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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BJP disassociates itself with Nishikant Dubey's criticism of Supreme Court, says it respects courts
New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI): The BJP on Saturday disassociated itself with the sharp criticism of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, with party president J P Nadda rejecting the comments as their personal views.
"The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the chief justice. This is their personal comments, but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them," Nadda said in a post on X.
He said the BJP has always respected the judiciary and has accepted its suggestions and orders gladly because it believes as a party all the courts, including the apex court, are an inseparable part of our democracy.
Nadda also said that he has directed both the leaders and others to not make such comments.
Fourth-term BJP MP Dubey, one of the more vocal party members in the Lok Sabha, launched a broadside against the Supreme Court earlier, saying Parliament and state assemblies should be closed down if the apex court has to make the laws.
He also took a swipe at CJI Khanna.
भाजपा सांसद निशिकांत दुबे और दिनेश शर्मा का न्यायपालिका एवं देश के चीफ जस्टिस पर दिए गए बयान से भारतीय जनता पार्टी का कोई लेना–देना नहीं है। यह इनका व्यक्तिगत बयान है, लेकिन भाजपा ऐसे बयानों से न तो कोई इत्तेफाक रखती है और न ही कभी भी ऐसे बयानों का समर्थन करती है। भाजपा इन बयान…
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) April 19, 2025
