After securing a historic bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, the Indian hockey team honored the iconic Major Dhyan Chand in the national capital on Saturday. The team arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport early Saturday morning, where they received accolades before proceeding to Major Dhyan Chand Stadium. At the stadium, they paid their respects to the legendary hockey player.
India clinched the bronze in men's hockey by defeating Spain 2-1 on Thursday, with captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring twice to lead his team to victory after initially falling behind. This win marked India's second consecutive bronze medal, contributing to a total of 13 medals for the once-dominant team that had won gold six times in a row from 1928 to 1956.
Emotionally greeted by family and a sea of fans, Harmanpreet Singh expressed to reporters, "It's deeply touching to see Indian fans come out to welcome and congratulate us for our bronze medal win at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The team worked tirelessly in preparation for the Olympics, and to see our hard work pay off and the entire nation celebrate our victory is an indescribable feeling."
The Paris 2024 Olympics featured the Indian men's hockey team displaying outstanding play. Notably, they achieved a 3-2 victory over Australia, their first win against them since the 1972 Munich Olympics 52 years prior. In the quarter-finals, they put on another remarkable performance against Great Britain, holding strong with a man down for over 40 minutes to force a penalty shootout, which they won 4-2, largely due to PR Sreejesh's heroics.
Vice-captain and two-time bronze medalist Hardik Singh, 25, emphasized the strong bond within the team, saying, "The trust and unwavering belief that a teammate would step up if needed pushed us to always perform at our best. This was clearly demonstrated in our match against Great Britain. The midfielders supported the forwards, the defenders backed the midfielders, and if anything went wrong, we had PR Sreejesh as our reliable goalkeeper who saved us numerous times."
