3 best wins for India in men's hockey in recent editions of the OlympicsÂ
The Indian men's hockey team is on the hunt for an Olympic gold medal which has eluded the eight-time champions for 44 years now. From a beleaguered team that failed to qualify for the men's hockey competition at Bejing 2008, the Indians have risen steadily to be counted once again as one of the best sides in modern hockey.
After finishing 12th at the 2012 London Olympics, the Indians, under the tutelage of Roleant Oltmans, delighted their fans while also stunning detractors by advancing to the quarterfinals at the Rio Games in 2016.
Rio was truly the beginning of a spectacular rise that witnessed the Indian men's hockey team climb the FIH ranking ladder before notching up a silver medal at the 2018 Breda Champions Trophy.
Even so, not many expected Graham Reid, who had served as an assistant coach under Max Caldas in the Netherlands team, to steer the Men in Blue to a spectacular bronze-medal finish in Tokyo.
Ahead of what promises to be a memorable Olympic campaign for Craig Fulton's chargers at Paris 2024 let's look back at three momentous matches that paved the way for a glorious ascent.
#3 India vs Argentina, Men's Hockey Pool Match, Rio 2016
The thrilling victory against the Los Leonas in Rio de Janeiro was just as significant in retrospect as it was in the context of advancing past the pool stages for the Indians led by PR Sreejesh.
Having been drawn alongside Germany and the Netherlands (who won gold and silver respectively in the previous edition of the Games in London), the Indians also had to contend with Argentina, Ireland and Canada in Pool B.
After edging out Ireland 3-2, Roelant Oltmans' side slumped to a heartbreaking 1-2 defeat against Germany after conceding a last-minute goal scored by Christopher Ruhr.
With a formidable Netherlands team waiting, the Indians had to beat Argentina to be assured of a top-four finish in the pool which would see them through to the quarterfinals.
Two staunch campaigners from Manipur, Chinglensana Singh and Kothajit Singh scored one goal apiece in each half to help the Indians veer ahead by a 2-0 margin with 25 minutes left to play.
Stung by the reverse, the Argentinians came at India hard in a pulsating final quarter with penalty corner ace Gonzalo Peillat reducing the deficit in the 49th minute.
Peillat looked poised to score the equalizer even as the South Americans piled on the pressure but Sreejesh stood tall under the bar to ensure that the Indians earned full points as a result of the 2-1 victory.
India subsequently lost to the Netherlands 1-2 before holding Canada to a 2-2 draw. The win against Argentina was therefore the result that helped the Indians make the quarterfinals where they went down to Belgium.
As it turned out, the Indians were also the only team in Rio to have beaten Argentina who went on to win gold in the men's hockey competition.
#2 India vs Great Britain, Men's Hockey Quarterfinals, Tokyo 2021
The match began at a thundering pace with the Indians storming the Great Britain circle in the very first minute of play before Amit Rohidas was called into action to stop a Sam Ward drag-flick.
The Indians drew first blood in the sixth minute as Dipreet Singh slipped the ball through goalkeeper Oliver Payne's legs, making the most of a move orchestrated by Simranjeet Singh's weaving run. Great Britain did everything but score in the 12th minute, forcing Sreejesh into making three saves in succession before Gurjant Singh doubled India's lead a minute into the second quarter.
The Indians held firm in their half, denying the opposition manoeuvrable space in midfield before going into the long breather as the happier of the two sides in the vital men's hockey quarterfinal.
The Manpreet Singh-led side managed to keep a second penalty corner out of harm's way but Sam Ward finally broke the Indian short corner defence towards the end of the third quarter.
Danger lurked for the Indians with Manpreet being shown a yellow card before Sreejesh did all he could to deny the Great Britain attack. Hardik Singh showed off his outrageous skills to seal the deal for the Indians, who came away with a well-deserved 3-1 win.
India was in the semifinals of the Olympics for the first time since Munich 1972. (There were no semifinal encounters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics where six teams played a round-robin competition ahead of the medal and classification matches).
#1 India vs Germany, Men's Hockey Bronze-Medal Match Tokyo 2021
The contest would have been rated a classic irrespective of the tournament or the occasion for the sheer ferocity on display as two great hockey nations battled for supremacy on the pitch.
It was possibly the biggest day for Indian hockey in over four decades but Graham Reid's team got off to the worst possible start. Timur Oruz gave the Germans an early lead in the bronze medal game of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With the Indian defence caught napping, Oruz's second-minute goal spurred Reid's team, who manufactured a short corner soon after thanks to Mandeep Singh.
Rupinder Singh flicked wide and the Germans very nearly had a second goal with Sreejesh using his gloves to stop a shot taken from close range.
Christopher Ruhr and Lucas Windfeder kept the Indian defence on their toes in the opening quarter but failed to double the lead with Sreejesh having to fend off a flurry of penalty corners.
Simranjeet Singh scored the equalizer for India against the run of play after Hardik Singh and Nilakanta Sharma had combined brilliantly.
The 17th-minute goal did little to stop the wave of German attacks as Florian Fuchs tested Sreejesh with a tomahawk a couple of minutes later.
A scorching run into the circle from Christopher Ruhr helped Niklas Wellen restore Germany's lead in the 24th minute before a fumble from India in the circle allowed Benedikt Furk to score Germany's third goal.
Not to be undone, Hardik Singh pulled one back for the Indians off a penalty corner deflection before Harmanpreet Singh beat Alexander Stadler with a low powerful drag-flick.
Mandeep Singh was the victim of a Lukas Windfeder push a minute into the third quarter, resulting in a penalty stroke with Rupinder Pal Singh making no mistake from the spot.
A spectacular run by Gurjant Singh, who controlled the ball with one hand, before finding Simranjeet helped India score a fifth goal in the 34th minute.
Out of nowhere, the Indians were on top in Tokyo. Germany failed miserably with their penalty corners until Windfeder finally scored from the eighth short corner earned by his side.
With 12 minutes to play, the Indians hung on in the face of a German onslaught thwarting a penalty corner at the death to earn a historic Olympic hockey bronze medal in what had been an absolute humdinger of a match.