Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
PR Sreejesh was the hero of the penalty shootouts as India defeated Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout to make it to the semifinals of the men’s hockey event on August 4, Sunday. The match had finished 1-1 in normal time as India played for most of 3 quarters with 10 men as Amit Rohidas was given a red card.
Sreejesh would make a fine save to deny Philip Roper as Rajkumar Pal scored the decisive goal as they capped off a remarkable performance to make it to the final 4 for the second time in a row at the Olympics. Harmanpreet Singh had given India the lead in the 22nd minute before Lee Morton equalised.
The match started with Great Britain being on the offensive with a lot of pressure. The Indian defence was remaining strong but Great Britain were piling on the pressure and they got 2 PCs with 5 minutes done. The Indian players had no issues with both the efforts but Great Britain remained on the attack.
Sreejesh pulled off an incredible save from Samuel Ward in the 11th minute and India would turn on the pressure in the final few minutes. They would get 3 PCs in a row but they were all saved by Great Britain. The second quarter was when all the drama started.
The action started with Sreejesh making a save after a mistake in midfield gave Great Britain the ball, which they got into the Indian circle.
The match would see its major talking point in the 17th minute as Amit Rohidas was given a red card. The Indian defender was trying to run with the ball and was being challenged by Calnan from behind. However, the Indian defender’s stick was in an unnatural position and hit Calnan on the head. The refs had a discussion and Rohidas would be given a straight red card.
Despite being down by 1 man, India would take the lead against the run of play. Harmanpreet would make no mistake with his PC as the ball went past Payne in goal in the 22nd minute. Great Britain would pile on the pressure but India would remain strong in defence.
However, it was breached in the end as Lee Morton scored in the 27th minute as we went into half-time 1-1. It was all Great Britain from the get-go in the third quarter as Sreejesh had to make a vital stop in the 32nd minute to deny Rupert Shipperly. The penalty corner count would go up to 10 with India doing all the defending throughout the quarter. However, India would go down to 9 players as Sumit was given a green card.
India would slowly start to be a bit more brave in the 4th quarter and as they looked to attack the Great Britain circle. There was a big moment in the 56th minute as Sreejesh was able to save Calnan’s shot with a brilliant effort.
The brilliant defence from India ensured we went into the dreaded penalty shootout to decide the contest.
The shootout started with Albery starting against Sreejesh. The Great Britain man would be challenged by Sreejesh, but was able to slot it home.
Harmanpreet Singh stepped up next, and he made no mistake to make it 1-1 with the timer about to run out. Wallace was the next man up and he was able to sneak the ball in to the net past a diving Sreejesh.
Sukhjeet made Payne work a lot and then slotted it home with a fine finish to make it 2-2. Great Britain would then miss their next attempt as Williamson fired it well wide.
Lailit Upadhyay then put India into the lead with his effort. Sreejesh would then make the big save to deny Roper as Rajkumar made no mistake to put India through. They will now face either Argentina or Germany in the semi-finals.
