India exploded in celebration after the country’s men’s hockey team created history by winning an Olympic medal for the first time in 41 years. Indian men defeated Germany 5-4 to clinch a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
What made the victory more special was the Indian team’s extraordinary comeback in the match. From trailing 1-3 to Germany for the first 27 minutes of the match, Indian went on to defeat Germany 5-4.
Simranjeet Singh scored his second goal of the Tokyo Olympics in the 17th minute, equalising the score 1-1 before Germany took the lead to 3-1 through the goals from Niklas Wellen and Benedikt Fürk in 24th and 25th minutes respectively.
But Indian men were in no mood to give yet as Hardik Singh scored India’s second in 28th minute. Harmanpreet Singh made it 3-3 for India a minute later. Rupinder Pal Singh converted his penalty stroke into a goal as immediately after the start of the third quarter of the match. Simranjeet scored his second goal of the match to extended India’s lead to 5-3.
Germany scored their fourth goal but failed to avoid the defeat, giving India their first Olympic medal in hockey since the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
India broke into celebrations as soon as it became official that the men’s hockey team had rewritten history in the Olympic games.
Wow!! Indian Men’s Hockey Team Congratulations. Resilience and skill at its peak. What an exciting match.
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) August 5, 2021
Congratulations to each & every member of the hockey contingent on winning the #Bronze for India!
A fantastic hard fought win…The penalty corner save by Sreejesh in the dying moments of the game was amazing.????????
Entire ???????? is immensely proud!#Hockey #Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7Rtko9kS63
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 5, 2021
Congratulations to Indian Men’s Hockey Team! This is a big moment- the whole country is proud of your achievement.
Well-deserved victory! #Olympics
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 5, 2021
Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian.
Congratulations to our Men’s Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team. ????
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 5, 2021
Brilliant in Blue ????
Congratulations Indian Men’s #Hockey Team on the spectacular victory to give us an Olympic medal after 41 long years. This historic win at #Tokyo2020 will inspire generation of sportspersons. All the very best for future. #Cheer4India @thehockeyindia— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 5, 2021
India were unlucky to lose their semi-final match against Belgium despite being one of the strongest teams in this year’s Olympics.
The bronze medal in Tokyo would have more value for Indians in comparison to the Gold they won in Moscow 41 years ago since the 1980 games were boycotted by many countries. Only five teams had taken part in hockey. Other than India, four other team taking part in the games were Spain, Zimbabwe, undivided Czechoslovakia and the host Soviet Union.
Congratulations India for this huge achievement.