The Indian men’s hockey team crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics with a 5-2 loss to Belgium on Tuesday. With this loss, India’s dream of winning Olympic gold in hockey after 41 years will remain unfulfilled. However, Manpreet Singh and company are still in the hunt for a bronze.

Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th, 53rd minutes), the tournament’s highest goal getter, scored a hat-trick while Loick Luypaert (2nd minute) and John-John Dohmen (60th) also struck to hand the reigning silver-medallists their second successive entry into the final of the Olympics.

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India’s goals came from the sticks of Harmanpreet Singh (7th) and Mandeep Singh (8th).

Who is Mandeep Singh?

Mandeep Singh hit a goal in the eighth minute of the game to give India the lead against Belgium. He beautifully received a Amit Rohidas cross from the right, turned over and found the back of the net with a fierce reverse hit past Vincent Vanasch in front of the Belgium goal.

Making his Olympic debut at Tokyo, forward Mandeep Singh has been India’s mainstay attacker. The 26-year-old  India’s second-highest goalscorer among the current lot with drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh ahead of him. 

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Singh is a world champion at the junior level and has won medals in many competitions with the senior team. Despite playing at the Olympic Games for the first time, he was one of the senior players in the side. Only four members of India’s squad at Tokyo have more caps than the forward

“Even though it’s my first Olympics, I’m one of the experienced players so I have a lot of responsibility,” Mandeep told Scroll.in ahead of the Olympics. 

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“I realise that this is not just about me and I will have to help other young players along the way. We have to work as a team to be successful in Tokyo,” he added.

The Punjab striker has scored 82 goals for India.