Olympics 2024 Hockey: Harmanpreet's heroics help India secure bronze medal

Indian skipper led from the front to ensure India's podium finish at 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Indian men’s hockey team has made a remarkable comeback, winning their second consecutive medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris. India defeated Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match, securing their fourth bronze and 13th overall Olympic medal. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh led his team with determination, scoring 10 goals in 8 matches to ensure they did not leave Paris empty-handed. He is currently the tournament's leading goal scorer and is likely to maintain this position, despite the upcoming gold medal match between the Netherlands and Germany.

Harmanpreet holds a three-goal lead over Australia’s Blake Grovers, who has already been eliminated from the tournament. The closest competitors still in contention are Christopher Ruhr of Germany and Jip Janssen of the Netherlands, each with five goals. Harmanpreet, who struggled to find his rhythm in the early stages of the tournament and was visibly devastated after the 2-3 semifinal loss to Germany, will now have more than one reason to smile as he takes the podium with his teammates at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The significance of Harmanpreet’s achievement is highlighted by the fact that he scored 10 of the 15 goals the Indian team registered at the 2024 Olympics, contributing 66.66 per cent of the team's total goals. The only other Indian to score more than one goal was Abhishek, with two goals to his name. Vivek Sagar, Sukhjeet, and Mandeep each scored one goal for the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medalists.

Earlier, the Indian men’s hockey team faced Spain in the bronze medal match, successfully defending their medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They registered a 2-1 win after being 0-1 down until the 29th minute, thanks to Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flicks in the 30th and 33rd minutes.