Bhubaneswar: History has been rewritten in Tokyo as India has qualified for the men’s hockey semifinal at the Olympics.
This is for the first time since the 1972 Games.
India beat Great Britain 3-1 to set up men’s semifinal vs Belgium.
Dilpreet, Gurjant and Hardik scored for Indian Team.
This is also India’s first win over Great Britain on astro-turf at the Olympics.
It’s also the first time India has made it to the final 4 since their Gold Medal-winning run in 1980.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today congratulated the Indian Men’s Hockey Team for storming into the Olympic Semis. India will be playing the Olympic semis after 41 years.
Expressing his joy over the Indian team’s victory over Great Britain, the Chief Minister said that the national team has come out with flying colours in the quarter final. He expressed hope that the team will keep up the momentum to win both the semis and the Olympic final.
It may be mentioned here that Odisha Government is the sponsor of Indian Hockey team, both men and women for five years
since 2018.
Odisha is the only state that is promoting a national game in the entire country. Odisha is the cradle of hockey and the state government is putting a premium on hockey to help India regain its dominance in global hockey.
It may be mentioned here that both Indian men’s hockey and Indian women’s hockey team are entering into Olympic semis and quarters after 41 years respectively .