Indian men's hockey team on Sunday beat Great Britain to enter semifinals for first time in 49 years. India scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win for the eight-time Olympic champions.
Dilpreet Singh scored in the first few minutes of the first quarter while Gurjant scored at the start of the second quarter. The Indians maintained their lead at half-time but Samuel Ian Ward got one goal against Great Britain's account in the dying moments of the third quarter, courtesy a penalty corner. But Hardik Singh scored in the fourth quarter to put India 3-1 ahead and the Indians maintained their lead till the end.
Even though India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games, there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.
The last time India featured in the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan.
India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.
Belgium defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal to seal their place in the last four round. The other semifinal of the men's hockey competition will be played between Australia and Germany.Indian men's hockey team on Sunday beat Great Britain to enter semifinals for first time in 49 years. India scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win for the eight-time Olympic champions.
Dilpreet Singh scored in the first few minutes of the first quarter while Gurjant scored at the start of the second quarter. The Indians maintained their lead at half-time but Samuel Ian Ward got one goal against Great Britain's account in the dying moments of the third quarter, courtesy a penalty corner. But Hardik Singh scored in the fourth quarter to put India 3-1 ahead and the Indians maintained their lead till the end.
