Sunday evening could be big for Indian hockey. At 5:30 PM IST, the men's team will get a pushback in their quarter-finals, the second consecutive time in the Olympics where they have made this stage against Great Britain (GBR).
India has not won a medal in hockey, the sport that has recognized them at this stage since their eighth gold in 1980. Eight years later, GBR won gold in Seoul, but only advanced to the semifinals at home. To brag in London ever since.
So how is the match expected to end? Who are the key players to watch in each side?
India started with a 3–2 win against New Zealand before Australia reduced them to earth with a score of 7–1, the worst defeat for India at the Olympics. The team has shown great determination to come back with three consecutive victories, including 3-1 against Argentina, the second time they have defeated the defending champions at the Olympics. These results have propelled them from No. 5 to No. 3 in the world rankings, just behind Australia and Belgium.
In contrast, GBR has had a tough time achieving consistency in Tokyo. Playing as England, they topped their group at the recent European Championships in the Netherlands, eventually finishing fourth, but with draw matches against Belgium and the Netherlands, only Canada and the South in their group games here. Africa is defeated. He has sent 11 goals, however, including five in a game for Belgium.
GBR approaches the game with structure, and will try and overtake to prevent the Indian midfield from controlling the pace of the game. In captain Adam Dixon and vice-captain David Ames, he has over 400 caps experience for England and the GBR, and is just the perfect foil for the relatively inexperienced Indian forwardline.
Meanwhile, India's midfield has started off slowly but adjusting to the conditions gracefully in this tournament. Coach Graham Reid has appointed his alternate athletes judiciously, and with Simranjit Singh and Varun Kumar joining midfield and defence, it has given him the opportunity to rest the likes of Birender Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh and Mandeep Singh. Is. Captain Manpreet Singh has been diligent without any exceptional performance. He will look to stamp his authority in this struggle, especially considering how India has slipped through the first knockout hurdle in major events in the last five years.
As the tournament progresses, one player that is coming into its own is midfielder Neelkant Sharma. He appeared ubiquitous in India's 5-3 victory in India's final group stage win against Japan on Friday, working from circle to circle, and aptly popped up with an opportunistic strike that had played a major role in these games. Raised India's list of scorers to nine (for 15 goals). If he gets enough support from Vivek Sagar Prasad and Hardik Singh, we can also see Manpreet in his favorite creative role.
With Covid forcing the cancellation of their Pro League games in London last summer, India and the GBR have not met in a major conflict for some time. When England beat India in the 2017 World League Final group stages in Bhubaneswar, striker Sam Ward struck twice to guide his team to a 3-2 victory. Ward also scored both goals when England beat India for the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, where India won 4-3 in the group stages. Ward was also England's top scorer at Euros, and scored twice in the final 10 minutes here to help save a point against the Dutch. He is a threat to both open play and drag flicks, something that sets him apart from all Indian forwards.
- India and the GBR have met eight times at the Olympics, with a 4–4 split in the middle. India won its first gold as an independent nation 73 years ago in the final in London at the cost of GBR.
- Four wins each came in succession for both teams, with GBR's first win (3–0) over India in 1988 getting in the way of their gold medals in the group stage.
- India lead widely head-to-head (3-0) in terms of knockout matches, with a 3-1 win in the semi-finals in Helsinki 1952 and 1-0 in Rome 1960.
- This would be the first time since the crossover for fifth place in Sydney 2000 that India and the GBR would meet at the Olympics, after India's early lead saw GBR win 2–1.