Indian hockey vice-captain Hardik Singh laments not winning gold in Paris Olympics

Indian hockey vice-captain Hardik Singh has expressed his disappointment in not winning gold at the Paris Olympics 2024. They had to be satisfied with a bronze after beating Spain 2-1 in the Bronze medal match.

The Indian team lost to Germany in the semi-final match against Germany 3-2 and hence could not reach the final to challenge for the gold medal match.

Hardik Singh said that despite having a podium finish, the team feels disappointed to have missed out on a gold medal because the team was playing well and the momentum was on their side.

We Value This Medal A Lot: India Hockey Vice-Captain Hardik Singh

He further expressed his disappointment in not winning the gold medal after leaving New Delhi on Saturday morning from Paris.

"We are disappointed to miss out on gold. We were playing so well, the momentum was on our side. During the semifinal against Germany, it was our bad luck that we lost. But we still value this medal a lot" Hardik said to ANI.

Hardik further spoke about coach Craig Fulton's role in helping India reach the bronze medal match. He said that as a coach, Fulton backed every Indian player to win the gold medal in the Olympics.

"The guidance and advice of a coach helps a player. If a player is backed in every match and tournament, even he feels that he has to give 100 percent in every match" he said.

The Indian vice-captain further spoke about India's intention to win the gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

"We have always targeted gold. Hopefully, in 2028, we will win the gold" he said.

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On Thursday, a brace from skipper Harmanpreet Singh and effortless saves by PR Sreejesh secured a 2-1 win over Spain at the Yves du Manoir Stadium, earning India the bronze medal. India came back from 0-1 to win the bronze medal match against Spain. India goalkeeper Sreejesh was playing his last game in the bronze match against Spain.

He was almost in tears when his teammates joined in the celebrations. India won consecutive bronze hockey medals for the first time in 52 years, since the 1972 Munich Games. Two goals from Harmanpreet were enough to seal the win for India. Spain scored one goal from Marc Miralles.

Hardik Pandya Was Rested For ODI Series Against Sri Lanka

Speaking about Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, he played in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and played a big hand in the team's series win.

The selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar chose Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as the next T20I skipper of India. Agarkar said that Hardik's fitness was one of the main reasons why he was not chosen as the skipper of the T20I side.

The management decided to rest him for the ODI series which proved costly. Shivam Dube who played as the specialist seam-bowling all-rounder could not compensate for Hardik's absence. India lost the series 2-0 after tying the first ODI with one needed to win from 14 balls.

It was a shocking series loss for India under Gautam Gambhir who won his maiden T20I series as coach.

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