In Tokyo Olympics 2020, the India hockey men’s team would face Great Britain today at 5:30 pm. This time, India would have a chance to reach the semi-finals after 41 years. The last time when the team reached top-4 was in 1980 at that time India bagged Gold medal as well.
India and Great Britain head-to-head record:
At world ranking, India currently is at number 3 and Great Britain is at number 6. Both teams have faced each other eight times, India and Britain have won 4 matches each.
- Last time, India played a hockey final against Britain in the 1984 Olympics. Then, the Gold medal was bagged by the Indian team and that was first Gold medal earned by team India post-independence.
- Presently, team India is in great form. The team has won four matches out of five in the pool stage. Whereas, Great Britain has won only two matches out of five in the pool stage.
- In Commonwealth games 2018, India faced Britain in two matches, and in Group Stage India defeated Britain 4-3 but in Bronze medal match India lost the match by 2-1.
- Great Britain has not won any medal since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In London Olympics 2012, the team lost to Australia in the bronze medal match.
- Team India has defeated Great Britain during the knockout match in the 1952 and 1960 Olympics.
- India has also defeated Britain in the group stage of the Olympics 1972.
Also Read: Penalty corners and defence hold the key for India, say, Fernandes & Carvalho
Team India’s Tokyo Olympics 2020’s journey:
- The match between India and Japan Men’s Hockey teams lead to the with the victory of India by 5-3
- The Indian men's hockey team faced the New Zealand men's hockey team and won the game by 3-2.
- India has made a strong comeback and the Indian men's hockey team beat Spain 3-0.
- The Indian men's hockey team eased into the Olympic Games quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory against defending champions Argentina.
- The India men’s hockey team lost the match against Australia by 1-7.
India has won eight gold medals in Men’s Hockey:
The team India has won the gold medal in eight Olympics, organized in years – 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980.
India has won a silver medal in Olympics 1960 and two bronze medals in 1968 and 1972.
After Moscow Olympics 1980, India has not won any medal in men’s hockey.
Also Read: Tokyo Olympics 2020: India women's Hockey team makes historic entry into quarterfinals
India Men’s hockey predicted team:
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surendra Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birender Lakra.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (Captain), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilkant Sharma, Sumit.
Forwards: Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh.