They have already exceeded all expectations and the Indian women’s hockey team will look to go ahead and claim their maiden podium place at the Olympics when they take on Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off here on Friday. The men’s team rewrote history on Thursday as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, beating Germany 5-4 to win a bronze medal in a sit-of-the-seat play-off match. And having already registered their best ever Olympic performance, Indian women would be looking to double the nation’s happiness on Friday.
But it would be easy for the Indians to tell as they were beaten 1-4 by Great Britain, who were the defending champions, in the pool stages. Having failed to emulate their gold-winning performance in Rio five years ago, Great Britain will be desperate to sign off on their campaign with a podium finish, at least from here. But India could win hearts by the fact that unlike the final score-line, it was a close match against Great Britain in the pool stages. The Indian women’s hockey team missed many chances in that match and could have made it a close match if they had shown better finishing skills.
The difference between the two teams was that India had the better share of opportunities but Great Britain used more opportunities that came their way. India took eight penalty corners in the match but converted only one. Great Britain also did not have a great success rate from set pieces as they netted only once out of six of their earnings.
Their spirited performance against world number two Argentina in the semi-finals will give the Indians a lot of confidence, even if they lost the match 1-2. The Indians fought bravely and gave Argentina a run for their money, but were guilty of awarding penalty corners at the crucial juncture of the match which ultimately proved costly. With nothing to lose from here, world number 7 India will have to find their chances against world number 4 Great Britain. There is no pressure on them as 18 fearless and determined women had already done the unimaginable when they beat three-time champions Australia 1-0 to enter the Olympic semi-finals for the first time.
India’s best performance at the Olympics dates back to the 1980 Moscow Games where they finished fourth out of six teams. In that edition of the Games, women’s hockey made its Olympic debut and the games were played in a round-robin format, with the top two teams qualifying for the final.
Despite the heart-wrenching defeat against Argentina, India head coach Sjoerd Marijne is focusing on the job ahead. “We came here to win medals and there is still one (available). Now it’s about recovery, about mindset. The good thing is that it is not always good that we have lost a lot in the past but we have also learned to deal with the loss. He also said that the competition is not over for Indians yet. “The tournament is not over yet. We still have a chance to win bronze. An Olympic medal is a medal. If you win gold it is good but then There is also a bronze medal, so we will fight for that medal and we will focus on the next match.” The Netherlands will take on Argentina in the final on Friday.
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