Tokyo: India’s history-making women’s hockey team failed to secure its maiden Olympic medal after losing 3-4 to Great Britain in a bronze play-off match at the ongoing Games on Friday. By entering the semifinals for the first time, the Indian women had already created history and surpassed all expectations. But the chance to take an Olympic medal remains out of reach as world number four Great Britain, which won gold in the 2016 Rio Games, prevailed in the thrilling match.
Heartbreak comes after India’s men’s team ended its 41-year medal drought by defeating Germany in a 5-4 victory on Monday.
At halftime, the Indians led 3-2 after overcoming a two-goal deficit. A desperate Great Britain gave everything in the second half and scored two goals to win the match.
To stun Great Britain, India scored three goals in five minutes through Gurjit Kaur (25th, 26th minutes) and Vandana Katariya (29th). However, the British were able to score four times through Elena Rayer (16th), Sarah Riobertson (24th), skipper Hollie Pearne-Webb (35th), and Grace Baldson (48th) to come out on top.
India’s best performance in the Olympics was 4th place in the 1980 Moscow Games. There were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams competed in a round-robin format with the top two teams making the finals.
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