'It is big for Indian hockey': Hockey fraternity in awe of Harmanpreet and Co.

In Tokyo they celebrated the resurgence of a dormant emotion and after a second successive Olympic medal at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 Indias hockey fraternity marvelled at the mental fortitude of Harmanpreet Singh and his men who refused to be cowed down by setbacks and inspired each other to perform better with every gameIndia clinched a second successive Olympic bronze medal at the Games for the first time in 52 years with a 21 triumph over Spain in the third position playoff on ThursdayIt was a remarkable comefrombehind effort within 48 hours of enduring a 23 defeat at the hands of world champions Germany in the semifinals shattering their hopes of breaking a 44yearold gold medal jinxThe fighting spirit and unity which the Indian team showed in this Games is a gamechanger They fought as a unit in adverse situations and climbed up match by match This is truly remarkable captain of the 1975 World Cupwinning side Ajit Pal Singh told PTIThe gold would have been a dream come true moment for Indian hockey but this performance will definitely inspire youngsters to take up hockey as a career he hopedAlso Read100 gm is not going to take away the love of 14 bn Indians Deepa to VineshBefore Thursday the Harmanpreet Singhled side had produced another tenacious performance against Britain in the Paris Olympics 2024 quarterfinalsDespite being down to 10 men for close to 42 minutes after key defender Amit Rohidas was shown a red card for a contentious tackle on a rival forward the Indians fought tooth and nail to secure a 42 triumph in the shootoutIt was a win inspired by talismanic goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who played his last international match on Thursday After he announced his decision before the Games the team got together to announce that it is going do it for Sreejesh in pursuit of the podiumAlthough the loss to Germany meant that they missed out on a silver of gold finish the Indians did exceptionally well to claim a bronze for the second consecutive editionThe last time India won backtoback Olympic medals was in 1968 bronze and 1972 editions bronzeSreejesh and Harmanpreet are heart and soul of the team Sreejesh is the best goalkeeper India has ever produced Whenever he is in front of the goal even if everybody else is beaten there is a hope that he will stop the attack and he has showed that in his last Olympics Ajit Pal addedFormer India captain Zafar Iqbal a member of the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medalwinning side lauded the mental strength of the current teamThe mental toughness of this team is at a different level Whether you win or lose in such a tough competition you have to have that sort of mental strength he saidThey have raised their game match by match Its a big honour and great achievement and big moralebooster for Indian hockey This performance will only popularise hockey in the country It will produce more quality players It will have a big impact he predictedAshok Kumar son of legendary striker Major Dhyan Chand and a member of the 1975 World Cupwinning side too was in awe of the mental toughness shown by the team teamIts an unbelievable performance they have improved step by step in every game Their mindset is very positive and the spirit and unity among the team has built the base he told PTIIt is big for Indian hockey It came from the blood and sweat of the playersWith agency inputs