India wins first hockey bronze medal after years of disappointment

Defeating Germany with a score of 5-4, India won a bronze medal in hockey after 40 years of trials and disappointments.

The Asian country’s last recorded win in hockey was in the 1980 Moscow Games, yet it won one last gold in Beijing in 2008.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi tweeted: “Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian.”

“Congratulations to our Men’s hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team.” He adds in the same tweet.

By scoring the 4th goal after the results that were 1-3 at the half-time, India’s team continued striving to score until a result of 3-3 followed by the 5-4 vanquishing Germany.

Goal scorers were Simranjeet Singh (17th, 34th minutes) scoring a brace, while Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) were the other goal getters.

As for Germany, goals were scored by Timur Oruz (2nd), Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th).

Hugs and tears overwhelmed the field after the 5th goal that allowed India to get a taste of victory after 40 years.

Manpreet Singh the leader of the team stated the eve of the bronze medal match: “We have the entire country’s support. We even had the Hon’ble Prime Minister call us and wish us after the semi-final loss. He asked us to not feel disappointed and just look forward to playing well on Thursday and that’s what we plan to do. We are pumped up for the game.”