INDIA, who have won record eight gold medals at the Olympic Games but none after 1980, made history on Sunday (1) when they beat Great Britain 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
This is the first time since 1972 that India have made the semi-finals at the Olympic Games. That year, they had lost to arch-rivals Pakistan 0-2 in the last-four game and settled for the bronze. India won the gold at the 1980 Games in Moscow, Russia, but that edition did not have semi-finals and India beat Spain in the gold-medal match that featured the two top teams in the points table.
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Coming back to the Tokyo Games match with Great Britain, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Hardik Singh scored a goal each while Samuel Ward scored the only one for Britain, who have a gold in hockey three times.
Great Britain's Rupert Scott Shipperley embraces teammate Thomas Sorsby after their team lost to India in the quarterfinal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games hockey at Oi Hockey Stadium on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Dilpreet gave India a lead in the seventh minute into the match when he received a perfect pass from the in-form Simranjeet Singh and found the opponent’s net at close range. Nine minutes later, Gurjant scored after receiving a ball inside the shooting circle and beating British goalkeeper Ollie Payne.
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Ward scored in the 45th minute to keep Britain in the hunt for the equaliser but Hardik scored off a rebound in the 57th minute to seal it for India. The men in blue have now won four games on the trot after their humiliating 1-7 loss to Australia. They beat Spain 3-0, Argentina 3-1 and Japan 5-3. They beat New Zealand in their opening game 3-2.
India will take on Belgium, the silver winners at the Rio Games in the semi-finals on Tuesday (3). Belgium beat Spain 3-1.
The other semi-final will see Australia, who beat the Netherlands 3-0 in the penalty shootout after their game ended 2-2 in regular time, and Germany, who thumped 2016 champions Argentina 3-1.
This photograph taken on April 28, 2026 shows a boy getting "thali", a sacred thread tied to his neck symbolising marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom.Getty Images
This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows a member of the transgender community mourning as a priest cuts the "thali", a sacred thread symbolising end of her marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom. Getty Images
