Olympics 2024: Indian men's hockey team lose to Germany, to play for bronze

The Indian men's hockey team went down fighting against Germany in the semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

They will play for the bronze medal against Spain on Thursday.

India started the game on the dominant side and broke the deadlock in the seventh minute from a penalty corner.

Captain Harmanpreet slotted it home, giving India a 1-0 lead.

However, the celebration didn't last long as Germany pulled one back quickly from their first penalty corner in the 18th minute. The connecting shot from Gonzalo Peillat was unsavable for Sreejesh.

Within minutes, Germany took the lead through a goal from a penalty stroke in the 27th minute. It was Ruehr who put the ball past Sreejesh as India went into the half-time break trailing.

India came out with renewed vigour to find an equalizer, and they did so in the 36th minute. Abhishek hit the ball onto Ludwig’s hand to win a penalty corner.

Harmanpreet took the flick, but it was the deflection from Sukhjeet that ensured the ball went into the net to restore parity.

However, the happiness was short-lived as Germany scored again. Hinrichs attacked through the left flank in the 54th minute, and Marco Miltkau slotted it into the net to take the lead.

Despite having two last-minute chances to draw level and push the game into a penalty shoot-off, the first shot was denied by the German goalkeeper and Shamsher skied the second shot.

India will now play Spain in the bronze medal match Thursday, while Germany will take on the Netherlands in the final.