Tokyo: The Indian women’s hockey team on Saturday qualified for the Olympic quarterfinals after 41 years as the team thrashed South Africa 4-3.
Vandana Kataria hit a hat-trick in India’s win against South Africa, while Neha Goyal was the other goal-scorer for the Indians.
South African captain Erin Hunter, Marijne Marais and Taryn Glasby scored for their side.
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Great Britain later beat Ireland 2–0 to ensure entry into the knockout stage.
With this win, India ended Group A league proceedings in fourth place with six points after consecutive victories over Ireland and South Africa.
India will now take on Pool B toppers Australia in the quarter-finals on Monday.
The top four teams from each pool made it to the knockout stage.
The last time the Indian women’s team’s best performance at the Olympics was in 1980 in Moscow when they reached the semi-finals.
The side, however, finished in fourth place.
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“Today’s game was really tough. South Africa gave us a really good fight. He changed his chances in the circle. Defensively, we can be a lot better,” PTI quoted Indian captain Rani as saying.
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