Indian women’s hockey team gave their all to match Great Britain in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics but fell short by losing 3-4. However, this was a team written off earlier but they pulled off some results in their favour in the run up to the bronze medal game.
The women’s team played with so much grit and determination that they earned respect not only from the whole nation but also from the opponent team, Great Britain.
Reuters
Taking to Twitter, the official handle of the Great Britain hockey team lauded their Indian counterpart for their resilience.
“What an amazing game, what an amazing opponent @TheHockeyIndia you’ve done something special at #Tokyo2020 – the next few years look very bright”, the official handle posted.
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Unexpected run
The unheralded Indians made an unexpected run into the medal round, winning two matches and beating world No. 2 Australia in the quarterfinals. They lost to the higher-rated Argentina and went down narrowly to Great Britain, but they went out with heads held high as Rani Rampal’s team played with determination and nearly upset the order in a competition that they entered as the ninth-ranked team in the world.
Reuters
On Friday, India came up with another brilliant performance, proving that their storming run into the semifinals was no flash in the pan.
Played their hearts out
The Indians played their hearts out, fought back from a two-goal deficit to take the lead but only to see Great Britain come back in the third and fourth quarters to emerge winner and claim the bronze medal, their third medal in three Olympic Games starting from London 2012.
Reuters
Great game
Gurjit Kaur’s (25th min, 26th min) brace of goals and a superb field goal by Vandana Katariya (29th min) went in vain as Great Britain struck through Elen Rayer (16th min), Sarah Robertson (24th min), Hottie Webb Pearne (35th min) and Grace Balsdon (48th min) to seal the victory.
It was heartbreak for Rani Rampal’s team as two cards (a yellow and green) in the second half meant India played at least seven minutes with 10 players on the field and that turned the momentum into Great Britain’s favour.
Reuters
Leave Tokyo with heads held high
The Indian women may have lost the match but they were not vanquished as they leave Tokyo with heads held high after making an unbelievable run into the semis when not many had given them the chance of even reaching the quarters.
India thus equalled its best-ever finish in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when women’s hockey made its debut.