Got here right here for gold, however bronze is best than going house empty-handed: Indian males’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh | Paris Olympics 2024 Information

NEW DELHI: The Indian males’s hockey group confronted a heartbreaking 2-3 defeat towards Germany within the semifinals of the Paris Olympics, dashing their hopes of reaching the ultimate for the primary time in 44 years.
The Indian hockey group began the semifinal match strongly, dominating the early exchanges earlier than Germany regrouped. Harmanpreet (seventh minute) and Sukhjeet Singh (thirty sixth minute) scored for India, whereas Gonzalo Peillat (18th minute), Christopher Ruhr (twenty seventh minute), and Marco Miltkau (54th minute) discovered the web for Germany.
Regardless of their disappointment, captain Harmanpreet Singh and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh acknowledged that securing a bronze medal can be a greater end result than returning house empty-handed.
Harmanpreet Singh, the group’s skipper, expressed his disappointment at not reaching their purpose of profitable the gold medal. Nevertheless, he maintained a practical perspective, stating that it’s preferable to safe a bronze medal than to go away the Olympics with none medal.
That is extraordinarily disappointing as we got here right here to win a gold medal. However, having stated that, it is higher to go house with bronze than nothing. If you lose within the semifinal recreation, it is not that straightforward to take as reaching the ultimate is a dream of any athlete,” Harmanpreet stated.
PR Sreejesh, the skilled goalkeeper who is ready to retire from worldwide hockey after the Paris Olympics, echoed related sentiments. “It is a heartbreaking loss for us. We had the possibility to win gold, however now, now we have to neglect this semifinal and concentrate on the bronze medal match,” stated the goalkeeper.
The Indian hockey group’s coach, Craig Fulton, additionally expressed his unhappiness over the defeat. “We’re upset we couldn’t recover from the road. We performed an important match, pushed very laborious until the top,” the coach added.
Each Harmanpreet and Sreejesh acknowledged that the group made a number of errors that proved expensive in the long run. Harmanpreet identified defensive errors and missed alternatives, whereas Sreejesh highlighted the group’s incapability to make an influence within the opponent’s half and the prevalence of foolish errors throughout the match.
“We will not commit such foolish errors throughout the match. We couldn’t make an influence within the opponent’s half. I feel moderately than my scenario, the group is extra necessary. Simply neglect about that and play the subsequent recreation in a greater means, bounce again within the subsequent recreation,” Sreejesh stated.
Harmanpreet and Sreejesh additionally prolonged their greatest needs to Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who will compete for the gold medal within the 50kg freestyle class on Thursday.