Before this match, the Indian men’s hockey team had secured its place in the quarterfinals. They achieved victories over Ireland and New Zealand and earned a draw against the 2016 champion Argentina.
India defeated World No. 4 Australia, the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist, 3-2 in their final Pool B match of the Paris 2024 Olympics hockey tournament on Friday. This marks India’s first Olympic victory against Australia since the 1972 Munich Games.
India began strongly, taking a 2-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Abhishek scored his second goal in as many games in the 12th minute, and captain Harmanpreet Singh added another with a penalty corner conversion in the 13th minute. Despite some chances for Australia, goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh made crucial saves.
Australia reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a goal from Thomas Craig in the 25th minute. In the third quarter, Harmanpreet extended India’s lead to 3-1 by converting a penalty stroke after a successful video review revealed a missed infraction.
Australia pressed hard in the final quarter and pulled one back when Blake Govers scored from a penalty stroke, making it 3-2. However, India managed to maintain their lead and end the group stage on a positive note.
Harmanpreet reflected on the match, saying, “Every win matters. Sometimes the result is in your favor, sometimes it isn’t. What you learn from the failures is what matters. As a team, we showed that if Australia is one of the best teams, we are also working hard to analyze and beat them. If we continue playing like this, we can beat anyone. Beating Australia isn’t the achievement; we’re still competing, and we know that the quarterfinals will be challenging.”
Prior to this match, the Indian men’s hockey team had already confirmed its quarterfinal berth. It won against Ireland and New Zealand and drew against 2016 Olympic champion Argentina. The Men in Blue suffered their only loss in the tournament this year against Belgium 1-2.
With 10 points from three wins in five matches, India heads confidently into the quarterfinals on August 4.