India celebrated wildly after coming from 3-1 down to win 5-4 against Germany to claim Olympic bronze in the men's hockey tournament their first medal at the Games for 41 years. A heartbroken Germany finish off the podium in fourth, the first time the men's side have not won a medal at an Olympics since 2000.
Germany started quickly at the Oi Hockey Stadium, taking the lead in the second minute with a deflected goal from Timur Oruz. Their midfielders dominated the quarter but goalkeeper Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh kept out the shots.
In the second quarter, India's Simranjeet Singh scored the equaliser before Germany restored the lead through Niklas Wellen. Benedikt Furk then shot into an unguarded net after India conceded possession, to go 3-1 ahead. Two penalty corners for India saw Hardik Singh score on the rebound from the first, while Harmanpreet Singh nailed the second. Going into half time it was 3-3.
India started brightly in the third quarter earning a penalty stroke in the first minute from which Rupinder Pal Singh scored to extend India’s lead to 4-2. Three minutes later, Simranjeet scored his second goal of the game to extend India’s lead to 5-3.
Germany scored another goal in the fourth quarter courtesy of Lukas Windfeder but it was not enough as India won the match 5-4 to take the bronze.
Drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh, who was among the five scorers against Germany, shed tears as he predicted the start of a renaissance for the sport in India.
"People were forgetting hockey in India. They loved hockey, but they stopped hoping that we can win," the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying. "But we won today. They can expect more from us in the future. Keep believing in us."
Australia take on Belgium in the gold-medal match later in the day.
India's women's team has a chance to win a medal, too.
After finishing fourth in 1980 and 12th in 2016 in their only previous trips to the Olympics, India's women's team will play for bronze against Britain on Friday.