Argentina won the Gold at Rio 2016. It did seem like it would either be a stalemate between the two teams or would end up with a narrow score line. India managed to ease through with a 3-1 victory through sublime penalty corner conversions and goals scored by Vivek Prasad, Varun Kumar and Harmanpreet Singh. India was quite wasteful throughout the match but were defensively solid.

India v Japan

The final groups stage match saw a few key players rested such as Rupinder Pal Singh. It seemed like an easy game for India but there were a few nervous moments given that Japan was playing for their pride. The final score was 5-3 for India but not before Japan had also fought to keep the score at 2-1 and 3-2. The Indian defense had a lot of work on their hands but at the end of it, managed to get by.

The Indian men's hockey team scripts history by entering its 1st Olympic semifinal in 49 years!

Cheer for Team India at the Tokyo Olympics. Tweet your images/videos using #FanBannJaaoge and tag @MPLSportsFdn and us to get a chance of winning an Indian Olympic jersey.#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/B6m33RM1nh
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) August 1, 2021

India v Great Britain

The much-awaited quarter-final ended with India winning 3-1. It was no ordinary match despite Inia having a 2-0 lead. The match went into the third quarter when Great Britain won a PC and scored in the last 3 seconds. It was a nervy 4^th quarter as Sreejesh kept India alive and it was a goal in the 57^th minute that brought India a 2 goal lead and took them to the semi-final.

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