Tokyo [Japan], August 6 (ANI): Indian women’s hockey team went down fighting against Great Britain 3-4 in the bronze medal match here at Oi Hockey Stadium — North Pitch on Friday. With this loss, the Indian women’s team finished fourth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, meanwhile, team Great Britain captured their third consecutive Olympic medal.

Great Britain started the match with a storming pace giving no chance whatsoever to the Indian forwards and in sequence creating very good opportunities for their forward line. But Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia rose to the occasion with some brilliant saves and made sure to lead the team goalless into the second quarter. The GB team soon made their dominance count as in second quarter after a brilliant run from the right flank by ES Rayer, they forced an own goal from Indian defender Deep Grace Ekka. Soon, the GB team doubled their lead via a beautiful pacy field goal by Sarah Robertson after Nisha got the green card.

Indian team then dramatically shifted their gears and scored two goals in quick succession — both via penalty corners through Gurjit Kaur — to level the match against Britain. Drag flicker Gurjit struck both PC to the left of Maddy Hinch and defence, giving them no chance whatsoever to even react. Vandana Katariya in the dying minutes of the first half gave the Indian team a very crucial lead with an absolute poacher of a finish after she latched on to a loose ball inside the D. India led Great Britain 3-2 going into the second half.

The second half saw more resolve from GB forwards. As they again stormed into the right flank and Pearne-Webb utilised a brilliant move as she came with a captain’s magic to equalise for the European team. A rough tackle in the D by Udita saw India going down to 10 players for 5 mins after she received the yellow card, early in quarter 4. Soon, the pressure and one-player advantage paid for Britain as Baldson gave the team lead through PC. Indian forwards flocked GB’s D in the dying moments of the match but the Rio 2016 gold medalists made sure to hold their nerves and see the team through to win the bronze.

Our women’s team’s success will motivate young daughters to take up hockey, excel in it: PM Modi

Stating that the recent performance of the Indian women’s hockey team at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics reflects the spirit of New India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the team is ‘blessed with remarkable courage, skill and resilience’, adding that its success will inspire the country’s women to not only to take up the sport as a profession but also to excel in it. He further stated that the great performance of the women’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 shall always be remembered.

“We will always remember the great performance of our Women’s Hockey Team at #Tokyo2020. They gave their best throughout. Each and every member of the team is blessed with remarkable courage, skill and resilience. India is proud of this outstanding team,” PM Modi tweeted.

“We narrowly missed a medal in Women’s Hockey but this team reflects the spirit of New India- where we give our best and scale new frontiers. More importantly, their success at #Tokyo2020 will motivate young daughters of India to take up Hockey and excel in it. Proud of this team,” PM Modi added in another tweet.

Women’s hockey team won hearts of every Indian: President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said the Indian women’s hockey team has won the hearts of every Indian with their stellar performance. “Indian Women’s Hockey team excelled on the field and won the hearts of every Indian with their stellar performance. We are proud of you all,” Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.

Stating that the recent performance of the Indian women’s hockey team at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics reflects the spirit of New India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the team is ‘blessed with remarkable courage, skill and resilience’, and added that its success will inspire the country’s women to not only to take up the sport as a profession but also to excel in it. He further said that the great performance of the women’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 shall always be remembered.

A giant leap of faith and fighting spirit shown by women’s hockey team, says Anurag Thakur

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur praised the Indian women’s hockey team for their valiant display in the closely fought bronze medal match of the Tokyo Olympics against Great Britain at Oi Hockey Stadium.

Indian women’s hockey team went down fighting against Great Britain 3-4 on Friday. With this loss, the Indian women’s team finished fourth while team Great Britain captured their third consecutive Olympic medal.
“India’s daughters — our determined athletes; we are immensely proud of you! A giant leap of faith & fighting spirit by our women’s hockey team; a legacy that will inspire us to do even better! You have shown us the way,” Anurag Thakur tweeted.

The Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju also came forward to praise the women’s team as he wrote: “India’s golden period in hockey has returned. Don’t break down girls, you all played superb at #Tokyo2020 by reaching top 4 in the world! I appreciate our Women’s Hockey for making India proud. #Cheer4India !!”

Performance of women’s hockey team will inspire many girls: Captain Rani Rampal’s father

After the Indian Women’s Hockey team’s defeat against Great Britain in the bronze medal clash at Tokyo Olympics, Captain Rani Rampal‘s father on Friday said that it is not a defeat but a win for the effort put in by the team and their performance will inspire many girls in future. Rani’s father Rampal was pleased with the team’s Tokyo Olympics journey and said that she will be welcomed happily on her return.

“This is not a defeat but a win for the effort put in by the women’s hockey team. Rani will be welcomed happily on her return. The women’s hockey team will inspire many girls in future,” Rampal told ANI.
While player Neha Goyal’s mother Savitri Devi said that winning and losing is a part of the game and the team will win again in future. “Winning and losing is a part of the game. I’m sure that the team will win again,” Goyal’s mother said.

