Paris Olympics: India wins 4th bronze medal, defeats Spain in Bronze medal match in Hockey
India win medals in consecutive Olympics in Hockey after 52 years
Paris, Aug 8: Skipper Harmanpreet Singh rose to the occasion once again with twin strikes as the Indian hockey team beat Spain 2-1 to claim a second consecutive bronze medal at the Olympics and give a perfect send-off to veteran custodian P R Sreejesh here on Thursday.
The Indians recovered from the heart-wrenching 2-3 defeat to Germany in the semifinal and played positive hockey for most part of the match to come out trumps.
Harmanpreet (30th, 33rd minutes) converted two penalty corners after Spain skipper Marc Miralles gave his side the lead against the run of play in the 18th minute from a penalty stroke.
The Indians regrouped themselves and showed their mental strength to claim another podium finish at the world's biggest sporting spectacle. This was after they broke a 41-year jinx by claiming a bronze in Tokyo three years ago.
The 36-year-old Sreejesh came up with some excellent saves to leave his mark in the final game of his illustrious career that spanned 18 years.
The Indians were the aggressors in the first quarter, dominating the early exchanges with precision, but Spain came back hard after the first 15 minutes.
Spain had nine penalty corners as against India's six of which the latter converted two.
Spain did have better share of possession but India were the more offensive side as they penetrated the Spanish defence regularly in the first 15 minutes.
They walked in with more purpose and intensity in the second quarter and pressed hard on the Indian goal.
Spain took the lead in the 18th minute but Harmanpreet brought his A game to the fore yet again to steer India through.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
