LOCAL hockey player Jacob Draper and his fellow Team GB stars continue their wait for an Olympic medal after falling to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of India in a tense shootout in Paris.

Great Britain was the dominant side in the final quarter as they looked for a winner against 10-player India but with the score level at 1-1 Britain were forced to go into a best-of-five shootout.

A miss from Conor Williamson on the third effort gave India the advantage and, after Phil Roper was also denied all was lost at the last-eight stage of an Olympics for the second time in a row for Team GB.

Captain David Ames, who confirmed his retirement in his media interviews afterwards, said it would "sting for a long time".

"It is a huge opportunity missed," the 35-year-old said.

Great Britain have not won a men's Olympic hockey medal since their gold at the Seoul Games but as the world's second-ranked side were tipped as medal contenders in Paris.

GB hockey star Jacob Draper who hails from just outside Abergavenny was among those hoping for a podium finish in Paris 2024

The 25-year-old, who developed his skills as a youngster at Monmouth Comprehensive School, rose through the GB ranks quickly to make his Olympic debut in Tokyo, where a premature quarter-final exit hit him hard.

Draper, who won the European Cup with his Dutch team earlier this year, believes he has matured in the intervening years.

“Being in Tokyo wasn’t something I expected,” he said. “I was just happy to be there, I was happy to take everything in and reflecting on it, I didn’t really go in with the right mentality.

“We were there to do a job and bring back a medal but I think I was being slightly naive. It was my first Games and there’s nothing to compare it to, it’s such a big event.

“Experience has taught me different. We crashed out in the quarter-finals, which was really hard and took me two or three years to get over.

“It wasn’t a nice experience and something that has provided fuel so we can go to Paris and rectify some of the wrongs.”

Sadly it was not to be and Jacob and his team mates will have to wait until Los Angeles in four years for another bid for an elusive Olympic medal.