S2H Team

Questions hung heavy on the inclusion of youngsters Simranjeet, Dilpreet and Hardik in the Indian forward line for the 2020 Olympics men’s hockey competition.

On Sunday at the Oi stadium in Tokyo the trio answered those harsh questions in style. Each with a riposte in the form of exciting goals that spelled a 3-1 defeat for a shrewd Great Britain and booked a spot in the medal round after 41 years for an Indian side in the Games.

India will now meet World Cup champions Belgium in the semi-finals on Tuesday. The other semi-final will be contested between Australia and The Netherlands.

In many ways, the quarterfinal clash against GB, looking for their first medal after 33 years, produced the unexpected.

For one thing, two of India’s goals came from uncharacteristic GB defensive lapses and the third completely against the run of play when it appeared they were knocking on the door of the equaliser after fighting back from 0-2.

For another, India were expected to fire from their penalty corner battery, an arsenal expected to swing the match their way.

It didn’t happen simply because India did not force any while their adversaries scored just one from nine.

One thing remained constant. The Sreejesh factor. The Indian goalkeeper stood rock solid, brought off breathtaking saves and marshalled his defence in customary exuberant fashion.

It, for a disconcerting moment, appeared that old failings were showing up.

GB scored on the dot of the third-quarter hooter. And come the last session, captain Manpreet was shown a yellow card with six minutes to go with the Indian defence back-pedalling.

But India started and ended the game with the exuberance and enterprise of youth.

At the start, Dilpreet, fed by Simranjeet who snatched the ball from the usually solid GB defence, finished clinically with a shot that went through young goalkeeper Payne’s legs in the seventh minute.

After Sreejesh effected a double save to help India take the lead into the second quarter, Gurjant gleefully initiated a turnover from a misdirected pass and scored through the unfortunate Payne’s legs after 30 seconds into the quarter.

GB, dominating possession, took control of the game and a goal always looked likely, Sreejesh’s heroics notwithstanding.

It appeared only a matter of time that GB scored, and at a cruel time from an Indian perspective.

A series of penalty corners had India on tenterhooks but it fell to brave-heart Sam Ward, wearing a mask after a comeback from a serious injury, to score with the hooter set to go.

With GB hogging possession and a semblance of indiscipline in terms of a yellow to Manpreet, it looked like another “what-might-have-been” chapter was set to be written.

But a counterattack led to the insurance goal with three minutes left. Hardik, who carried the ball the length of the pitch, unleashed a shot that Payne parried and picking up the rebound himself sounded the boards to Payne’s left to release the tension in the Indian camp.