![]() The United States of America (USA) topped the medal table for the third-consecutive summer Olympics, winning 113 medals of which 39 were gold. The Games returned to Japan’s capital city more than half a century after hosting the Olympics in 1964.ĭue to the unprecedented effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) which engulfed the world in early 2020, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were rescheduled from 23 July – 8 August 2020 to the same dates in 2021. We need to play it as though it is the quarter-finals and we will be keeping an eye on what happens in the other pool at the same time,” added Reid.įrom Group B, world champions Belgium, Netherlands and Great Britain have qualified for the last eight.On 7 September 2013 outgoing International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared "The Games of the 32nd Olympiad in 2020 are awarded to the city of. “I’m very happy, it can be a bit stressful too for me but we just now need to play well against our next opponent-Japan. India will next play hosts and reigning Asian Games champions Japan, who are yet to win a game in the group stage. What was good is that we didn’t let that frustrate us, we stayed patient and stuck with the game plan.” We created enough (but wasted opportunities). You know these things can happen when you play a team like Argentina. “This is what Argentina can do: they sit back in the game, and then all of a sudden they score a corner. “Good performance today,” said India chief coach Graham Reid. India attacked with renewed intent and in a thrilling finish Vivek Sagar Prasad (58th) and drag-flick ace Harmanpreet Singh (59th) scored to take the match away. Things got tense when, three minutes into the last quarter, Argentina equalised. Some of it was because of solid goalkeeping from Argentina’s Juan Manuel Vivaldi and some of it was just India’s failure to put the finishing touch.īut India were rewarded for their attacking intent (they created 14 chances to Argentina’s 6) when Varun Kumar, playing his first match in Tokyo, scored in the 43rd minute from a penalty corner. The midfield and forward line kept the Argentine defence busy throughout the game with the defence compact, so much so that Argentina’s first real attempt at a goal came towards the end of the first half and was blocked by the ever-reliable PR Sreejesh. India’s intent to put Argentina under the pump from the start was evident: they kept possession and made multiple forays into the circle and had a shot on goal as early as the fourth minute.ĪLSO READ | Tokyo Olympics 2020 Full Coverage India, now ranked No.3 in the world, were clearly the superior side at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Thursday, enjoying 53 percent of possession and made 28 circle penetrations-compared to Argentina’s meagre eight-and eight penalty corner opportunities to their opponent’s two. India proved that their back-to-back wins against Argentina in their own backyard in Buenos Aires in April was a reliable indicator of the level of hockey they are playing right now. ![]() “The important games are coming in a few days.” ![]() “Feeling great after the win, but there’s a lot of things to improve,” defender Rupinder Pal Singh told Reuters. The win is significant, especially after the 1-7 debacle against Australia on Sunday, as it cements India’s second position in Group A behind the world No.1 outfit, having secured wins against New Zealand and Spain earlier for a likely easier draw in the last-8 clash. ![]() In Tokyo on Thursday, Manpreet Singh and his men beat the 2016 Rio champions Argentina 3-1 to move into the quarter-finals. In the final of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, India beat arch-rivals and holders Pakistan 1-0 to claim gold-their seventh at the Olympics. The last time an Indian men’s hockey team defeated the defending champions at the Olympics was when Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister, the country’s cricket team was yet to win a Test series abroad and The Beatles were yet to release ‘Let it be’. ![]()
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