Paris Olympics hockey: India face Spain in bronze medal match

Paris, Aug 7 (PTI) A heart-wrenching defeat in the semifinals, notwithstanding, a demoralised Indian men's hockey team will have to regroup quickly and aim for a second consecutive podium finish at the Olympics when it takes on Spain in the bronze medal play-off here on Thursday.

The Indians played bravely against Germany, putting their defence under pressure from the start and in the process took the lead in the seventh minute through a penalty corner conversion by skipper Harmanpreet Singh.

But the Germans came back strongly in the second quarter and fourth quarters to secure the close win, courtesy some silly defensive lapses from the Indians, especially Jarmanpret Singh.

The Indians too were guilty of wasting too many scoring chances, including as many as 10 penalty corners, while converting two, one directly and another through variation.

The opposition teams seemed to have found out a way to deny one of the world's best drag-flicker Harmanpreet as he managed to be on target just once on Tuesday.

The over-reliance on Harmanpreet and lack of innovative penalty corner variations seemed to be hurting India badly here as they don't have much options in their hands.

But the return of Amit Rohidas, who missed Tuesday's match after being shown the red card against Great Britain in the quarterfinal, should bolster the Indian defence and also give more chances from penalty corners as he is second best option from set pieces after Harmanpreet.

The Indians were looking to break a 44-year-old jinx to reach an Olympic final but it eluded them narrowly.

The last time India made the Olympic hockey final was way back in 1980 Moscow Games, which, in fact, was their last of the eight gold medals at the quadrennial event.

A place in final would have at least assured India a silver medal after 1960 Olympics but that also slipped out of hands.

But all is not lost for the Indians as they still have a chance to claim a podium finish if they beat Spain on Thursday in the bronze medal match.

For that, the Indians will have to leave the baggage of the semifinal loss behind and come out with a fresh mind to get the better of Spain.

Veteran India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who is playing his last international tournament, reminded his teammates that all is not lost.

"It's a heartbreaking loss for us (against Germany). We had the chance to win gold, but now, we have to forget this semifinal and focus on the bronze medal match," he had said.

"It's a medal match and it's about the country. It's about those 19 players here, all the staff. And I think we all get a last opportunity to play, to get a medal for our country rather than worrying about what happened today (Tuesday).

"These 19 players should play like this is our last opportunity as a player to get a medal for our country." Going by form and world ranking, the Indians are clear favourites to win the tie against Spain but in the end it will all boil down to the mental aspect of the side.

While India lost a close semifinal, Spain were thrashed 0-4 by Netherlands.

In world ranking too, Spain are placed eighth while India are currently at the fifth spot.

But it would be easier said than done for the Indians as Spain, while not matching India's Olympic achievements, has made significant strides in recent decades.

The Spanish team has secured two European Championship titles and has consistently participated in World Cups since 1971.

India's most notable victory over Spain was in the gold medal match of the Moscow Olympics, which they won 4-3.

India too enjoy an upperhand over Spain in head-to-head record, winning last four of the five game they played against each other.

In Olympics, India and Spain squared off in 10 contests with India coming out winners in seven, while their rival won one game and two matches ended in draws. PTI