Tears of joy not just from the players but the coaching staff were seen after Indian women’s hockey made the biggest upset by beating hot favorite Australia 1-0 in the quarter-finals. India’s women’s hockey team who were down and out in the first three matches and their qualification depended on other teams fortunes. Luck was certainly India’s way because the odds of them qualifying was 10:1.
Indian women Olympians are on a spree this time as 3 Indian women have already won the medals and it won’t be a surprise if the Indian women’s hockey team brings home a medal. The hopes of a medal are high now as they have beaten the tournament favorite and one will have to appreciate the efforts of custodian Savita Punia. England had 8 penalty corners and she saved them all one after the other. Australia didn’t attack much as they would have liked but India’s defending was 10 on 10.
The women’s hockey team has rewritten the history books today as this is thus far the biggest day of women’s hockey in India. Gurjit Kaur scored the lone goal of the match. This was India’s women’s third time at the Olympics and they are in the last 4. They will take on Argentina who have knocked out Germany 3-0. The road from here is tough but if luck favors them once again, Indian women will not come back home empty hands. Just like Men’s hockey team, the women’s hockey team also are just one win away from a podium finish.
India started off the 11th day of the Olympics on a bad note as Dutee Chand failed to qualify for the finals. The shooting which has been laggard also failed in the last event as Aishwarya Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput failed to qualify for the finals. Indian women’s hockey team was not so talked about because they qualified only because other teams didn’t do well. On the matches that they lost, they lost them so badly that a comeback looked impossible.
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Rani Rampal has led from the front as during the last few minutes she asked her teammates to just clear the ball as even if they don’t score they will not let Australia score. A determined Rani Rampal’s team has gone through and a medal will change the fortune of women’s hockey in India. A lot of corporate participation and money from the sports authority of India will be put forward to develop the Indian women’s hockey team. Wishes started coming in as soon as India won the quarter-finals as this win was truly special because no one ever expected this.
The goal was more of luck as there were 2 deflections but who cares because what matters is the ball touching the net. A sheer physical presence in the women’s team has made all the difference and this Indian women’s hockey team is looking fitter than ever. India demands a podium finish from the Indian women’s hockey team even if not the Gold.
