Heart break for Indian women, lose to Great Britain 3-4
Britain broke the nation's heart as the Indian women's hockey team lost to Great Britain 3-4 in a close bronze play-off match on Friday.
Britain broke the nation’s heart as the Indian women’s hockey team lost to Great Britain 3-4 in a close bronze play-off match on Friday. In spite of that, this team has secured their place in the history books. With no wins in 2016 Rio Games to competing for a medal in 2020 Summer Games, the team has come a long way.
The Indian women had already created history and surpassed all expectations by entering the semifinals of the Games for the first time.
Jo kabhi na ho paya ho, wo karke dikhaya hai,
Namumkin ko mumkin karna, is Team ne sikhaya hai!The journey has been nothing short of inspirational. 💙#HaiTayyar #IndiaKaGame #Tokyo2020 #TeamIndia #TokyoTogether #StrongerTogether #HockeyInvites #WeAreTeamIndia #Hockey pic.twitter.com/HYOWoz1Asn
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 6, 2021
But the maiden Olympic medal remained out of bounds as world no.4 Great Britain, who were gold-winners in the 2016 Rio Games, came out on top in the pulsating encounter.
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The heartbreak came a day after the Indian men’s team ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching bronze with a 5-4 win over Germany.
The Indians played their hearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at halftime.
But a desperate Great Britain gave their everything in the second half and scored two goals to snatch the match from India’s hands.
Also read: When bronze glows like gold: India’s hockey team wins medal after 41 years
India scored three goals in a span of five minutes through Gurjit Kaur (25th, 26th minutes) and Vandana Katariya (29th) to stun Great Britain.
But the Britishers found the net four times through Elena Rayer (16th), Sarah Robertson (24th), skipper Hollie Pearne-Webb (35th) and Grace Balsdon (48th) to emerge winners.
Indias best performance in the Olympics was a fourth-place finish in the 1980 Moscow Games. In that edition, there were no semifinals as only six teams competed in a round-robin format with the top two featuring in the final.
