Hockey (women's), Olympics: Team India loses the bronze medal match
India missed out on securing their first-ever medal at Olympics in women's hockey. The Indian women's side lost 3-4 to Great Britain in the bronze medal match of the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Although Gurjit Kaur helped India make a comeback in the second quarter, they lost the lead eventually. On Thursday, the Indian men had clinched their first Olympic medal after 41 years.
Great Britain drew first blood at the start of the second quarter, with Elena Sian Rayer at the helm. Sarah Robertson added another for GB to make it 2-0. Gurjit Kaur brought back India in the hunt before she restored parity with another one. Vandana Kataria then helped India take a 3-2 lead. Great Britain added two more goals to get back the lead.
India conceded a number of penalty-corners in the fourth quarter but Savita Punia saved most of them. Meanwhile, Udita received a yellow card for a challenge. After a while, India were down to 10 players again, with another player receiving a green card.
The 1980 Moscow Olympics saw the inaugural women's hockey tournament. This was India women's only campaign in hockey till they qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics. However, India were eliminated in the group stage, where they finished sixth. And now, the Indian women's side finishes fourth, having been knocked out by Great Britain in the bronze medal match.
This was India's best run in women's hockey at an Olympics since the 1980 edition. They finished the group stage at fourth place with six points. The Rani Rampal-led side had earlier suffered three back-to-back defeats to Netherlands, Germany, and Great Britain. Thereafter, India overcame Ireland and South Africa. They defeated Australia in the quarter-final but lost to Argentina in the semis.
