India men’s hockey team qualifies for Tokyo Olympics, defeats Russia by 7-1

(Reporters Today, Bhubaneswar): Indian Men’s Hockey Team qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after thrashing Russia 7-1 (11-3 on aggregate) in the second game of the two-legged FIH Qualifiers for men here on Saturday.

World No. 5, Indian men had earlier defeated World No. 22 Russia 4-2 in the first-leg on Friday. The men’s team also joined the women’s team which defeated USA 6-5 on aggregate to qualify for the sporting extravaganza this evening.

In the Second leg of the Olympic qualifiers, Russia got off to a brilliant start as it gained a one-goal lead in the first minute. India rushed off the blocks in the second quarter with three goals taking the score to 3-1.

Nilakantha Sharma then added another goal of the match when the game was in the 47th minute.

Indian continued their aggressive form in the game and just after one minute, the team took their lead to four with the help of Rupinder Pal Singh strike

Consolidating India’s position further in the match, Rupinder netted another goal, taking the scoreline to 6-1.

When the match was in the final minute, India’s striker Amit Rohidas scored a goal as the game ended with a score 7-1.

Hence, the game concluded with an aggregate score of 11-3, which enabled India to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.