Indian Hockey Men’s have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics 2024. They finished 2nd in the group of death where they had reigning champions Belgium, Argentina, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. India lost just one game in their pool against Belgium. They have a chance to earn a medal in the multinational event. Indian men’s hockey team defeated the Australian team after 52 years.
It has been a historic moment for the team. After the victory, former India captain Rajpal Singh put his finger on the Olympic Games rules, saying that the Indian team could not reach the semifinals directly due to wrong rules. Indian hockey team defeated New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia. They drew the match against Argentina. The performance of the Indian team has been fantastic so far in this competition.
The victory of the Indian hockey team against Australia will be special. Previously they defeated the Kangaroos back in Munich 1972. The Indian Indian was deprived of playing directly in the semifinals due to the wrong rules in the Olympics. Rajpal pointed out that there is never a semi-final match in the competition, which is involved the team.
Rajpal questions the Olympics’ weird rule in Hockey
Former Indian hockey team captain Rajpal said, “There is no semifinal round in any competition except the World Cup and the Olympics. The semifinal round is played in the competition with only six teams. This is the wrong rule. Hockey India should oppose the International Federation. So that this will not happen in the future. This is an unnecessary barrier. Had it not been a barrier, the Indian Indian would have entered the semifinals today.”
Singh said, “The Indian team benefited from playing aggressively. Skipper Hermanpreet Singh is playing with better coordination and scoring in each match. This does not pressure the young players. The last five minutes of great restraint did not give Australian strikers a chance to score a goal and defeated Australia and recorded history.”
