Team GB’s hopes of a first Olympic men’s hockey medal since 1988 were dashed by a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to heroic 10-man India.
Great Britain played almost three-quarters of the contest with a man advantage after Amit Rohidas’s red card, but failed to make it pay as they crashed out to the same opponent at the quarter-final stage for the second Games in a row.
After the regulation period had finished level at 1-1, the shootout began in controversial fashion, India furious that British goalkeeper Ollie Payne appeared to be consulting an iPad before facing each penalty.
Whatever edge he was hoping to gain, though, did not work, as India scored their first four penalties en route to a 4-2 win.
India were once the dominant force in men’s hockey, winning gold at each of their first six Olympics, but bronze in Tokyo three years ago ended a medal drought that had lasted since 1984.
Hopes of another here were high, after a strong group stage that included a first Olympic victory over Australia in more than 50 years, while Britain were looking to reach a first semi-final since London 2012.
The masked Sam Ward went close to opening the scoring for Team GB, his shot from a penalty corner cleared off the line by Jarmanpreet Singh. At the other end, though, Payne was twice called into action in the British goal, making sharp stops to deny first Abhishek and then Harmanpreet Singh.
Within the opening minutes of the second quarter, however, India were reduced to 10, Will Calnan down clutching his face in agony after being caught by Rohidas’s high stick, deemed “serious misconduct” on video review.
India were furious - straight red cards are a rare occurrence in hockey - but responded superbly with their best spell of the game. It ended with a well-worked penalty corner, slammed home by Harmanpreet, his seventh goal of the tournament moving him level at the top of the scoring charts.
Britain, then, needed a swift reply and with half-time looming got it through Lee Morton, whose scruffy finish snuck past PR Sreejesh, despite the goalkeeper getting plenty behind the ball.
From there, it was attack versus defence, India understandably in full park-the-bus mode and Britain toiling for a route through their narrow three banks of three. The third quarter came and went without finding it, Sreejesh superb.
With Sumit sin-binned, India began the fourth quarter reduced for a period to nine men, the game played exclusively in their defensive third, until a green card for Rupert Shipperley briefly made it 10 vs 10.
Even after his return, India began to show more intent, the dribbling powers of Hardik Singh at last forcing them up the pitch. Spaces for Britain opened up at last. Zach Wallace lifted over the bar and Calnan was brilliantly denied by Sreejesh on the break, before Phillip Roper flashed across the face of goal.
At the full-time whistle, with a shootout to come, Britain’s players slumped while India’s slapped hands and fist-pumped the crowd. Body language experts could only have seen this going one way.
The first two takers on either side scored, but then Britain blinked, Conor Williamson lifting over the bar. Roper was then kept out by the sensational Sreejesh, before Raj Kumar Pal’s clincher set up a last-four meeting with either Argentina or Germany.
