Paris 2024 Olympics hockey: 10-man India stun Great Britain to enter semi-finals after PR Sreejesh’s shootout heroics

The Indian men’s hockey team, reduced to 10 men in the second quarter, defeated Great Britain 4-2 in a shootout to make the Paris 2024 Olympics quarter-finals on Friday.

Harmanpreet Singh (22’) opened India’s account to register his seventh goal of the tournament while Lee Morton (27’) scored Great Britain’s only goal with the India vs Great Britain hockey match ending in a 1-1 draw after full time.

This is India’s second consecutive appearance in the semi-finals of the men’s hockey Olympic tournament, having won the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.

The first quarter saw both teams cancel out each other’s offensive moves. Both keepers were called into action, but no goals were scored.

The match took a major turn in the second 15, though, as India’s Amit Rohidas was shown a red card after his hockey stick hit the opponent’s face during a duel.

Despite going down to 10 men, skipper Harmanpreet Singh produced a moment of magic from a penalty corner. His trademark drag flick flew past keeper Ollie Payne to establish a surprise lead for the Indian team.

However, Lee Morton equalised a few minutes later for Great Britain. After PR Sreejesh saved the initial attempts, Morton’s shot squeezed past the Indian keeper as both teams went into half-time with one goal apiece.

With the numerical advantage, Great Britain dominated the third quarter, barely giving an opportunity for the Indian hockey team to get into their attacking half.

Great Britain had a few terrific opportunities in the final few minutes of the final quarter as well but failed to find a way past the stringent Indian defence.

PR Sreejesh was caught in a two-on-one situation but made a terrific save to keep India alive. Despite chasing the ball for a major part of the match, India ensured they headed to the shootout.

In the shootout, Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Rajkumar Pal scored for India. For Great Britain, Connor Williamson fired his shot wide, while Sreejesh saved Phillip Roper’s attempt.

In the Paris 2024 Olympics hockey semi-finals, India will face Germany on Tuesday.