Tokyo 2020: How the Indian men's hockey team ended a 41-year drought

On August 5, 2021, Indian hockey turned a corner!

After 41 long years, the Indian men’s hockey team finally found its way back to the Olympic podium after winning a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 by beating Germany in the third-place playoff.

The significance of the medal cannot be emphasised enough.

Having dominated world hockey from the 1920s to the 80s, a period which saw them win eight golds, one silver and two bronze medals at the Olympics, Indian hockey’s decline over the next four decades was perplexing.

While the team was never devoid of special talents and was always deemed capable of beating anyone on its day, the lack of consistency saw India return empty-handed from nine straight Summer Games. Successes at major international tournaments were also scarce.

The once-mighty hockey nation, which was considered championship favourites for almost every edition during their glory days, were gradually reduced to being mere dark horses. Coming into Tokyo 2020, it was no different.

Winning the medal at Tokyo, hence, was crucial to reignite hopes that India can, once again, rise to the top of the hockey world.

Here’s an account of how the Indian men’s hockey team won its historic bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.

Road to Tokyo 2020 Olympics

After failing to progress beyond the group stages at the Olympics from 1984 to 2012, India finally managed to break the hoodoo by making the quarter-finals at Rio 2016.

Progress at Tokyo 2020 was integral to keep the momentum going.

With coach Graham Reid at the helm and the enigmatic Manpreet Singh as captain, the Indian team showed steady form heading into the Tokyo Olympics. Medals at top-tier tournaments like the Asian Championships, Asia Cup, FIH Series Final and a quarter-final finish at the FIH Men’s World Cup 2018 helped boost the team’s confidence heading into the Tokyo Games.

Manpreet Singh and Co. didn’t break much of a sweat in booking their berth for Tokyo 2020 after overpowering Russia 11-3 on aggregate over the two-legged qualifiers. The momentum, however, halted with the Summer Games being postponed by a year due to COVID-19.

COVID times also proved challenging for the squad with multiple first-teamers, including captain Manpreet, testing positive for the coronavirus. Preparations suffered as a result.

Despite the challenges, though, the Indian team was ready and focused by the time the Tokyo Olympics started on July 23, 2021. Coach Graham Reid decided to put his faith in the youngsters with as many as 10 members of the team set for their Olympic debut in Tokyo.

Indian men's hockey team’s run at Tokyo Olympics

India’s start to the Tokyo 2020 campaign was far from ideal. After narrowly beating New Zealand 3-2 in their opener, Manpreet Singh and Co. suffered a damaging 7-1 loss to Australia in their second game of Pool A.

The defeat cast serious doubts over the team’s chances of making it past the group stage.

India, though, responded brilliantly after the disappointment and bounced back with a 3-0 win over Spain. Their fourth match, meanwhile, saw India upset Rio 2016 gold medallists Argentina 3-1 and seal their place in the quarter-finals.

A 5-3 victory over Japan in their final group tie meant India finished second in Pool A behind Australia. Great Britain, two-time Olympic champions, were their opponents in the quarters.

India comfortably beat Great Britain 3-1 to set up a semi-final clash against Belgium, the silver medallists from Rio and eventual Tokyo 2020 champions.

India lost the semis to Belgium 5-2 but the underwhelming scoreline doesn’t quite tell the full story. Manpreet Singh and Co. were in with a chance of making the final right until the final quarter.

Having conceded an early goal, India struck back through Harmanpreet and Mandeep Singh to take the lead but Alexander Hendrickx equalised for the Belgians just before half-time.

The score was tied at 2-2 till the final quarter but with both teams throwing caution to the wind in search of a winner in the final period, the rub of the green went Belgium’s way as they took the lead in the 49th minute.

With India left with no choice but to go all out, Belgium capitalised on the open spaces in the India defence to score more goals late in the match. Hendrickx finished the match with a hat-trick.

On the back of the heartbreaking loss, the Indian team had barely two days to recover before its bronze medal match against Germany, the other losing semi-finalists.

It turned out to be an absolute cracker of a contest and was later voted as the third-best match of 2021 in a poll conducted by the international hockey federation (FIH).

The Indian hockey team overturned a 3-1 deficit to eventually win the match 5-4 and secure the monumental medal. Simranjeet Singh scored a brace for India while Harmanpreet, Hardik and Rupinder Pal pitched in with a goal each but the hero of the match was veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.

Despite the goal rush, the Kerala-born custodian was sensational between the sticks and pulled off multiple astonishing saves to get India over the line.

After the match, PR Sreejesh himself summed up the impact of the win on both Indian hockey and the country as a whole.

“It's been 41 years. In the 1980s we won the last medal and after that, nothing. Today, we won it and this gives a boost to the youngsters to pick up hockey again. This is a beautiful game. Now we are giving a reason for them to pick up hockey, play the game,” PR Sreejesh said.

Incidentally, even PR Sreejesh, the oldest player in the Indian team for Tokyo at 35, wasn’t born when India won their last Olympic medal, at Moscow 1980, before their triumph at Tokyo 2020.

Indian hockey team top scorer at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Top scorer: Harmanpreet Singh (6 goals)

Other scorers: Rupinder Pal Singh (4), Gurjant Singh (3), Simranjeet Singh (3), Dilpreet Singh (2), Hardik Singh (2), Varun Kumar (1), Vivek Prasad (1), Nilakanta Sharma (1), Mandeep Singh (1), Shamsher Singh (1)

Indian hockey team for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar

Midfielders: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit

Forwards: Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh

Coach: Graham Reid