Paris: Germany claimed a 3-2 win over India in the men's hockey semifinal at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday after Marco Miltkau scored the winner by lifting the ball over veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh with six minutes left on the clock. Germany last reached the final at London 2012 when they claimed gold and will now play the Netherlands, who have not conceded a goal in their two knockout stage matches. The Dutch outclassed Spain 4-0 in the first semifinal.
India, who are back in the bronze medal match after beating Germany in Tokyo for third place, will need to wait another four years to snap a gold medal drought since 1980. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh opened the scoring on a penalty corner in the seventh minute with a high floating ball going over a diving goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg following several set piece tries in a row. Two penalties by Jarmanpreet Singh in the second quarter cost India the lead as defender Gonzalo Peillat scored with a rifling strike on a penalty corner in the 18th minute and Christopher Ruehr added on a penalty stroke in the 27th.
The third quarter opened with a beautiful diving save by Danneberg to deny the India skipper an equaliser off of a penalty corner. Sukhjeet Singh scored a few minutes later in the 36th as another Harmanpreet drag-flick bounced off his stick and over the outstretched Danneberg, but Miltkau then secured the win..