Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh congratulated team members and coaches for securing its place in semis of Olympic men’s hockey after four decades.
Taking to Twitter, Punjab CM congratulated the team India and said,” Streller performance by the Indian’s men hockey team at #Tokyo Olympic to beat Great Britain by 3-1 & entering Olympic top 4 after 41 years. Happy to note that all 3 goals were scored by Punjab players Dilpreet Singh, Gurhant Singh & Hardik Singh. Congratulations… go for Gold
Notably, the Indian men’s hockey team defeated Great Britain 3-1 in a quarterfinal match to qualify for the semifinals of Olympics Games after 41 years here on Sunday.
India scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win for the eight-time Olympic champions.The lone goal for Great Britain was scored by Sam Ward in the 45th minute.
Even though India’s last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games, there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.
The last time India featured in the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan.
India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday. Belgium defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal to seal their place in the last four round.
The other semifinal of the men’s hockey competition will be played between Australia and Germany.
(By Dinesh Sharma)