The hosts, eight times Olympic champions, were looking to return to the Games after missing out on Beijing 2008, while France had waited even longer, having not competed since Munich in 1972.

The triumph was met with euphoria as Indian newspapers rejoiced in a victory which some suggest could lead to the revitalisation of their fortunes in a sport in which they were once so dominant.

It took India until more than half way through the first period to take the lead, when Birendra Lakra (pictured right) fired home.

Sandeep Singh extended the lead before France's Simon Martin-Brisac took advantage of a mistake in the Indian defence to half the deficit.

Singh soon got his second of the game to make it 3-1 at the break, and shortly after the restart had his hat trick following a penalty corner.

One from Sunil Sowmarpet, two further goals from Singh and a strike from Raghunath Ramachandra Vokkaliga wrapped up an emphatic victory as India secured their spot in London in style.

At the post match press conference, Singh expressed his delight, describing the victory as "one of the best moments of my life".

"An 8-1 finish in a final is just too good...definitely, one of the best matches I have ever played," he added.

"My main goal was to give my 100 per cent in the final.

"I was preparing myself to score at all opportunities and not miss any.

"My team helped me a great deal by setting up those short corners which eventually were fruitful.

"In 2008, it was a black day for us when we missed the Beijing Olympics.

"Today, our team has turned that black into white...it is a huge day for us and for Indian hockey."

Failure to qualify in 2008 was the first time India had not reached the Olympics since 1928.

"We are a long way off from winning an Olympic medal this year," Michael Nobbs, the Indian men's coach, said.

"We have a lot of work to do.

"I said to the players, the day you become an Olympian, it changes your lives.

"It's an ultimate feeling for any professional athlete to represent your country at the Olympics, going past so many other athletes from the region.

"These boys are really special athletes and they'll find out in July what the Olympics are like."

Canada's men finished the qualifiers in third place after beating Poland 4-3, and Italy took fifth after crushing Singapore 5-0.


In the women's qualifiers South Africa beat hosts India 3-1 to reach the London 2012 women's hockey tournament.

It was the second time the South Africans booked their place at the Olympics, having won their continental qualifier last year.

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) had decided that the qualifier was not competitive enough and gave up the spot they had won in London to go through further qualifiers.

They therefore arrived in New Delhi as favourites, along with the hosts, for a place at this summer's Games and always had the edge in the final.

Shelley Russell struck within three minutes to give them the lead, before they were forced to soak up pressure from India as they looked to get back into the game.

South Africa began to turn the screw once more though and went in 2-0 up at half time when Pietie Coetzee (pictured centre) scored following a series of penalty corners.

Captain Marsha Marescia scored the third when she deflected Coetzee's strike into the net, before India pulled one back through Jaspreet Kaur to make it a tense finale, but South Africa saw out the game to make it to London.

"Our team was fantastic today and we played a very good game," Marescia said.

"We have been playing very consistent hockey right through the week and we capped it with another fine performance.

"After we got the early goals, we just needed to control things which we did."

India's coach CR Kumar was disappointed with the defeat, saying: "We conceded a couple of soft goals early in the match.

"It was not easy to come back after being 2-0 down.

"We had our chances but could not convert them.

"South Africa played very well and deserved to win."

Italy beat Ukraine 2-1 to win third place, while Canada defeated Poland 3-0 for fifth.

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