 "The Indian men's hockey team demonstrated the strength of their character to reach the semi-finals. Reuters")
India came out triumphant from an unequal battle against Great Britain to advance to the Olympic men’s semi-finals as veteran custodian PR Sreejesh brought off two outstanding saves to ensure a 4-2 victory penalty shoot-out after the regulation period ended at 1-1 level on Sunday.
Playing in his fourth Olympics and a star of several penalty shoot-outs, Sreejesh had played a crucial role in ensuring that India stayed at par with Britain when he padded away repeated shots at the Indian citadel as Britain put their numbers advantage to full use and laid a seize on the Indian goal in the last quarter.
When the final hooter went, Britain no longer had the advantage of 11 players versus 10, and India were confident that Sreejesh, who has weathered many shootouts, could win the day for them. Having already announced his international announcement after the Paris Olympics, Sreejesh was the man in focus for millions of Indian hockey fans.
Britain slipped behind in the shootout when Conor Williamson’s reverse hit – their third attempt – soared over the cross-bar. Vintage Sreejesh was in the frame diving to his right to block the next shot from Phillip Roper and India had been smelling victory when Raj Kumar Pal stepped up for his attempt. All previous Indian attempts by captain Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, and Lalit Upadhyay had been converted. Raj Kumar Pal moved close to goalkeeper Ollie Payne and kept faith in his flick that he scooped over the diving goalkeeper into the citadel.
India are now in the semi-finals , staying on course to repeat their podium finish of the Tokyo Olympics, but to get to the last round they had to overcome all that was thrown at them, even harsh umpiring. This was also different for India from the 2023 World Cup when they faltered in the penalty shoot-out against New Zealand and failed to make the quarter-finals.
It had become an unequal battle the moment a harsh red card was flashed at Amit Rohidas after his mild collusion with Will Calnan in the midfield in the 17th minute. It was a common ball and both were rushing for the ball when Calnan fell down clutching his forehead, implying he had been hit by the stick of Rohidas. After attending to the British player, who got up and walked off, South African umpire Sean Rapaport pulled out the red card – leaving the packed stadium stunned.
The ball was three feet away from both players going for it. The impact on the Indian prospects was immense. The Indian players were left gaping in bewilderment. Rohidas was among the defenders who were spending considerable time on the pitch. He was also the lone alternative to taking the drag-flick if the ball did not go to skipper Harmanpreet.
It seemed an extremely harsh decision without evidence that he had hit the rival player intentionally, but the sentiment was not enough. The umpire – who did not seem to even consider the yellow card - had done the damage. India were reduced to 10 players for almost three full quarters. This is when the character of the Indian team came out in full view, spurred by many thousand fans who had travelled from across the world to support the Indian players.
Playing one player short for nearly three full quarters required resolution from the players. Notwithstanding the harsh award that sent Rohidas off the field, the players quickly regrouped and maintained their defensive structure. Within five minutes, India’s confidence got a boost as Harmanpreet sent a rasping drag-flick into the net to take the lead in the 22nd minute.
Now, there was a feeling of amazement in the British side. Despite an extra man in the field, they were trailing. But this lead only lasted five minutes, and the reason for conceding the equaliser was the absence of an extra defender, which allowed Lee Morton time and space to score on a rebound from Sreejesh’s pads.
Umpire Rapaport was again in action at the end of the third quarter, this time sending off Indian defender Sumit for a rough tackle on the 25-yard line. Now, India were down to nine players at the start of the fourth quarter, but that was just for a few minutes.
The ouster of Rohidas meant India were forced to play half-court for most of the remaining period. This allowed Britain to attack at will, and persistently. Absorbing the pressure, India fell back to defend their citadel so well that Britain were forced to try all the tactics they could remember.
Defending was not an easy task in this situation, but even against the all-out attack by Britain, India did not concede a single penalty corner in the last quarter. The Indian defence managed to maintain their structure and there were smiles all around when the final hooter went off.