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Updated August 5th, 2021 at 13:48 IST

Tokyo Olympics: India becomes most successful hockey team in history with win over Germany

Tokyo Olympics: India became most successful hockey team in history with win over Germany on Thursday, August 5.

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
Tokyo Olympics, India, hockey, olympic medals, India vs Germany, India hockey medal, India medal tally, Manpreet Singh
Image: HockeyIndia/Twitter | Image:self
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The Indian men's hockey team has scripted history as they won their record 12th Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games on Thursday. India won the bronze medal in hockey at this year's Olympics, defeating Germany 5-4, breaking a 41-year drought at the major sporting event. With the bronze medal, India has now become the most successful hockey team in Olympic history, with 12 medals, eight of which are gold. Germany (11) has the next best tally in terms of Olympic medals followed by Australia (9) and the Netherlands (9). 

India's first hockey medal since 1980 Moscow

The Indian hockey team had reached the semi-final at the 2020 Olympics after defeating Great Britain in the quarterfinal last week. However, India lost to the world's number 1 ranked Belgium in the semi-final and had to settle for the bronze medal match with Germany, who had come to the game after losing in the semis against Australia. The Indian men's hockey team had qualified for the semi-finals for the first time in 41 years, having reached the top four in 1980 at the Moscow Games, where the Men in Blue went on to win a record eighth gold medal.

As far as the game is concerned, the Manpreet Singh lead team started the match by conceiving an early goal and helping Germany secure a lead in the first quarter. The second quarter saw India score an equalizer courtesy of Simranjeeet Singh. The German team however was immediate with its response by scoring the second goal which they followed up by scoring another goal and taking the lead to 3-1. India bounced back strongly and scored two back-to-back goals before the end of the second quarter. 

India took the lead for the first time in the game in the third quarter. India's fourth goal was scored by Rupinder Pal Singh. Simranjeet Singh added one more to make the score 5-3. Germany scored a goal in the fourth quarter, but India never let the bronze medalists from the 2016 Rio Olympics score again, keeping the score stable at 5-4 until the final whistle.

Image: HockeyIndia/Twitter
 

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Published August 5th, 2021 at 13:48 IST

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