PARIS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- India withstood heavy pressure from a profligate Spain side to win the men's hockey bronze medal match 2-1 at the Paris Olympics here on Thursday.
On a hot and sunny afternoon at the Stade Yves de Manoir, and with India's richest man Mukesh Ambani in attendance, the match started in relatively pedestrian fashion with few chances across the first 15 minutes.
However, Spain began to turn the screw in the second quarter, and took the lead through captain Marc Miralles' penalty stroke in the 18th minute.
With Miralles looking at his exuberant best in midfield, Spain twice narrowly missed the chance to double their lead in the 28th minute, when Borja Lacalle first failed to connect with Gerard Clapes' cross from the left, and then saw an effort trickle onto the India post.
Spain were made to rue their profligacy two minutes later, when an Indian penalty corner was confidently fired in off the post by Harmanpreet Singh, ensuring that the sides went in level at the game's halfway point.
The soporific nature of the first 15 minutes was swiftly forgotten as India took the lead at the beginning of the third quarter, when a penalty corner saw Harmanpreet drill a low shot into the bottom left corner of Luis Calzado's goal.
Both sides then traded penalty corners in quick succession, and Spain thought they had equalised on 40 minutes through Jose Maria Basterra, but his effort was chalked off after the ball was adjudged to have struck a Spain player's body.
India might have made it 3-1 just before the end of the quarter, but Calzado was equal to Harmanpreet's effort from a penalty corner.
Into the final quarter, and with time running out for Spain, the Redsticks removed Calzado and poured men forward in a desperate attempt to equalize, but despite winning a series of penalty corners, they could not find a way past India goalkeeper Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran and his well-marshalled defence.
In the end, Spain were left to rue their wastefulness, converting only one of their 15 efforts, in a game where no goals were scored from open play.
The men's hockey gold medal match between Germany and the Netherlands takes place later on Thursday evening. ■
