India eye German scalp

Having displayed nerves of steel to be within touching distance of a second successive Olympic medal, the Indian hockey team will fancy its chances against familiar foe and reigning world champion Germany in the semifinal of the ongoing Games, hoping to better the bronze that it claimed in the Tokyo edition.

India won last of their eight Olympic gold medals way back in the 1980 Moscow Games. Paris provides them a great opportunity to make history.

A semifinal win will ensure a silver for India, which they last won in the 1960 Rome edition. The Indians displayed a tenacious performance against Britain in the quarterfinal at the iconic Yves-duManoir Stadium on Sunday.

Playing with 10 men for close to 40 minutes after Amit Rohidas was shown a red card for unintentionally hitting rival forward Will Calnan on his face, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side defended stoutly to hold Britain 1-1 in regulation time and force a shoot-out, where it emerged 4-2 winner.