India’s men’s hockey team delivered a stellar performance against Australia in their final group stage game at the Paris Olympics on Friday. Playing a well-balanced mix of attacking and defensive hockey, India defeated the Tokyo Olympics silver medalists 3-2 at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. This marks India’s first win over Australia at the Olympics in 52 years, with their previous victory occurring at the 1972 Munich Olympics where they secured a 2-1 win.
The team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, started the match strongly, taking a two-goal lead in the first quarter. Forward Abhishek opened the scoring for India in the 12th minute, followed by Harmanpreet converting a penalty corner just a minute later, bringing the score to 2-0.
The second quarter saw both teams exchanging possession, and in the 25th minute, Craig Thomas converted a penalty corner to reduce Australia’s deficit to one goal.
India began the second half impressively, with Harmanpreet converting another penalty corner in the 32nd minute, extending their lead to 3-1.
Australia managed to close the gap in the fourth quarter with a successful penalty stroke by Blake Grover in the 55th minute. Despite intense efforts in the final minutes to score an equalizer, Australia was unable to do so.
India concluded the group stage with only one loss. They started their campaign with a 3-2 victory over New Zealand, followed by a 1-1 draw against Argentina, and a 2-0 win over Ireland. Their sole defeat came against Olympic champion Belgium with a close 2-1 scoreline before registering the historic win over Australia.
India finished second in Pool B behind Belgium and have qualified for the quarterfinals. They now await the outcome of the match between Great Britain and Spain to determine their opponent in the knockout stage.