Came for gold, but bronze better than going home empty-handed: Harmanpreet

Indian hockey team skipper Harmanpreet Singh and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on Tuesday expressed their disappointment at not being able to realise their goal of winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics but said a bronze will be at least better than returning home empty-handed.

India missed a golden chance to enter the hockey final of the Olympics for the first time in 44 years as they went down 2-3 to Germany in a close last-four clash at the Games here.

India will now take on Spain in the bronze medal match, while Germany will be up against Netherlands in the final.

"This is extremely disappointing as we came here to win a gold medal. But, having said that, it's better to go home with bronze than nothing," Harmanpreet told Jio Cinema after the match.

"When you lose in the semifinal game, it's not that easy to take as reaching the final is a dream of any athlete," the captain added.

India goalkeeper Sreejesh, appearing in the last international tournament of an illustrious