Sreejesh steers India into semis

India beat Great Britain 4-2 in shoot-out; remain on course to win an Olympic medal

Battle-hardened PR Sreejesh emerged hero with a superb performance under the bar as the Indian men's hockey team beat Great Britain 4-2 in shoot-out to enter the semifinals and remain on course to win its second consecutive Olympic medal, here on Sunday.

This was after India were reduced to 10 men after Amit Rohidas was shown a red card for raising his stick against a Great Britain player.

But the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist valiantly defended for close to 40 minutes to hold an attacking Great Britain 1-1 in regulation to to force a shoot out. Great Britain did not allow India to play ariel balls with man-to-man marking and the Indian team struggled throughout but still managed to escape without hurt. It was a strategy that had worked in India's favour in pool matches.