Hockey, Men

Nations were divided into two round-robin pools of six teams each, with the top four in each pool advancing to the quarter-finals. The tournament then proceeded on a single-elimination basis. No nations were making their début at Olympic hockey, and no one team had been dominant since the previous Olympics. Arguably the favourites were Australia and Belgium, each of whom had topped the FIH world rankings in recent years. Argentina, the reigning Olympic champions from 2016, had since slipped down the world rankings and were not considered amongst the favourites to retain their title.

In Pool A, Australia comfortably qualified at the top of the group; the only match they did not win was their last match against Spain (1-1), when they had already qualified for the elimination rounds. India finished second in the group, despite losing 7-1 to Australia. Reigning Olympic champions Argentina along with Spain were the other qualifiers, Argentina defeating New Zealand 4-1 to qualify in their final pool match.

In Pool B, Belgium was equally as dominant, only failing to win their last match against Great Britain (2-2) when both teams had already qualified for the elimination stage – Belgium winning the group and the British team finishing third. Germany finished as runners-up in the group, while the Netherlands was the final qualifier.

The quarter-finals were mostly comfortable contests, Germany defeating the reigning champions Argentina by a score of 3-1, with similar score lines for Belgium against Spain and India against Great Britain. The only close contest was between Australia and the Netherlands with the scores finishing 2-2 at full-time, Australia going on to win the shootout by a score of 3-0.

Belgium defeated India 5-2 in the first of the semi-finals. Loick Luypaert put Belgium ahead with an early goal, but India fought back to lead 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, Harmanpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh scoring the goals. Belgium came back strongly with three goals from Alexander Hendrickx (2 penalty corners and one penalty stroke) followed by a late goal from John-John Dohmen, although it wasn’t until the final quarter that Belgium exerted their dominance.

The second semi-final was a much closer affair. Australia opened the scoring through Tim Brand, but Germany quickly equalised with a penalty corner converted by Lukas Windfeder. Australia retook the lead in the second quarter through Blake Govers, who converted a penalty corner. Although Germany pressed for an equaliser, it was Australia who scored a third goal from Lachlan Sharp in the closing minutes when Germany had taken off their goalkeeper, as Australia advanced to the final, winning by 3-1.

In a thrilling match for the bronze medal, India won their first medal since 1980 when they defeated Germany 5-4. Timur Oruz opened the scoring for Germany after 2 minutes, but in the second quarter Simranjeet Singh equalised for India. Two quick goals from Niklas Wellen and Benedikt Fürk saw Germany take a 3-1 lead, but two goals from penalty corners by Hardik Singh and Harmanpreet Singh saw India level the score. In the third quarter Rupinder Singh put India ahead with a penalty stroke, and Simranjeet Singh scored a fifth goal for India shortly afterwards. Lukas Windfeder scored for Germany at the start of the final quarter, but although they were dominant for the remainder of the match, Germany could not find the equalising goal.

The final was a tense affair between two closely matched teams, each team’s defence largely being in command. Belgium finally broke the deadlock when Florent van Aubel scored in the third period, only for Tom Wickham to equalise in the final quarter. So, a shootout was required, and it was the team from Belgium who won it 3-2 to claim their first ever gold medal in Hockey, an improvement on the silver medal they had won in 2016. Australia, for the fourth time, were defeated in an Olympic hockey final.