Gulf Today Report

A gritty India hockey fought back gallantly to beat Germany 5-4 in bronze medal play-off match at Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

Indian, who were trailing by two goal deficit, put up a resilient performance to flummoxed Germany completely and ended a 41-year drought in hockey.

The Indian hockey team campaign in Tokyo is seen as a first step toward their golden days when they won record eight gold in the discipline.

Meanwhile, Belgium beat Australia to win men’s field hockey Olympic gold for the first time. Earlier, Simranjeet Singh scored a brace while Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Rupinderpal Singh all were on target as a lurking India unleashed an array of attacks, scoring four goals in four minutes to turn the table around after Germany had taken the lead through Timur Cruz, Niklas Wellen.

Germany added two more but that was enough to stop India from taking their first medal in hockey after a long wait of four decades.

The first goal opened floodgates for India as they took control of the game completely and mounted the pressure back on Germany.

Meanwhile, Indian hockey women’s team captain Rani Rampal is confident of winning one more bronze medal for the country. They will take on Great Britain for a third place finish on Friday.

Indian eves had a dream run at the Olympics as they made it to the semi-finals for the first time.

“We played really well against Argentina in the 1-2 semi-final loss.

However, it was disappointing not to book a place in the Olympic final.

“We have performed really well in this tournament and we still have a chance to win a medal.