 "India's goalkeeper PR Sreejesh now has a chance to win bronze in his final international tournament. AP")
Indian men’s hockey team played some of its best hockey in years against Germany in the semi-finals but suffered a gut-wrenching 3-2 defeat on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. The defeat means India will not be able to fight for gold and their only medal hope is now a bronze for which they will have to take on Spain in a playoff.
The crushing defeat left Indian players visibly emotional with midfielder Hardik Singh breaking down in tears.
Legendary goalkeeper PR Sreejesh summed up the emotions after the match, calling the result “heartbreaking”.
“See when you lose in a semi-final game, it’s not that easy, because once you are in the finals, you are fighting for the gold, and that’s a dream of any athlete. That’s what we were here for. The last three years, every day, when we were on the field, we worked really hard to change the colour of that medal which we got last time. We just missed that opportunity,” he told JioCinema.
“So it’s heartbreaking because those days were very hard. It was not easy. But see, now it’s done. We got the opportunity. We missed it. Now it’s the time to get something.”
Read | Gallant but misfiring India fail to conquer Germany’s ruthless efficiency in semis heartbreak
Sreejesh, however, added that it’s important for the team to quickly move on as they still have the bronze to fight for.
“See, rather than my situation, the team’s situation is more important. I think that rather than working ourselves up too much about today. The emotions which we are going through today, we need to just forget about that and move on, bounce back, prepare for the next one and do well in the other match.”
India captain Harmanpreet Singh was also extremely dejected with the loss and said that the team did everything possible to reach the final.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s a very hard moment. Last time we were here, and we went home with the bronze medal. We did all that we could but maybe it just wasn’t our day. But now we need to focus so that we don’t go home empty-handed,” Harmanpreet said on JioCinema.