India will play in the men's hockey bronze medal match against Spain after a 3-2 loss to Germany in an intense, close semifinal that could have gone either way.
Eventually, Marco Miltkau scored the winner late in the second half after a stunning team move ended with Gonzalo Peillat's cross from the left finding the forward in the circle. Before that field goal, the first four goals all came through set plays, with India scoring twice off penalty corners either side of a German penalty corner and penalty stroke.
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India will now face Spain - who lost 4-0 to the Netherlands in the other semifinal - in the bronze medal playoff, as they attempt to win a second straight medal in hockey at the Olympics.
At the end of the day, it was a game of fine margins which just went against India, but throughout the game, especially in the first three quarters. They started on absolute fire in the first quarter, led by the irrepressible Hardik Singh, who had a fine game in midfield.
The goal that India deserved came in the 7th minute, as Harmanpreet Singh's dragflick took a deflection and looped over German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg. The goal took Harmanpreet to eight goals for the tournament, making him the top-scorer at the Olympics.
India had further chances in the first half through Abhishek and Lalit Upadhyay but just couldn't take them. And when you don't take your chances against the world champions, they could well come back to bite you, just as these Germans did, led by Gonzalo Peillat.
First, he smashed a penalty corner to PR Sreejesh's left and into the corner to bring Germany back on terms. And then he struck another fierce dragflick at Jarmanpreet Singh's foot on the line for a penalty stroke, which Christopher Ruhr converted comfortably.
However, losing the lead late in the first half despite a performance that didn't warrant trailing didn't make India lose their bearings. They stuck to their attacking game plan, with Hardik, Abhishek and Sukhjeet prominently featuring. The equaliser came when Abhishek won a penalty corner, which Harmanpreet rolled into Sukhjeet's path for him to deflect over Danneberg.
In the fourth quarter, though, Germany upped the ante and the pressure on the Indian defence was beginning to tell, as they started making a few mistakes at the back. Eventually, they left Miltkau unmarked right in front of goal, Peillat found him with a peach of a pass, and India's dream of gold was ended.
The performance should give them hope and confidence as they move into that last match in the Olympics to bring home another medal for India.