Finally, we have broken the jinx. After a long wait of 49 years, Indian men are in the hockey semi-finals of an Olympic Games. In 1972 in Munich, we had lost to Pakistan 0-2.

It’s a huge achievement given all the heartbreaks we have had after the 1980 gold medal-winning feat. Indian hockey is replete with so-near- yet-so-far stories — like the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2000 Games in Sydney.

But Sunday was a red-letter day. India defeated Great Britain 3-1 to set up a mouth-watering last-four clash with world champions Belgium on Tuesday. What delights me most is that all three were field goals. But at the same time, India should also do some introspection on why they didn’t earn a single penalty corner.

Dilpreet Singh (seventh minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) were the scorers. Four players stole the show for me. PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, captain Manpreet Singh and Hardik.

Sreejesh is having the tournament of his life. He is the mainstay in this team. When Great Britain were all over India in the last two quarters and earned a number of penalty corners, Sreejesh held firm. Forget the Australia match where all the players performed miserably, the India goalkeeper was at his best in every other game.

Against Belgium, India’s fortune will depend a lot on how Sreejesh performs. He has to put up an A-class performance once again.

For the first goal, credit should go to Simranjeet Singh. He showed great vision in playing a million dollar pass beating five Great Britain players. All Dilpreet had to do was to push the ball in. The third goal was the icing on the cake.

India, playing with a man down, had their backs against the wall when Hardik broke free. He ran and ran and did not lose focus after his first attempt was thwarted by Great Britain. But they had no answer to his rasping hit off the rebound. The cry he let out after the goal was testimony to the relief in the Indian camp.

India were brilliant in the first two quarters, but in the last two they were a bit defensive. Great Britain went all out trying to reduce the margin.

The umpiring was very disappointing. We lost Manpreet at a crucial time. The umpire showed the yellow card for a challenge on a rival which to me looked very legitimate. Despite the setback, India fought very well. Hats off to them.

On Monday, the women will be up against Australia in the last-eight. They have surprised everyone by entering the quarters. Who knows, they may have a few more aces up their sleeves.

A former India captain, Gurbux Singh was a member of the 1964 gold medal-winning hockey team

India watch: Monday

⚫ Athletics — Women’s 200m Round 1, heat 4 (7.24am)

⚫ Shooting — Men’s 50m rifle 3 position qualifications (8am)

⚫ Hockey — Women’s quarter final, vs Australia (8.30am)

⚫ Shooting — Men’s 50m rifle 3 position final (1.20pm, subject to qualification)

⚫ Equestrian — Eventing jumping, individual qualifier (1.30pm)

⚫Athletics — Women’s 200m semi-finals (3.55pm, subject to qualification)

Women’s discus throw final, Kamalpreet Kaur (4.30pm)

⚫ Equestrian — Eventing jumping, individual final (5.15pm, subject to qualification)

All timings in IST