The Indian men’s hockey team, ranked third in the world, will face world no. 4 side Germany in the bronze medal match of the men’s hockey event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday, August 5.
The Manpreet Singh-led side put up a spirited performance against world champions Belgium in the semi-finals, but three late goals in the fourth quarter by the Belgians ended the Men in Blue’s quest to reach the Olympic final for the first time since Moscow 1980.
Germany, on the other hand, went down to Australia in the other semi-final, losing 3-1. The Germans failed to replicate their attacking prowess against the Aussies, and have eventually found themselves in their second consecutive bronze medal match at the Olympics after Rio 2016.
In terms of strengths, Rio 2016 bronze medalists Germany enters the contest as a team with a better scoring rate than India. While India have scored 20 goals and conceded 19 goals at Tokyo 2020 Olympics so far, Germany have netted 23 times and leaked 14 goals.
While the Indian men’s hockey team is aiming to end a 41-year wait for an Olympic medal, they will need to put up a bold defensive front to counter Germany’s strong offensive approach.
Germany vs India squads for Tokyo 2020 bronze medal match
India: Manpreet Singh, PR Sreejesh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Mandeep Singh, Birendra Lakra, Nilakanta Sharma, Lalit Upadhyay, Amit Rohidas, Vivek Prasad, Shamsher Singh. Alternate players: Varun Kumar, Simranjeet Singh.
Germany: Tobias Hauke, Alexander Stadler, Lukas Windfeder, Linus Müller, Martin Haner, Johannes Grosse, Benedikt Fürk, Niklas Bosserhoff, Mats Grambusch, Martin Zwicker, Timur Oruz, Niklas Wellen, Constantin Staib, Timm Herzbruch, Christopher Rühr, Florian Fuchs. Alternate players: Paul-Philipp Kaufmann, Justus Weigand.
Where to watch the Germany vs India Olympic bronze medal match live in India?
The India vs Germany Olympic bronze medal match in Tokyo 2020 will be played at 7:00 AM on Thursday, August 5 at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The match will be telecast on the Sony TEN 2, Sony Six and their respective HD TV channels in India.
The hockey match will be also available in regional languages on Sony TEN 3 and Sony TEN 4 and their respective HD TV channels.
Live streaming of the Indian men’s hockey team’s bronze medal match will be available on the Sony Liv app and website.
Featured photo: Hockey India
