'Came for hockey gold, but bronze is better than nothing'

'It's a heartbreaking loss for us. We had the chance to win gold, but now we have to forget this semi-final and focus on the bronze medal match.'

India’s hockey team skipper Harmanpreet Singh and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh expressed disappointment at not being able to realise their goal of winning the men's gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but said a bronze will be at least better than returning home empty-handed.

India missed a golden chance to enter the hockey final of the Olympics for the first time in 44 years as they went down 2-3 to Germany in a close semi-final at the Paris Games on Tuesday.

India will now take on Spain in the bronze medal match, while Germany are up against the Netherlands in the final.

"This is extremely disappointing as we came here to win a gold medal. But, having said that, it's better to go home with bronze than nothing," Harmanpreet told Jio Cinema after the match.

"When you lose in the semi-final game, it's not that easy to take it as reaching the final is a dream of any athlete," the captain added.

India goalkeeper Sreejesh, appearing in the last international tournament of an illustrious career, added, "It's a heartbreaking loss for us. We had the chance to win gold, but now we have to forget this semi-final and focus on the bronze medal match."

India coach Craig Fulton also expressed sadness following the defeat.

"We're disappointed we could not get over the line. We played a great match, pushed very hard till the end," he said.

Harmanpreet and Sreejesh both agreed that the team made a few mistakes that cost them in the end.

"We made a few errors in defence and we missed a few chances," said Harmanpreet, who put India ahead with a seventh minute strike.

Sreejesh said, "We can't commit such silly mistakes during a match. We could not make an impact in the opponent's half."

The seasoned campaigner from Kerala played down the hype around him in his final outing with the national team.

"I think rather than my situation… the team is more important. Just forget about that and play the next game in a better way, bounce back in the next game."

Both Sreejesh and Harmanpreet wished champion wrestler Vinesh Phogat luck ahead of her gold medal bout in the women’s 50kg freestyle category on Thursday, and hoped that "she would do it tomorrow and make the country proud.

• THE OLYMPICS, 2024