Indian Women’s hockey team qualified for the Olympics semi-final after defeating the Australian team 1-0 in the quarterfinals. The Indian women’s hockey team registered a historic victory at the Tokyo Olympics. Indian women’s hockey team scored the victory goal in the 22nd minute of the game. The goal was scored by Gurjit Kaur scored from a short corner.
After losses against Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain, India staged a great comeback to secure its place in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics. The women’s hockey team created history by becoming the first-ever Indian women’s team to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics. Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after defeating the United States by 6-5 in the qualifiers. Australian team gained back-to-back three penalty corners, but the Indian defence, led by Savita and Deep Grace Ekka, stood strong in front of the goal. The Australian team was surprised by India’s pace and determination and therefore they panicked while defending.
In the last eight minutes of the game, the Indian team was under tremendous pressure. The Australian team had secured four more penalty corners, but they failed to breach the Indian defence.
Gurjit said they are very happy. Qualifying for the semi-finals is the result of the hard work that they had put in for several days. In 1980, they were qualified for the Games but this time, they made the semi-finals. It is a proud moment for them. Their team is just like their family, they always support each other and found support from the country as well. she further added.
Meanwhile, on August 1, 2021, the Indian men’s hockey team, defeated Britain by 3-1 in the quarter-final to secure its spot in the semi-finals at Tokyo Olympics. Indian hockey team led by Manpreet Singh has created history at the Tokyo Olympics. The team qualified for the semi-finals for the first time since the 1972 Olympics. Goals from Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Hardik Singh made sure that India reached their first Olympic semi-final since the 1972 Games. It became challenging for India when skipper Manpreet Singh was suspended for six minutes, and he had to sit out.
Britain got the advantage of Manpreet’s suspension. But they did not make it count as Hardik Singh scored the third goal in the 57th minute. In the final three minutes despite pushing continuously, Britain was unable to score another goal and was eliminated. Indian players became emotional on the turf after they made it to the semi-finals.
Manpreet Singh said they are very happy because they reached the semi-final after a long time. The tournament is still remaining and they need to keep their feet on the ground and focus on the next match. said Manpreet.
This is a very big day for India, both the hockey teams have reached the semi-finals and it is a really big accomplishment. They used to meet them when both men’s and women’s teams were in Bengaluru. Their confidence was always high, they knew that they would reach the semi-finals, only two steps are remaining to win but reaching the semi-finals is a very big accomplishment, said former Sports Minister Rijiju. Indian Men’s hockey team has reached the semi-finals after 49 years. It is a very big thing and as a nation, everyone should celebrate, he added.
The gold medal matches of both the men’s and women’s teams will take place on August 6 and 7 respectively.
