10 men, 43 mins, Olympic semis: India defend their way to 4-2 win over Britain in QFs
Olympic hockey quarter final match against Great Britain with 10 men. And, with nine for a few minutes in the crucial fourth quarter with scores tied at 1-1.
That’s what India was reduced to while playing when Amit Rohidas, India’s best first rusher, was shown a red card for lifting his stick in the 17th minute.
India, though, did not lose hope and took the lead through captain Harmanpreet Singh in the 22nd minute from a penalty corner before Britain drew level through Lee Morton from a field effort in the 27th minute.
It is The Games and a numerical superiority is often impossible to make up at this level unless someone plays the game of his lifetime. On Sunday, goalkeeper P R Sreejesh did just that for India.
A man down, the Tokyo Games bronze medallists fell back to their defensive shape, something they had trained for during their many camps in the lead up to Paris.
“We will leave nothing to chance. Every single scenario will be worked on. If we are a goal down what should be the approach? If we are a man down what should be the approach”, Sreejesh had said when ET Sport had spoken to him before the Olympics. “Coach will get us ready for every eventuality”.
Today his words seem prophetic. India needed Harmanpreet and the senior players to just spread their wings, hold things together and thwart Britain. And if they failed, it was Sreejesh who had their back.
He was the last line of defence, and an impenetrable one. It was as if he just did not want to go back without a medal. The resilience and the