Player Gurjeet Kaur’s brother Gurucharan Singh said that even though the team lost, it was still a matter of pride to witness girls play at this level. “It is not really a loss. It’s a matter of pride for us to see our girls reach so far,” said Gurucharan, whose sister scored 2 goals in the match.

Gurjeet’s father also said that they had been using their generator to watch the match on TV since there was no electricity since last night. “There is no electricity since last night. We are using a generator to watch the match. It does not matter. We just want our daughter and Team India to bring home a bronze medal today,” said Satnam Singh before the match.

The Indian Women’s Hockey team finished at fourth position after losing their semi-final bout to Great Britain by a margin of 3-4 at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday. Earlier, India had lost to Argentina by a margin of 2-1, thus setting up a bronze medal clash versus Great Britain.

Haryana govt to give Rs 50 lakh to each Indian women’s hockey team player from state: CM Khattar

The Haryana government will give Rs 50 lakh to each player of the Indian women’s hockey team from the state and the same amount to those who ranked fourth in the Olympics events from the state, said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday.
Khattar tweeted, “We give Rs 6 crore to Gold medal winners, Rs 4 crore to Silver medal winners, and Rs 2.5 crore to Bronze medal winners. For the first time, we have decided to give Rs 50 lakh each to the players who finished fourth.”
Apart from this, he further announced to give Rs 10 lakh each to all the players who participated in Olympics from Haryana.

Mizoram CM announces government job, cash reward, plot of land for hockey player Lalremsiami

Mizoram government has offered a government job and a house plot to Indian women’s hockey player Lalremsiami for her participation at the Tokyo Olympics.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said Lalremsiami will be rewarded with Rs 25 lakh cash incentive. “Our hockey star Lalremsiami will be offered a government job and will be given a house plot at her hometown. Govt of Mizoram had sanctioned Rs. 20 lakh for her preparation, will reward her with another Rs 25 lakh cash incentive for her participation at the Tokyo Olympics 2020,” Zoramthanga said in a tweet.

The Indian women’s team played their hearts out in the Bronze medal match against Great Britain on Friday. However, they couldn’t achieve a podium finish after coming tantalizingly close.
The Rio Olympics Gold Medallists Great Britain registered a 4-3 victory over the Indians.
Lalremsiami, the 21-year-old striker, who hails from Kolasib, Mizoram, created history when she became the first female player from the state to make it to the Olympics. Before breaking into the senior team, Lalremsiami represented the India U-18 side at the Asian Youth Olympic Games Qualifier held in Bangkok, where she scored as many as seven goals to help the team bag the silver medal.

Indian women’s hockey team players from Jharkhand to get Rs 50 lakh each, pucca houses: CM Soren

Indian women’s hockey team players hailing from Jharkhand will receive Rs 50 lakh each and the government will build pucca houses at the place of their ancestral homes, announced Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday.

CM said that the performances of the daughters were amazing.” #TokyoOlympics Even though the Indian women’s hockey team did not get a bronze medal, the performance of the daughters of Jharkhand was amazing. The government of Jharkhand will give players included in the team, 50-50 lakhs and will convert everyone’s ancestral house into a pucca house: Mr @HemantSorenJMM,” Soren tweeted. “I salute the entire Indian women’s hockey team. The daughters of Jharkhand and my sisters made a wonderful contribution to the performance of the Indian women’s team. The Jharkhand government had already announced before the start of the Olympics that two crore rupees would be given to the players of the state for winning gold, one crore for winning silver and 50 lakh rupees for winning bronze,” said by Chief Minister Office (CMO).

“The Indian women’s hockey team created history by reaching the semi-finals and proved with their zeal that they have the ability to compete with the best team in the world. There is an incomparable contribution of every player, coach and all the support staff in taking the Indian women’s team to this point, I and the whole of Jharkhand express my gratitude from the bottom of my heart and congratulations for the excellent performance and best wishes for the future,” it further stated. “The Jharkhand government is determined to provide all kinds of facilities to the players coming forward in the field of sports. Recently, our government has provided government jobs to sportspersons who have won medals at the international level,” CMO added. (ANI)

Tokyo Olympics: We have inspired a nation, says Indian women’s hockey coach Marijne

The Indian women’s hockey team might have lost the bronze medal match in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics but head coach Sjoerd Marijne feels that the Girls in Blue has inspired lots of women in India to take up sports.
The Indian women’s team played their hearts out in the Bronze medal match against Great Britain on Friday, however, they couldn’t achieve a podium finish after coming tantalizingly close. The Rio Olympics Gold Medallists Great Britain registered a 4-3 victory over the Indians.

Post the heart-breaking loss, chief coach Sjoerd Marijne during a virtual media conference said, “We always had the belief that we can win a medal and we were really close. The girls believing in themselves makes me really proud.” “I think that was one of the biggest steps we made. Every girl in the team has her own story and every story is amazing. Let’s hope that a lot of women in India have seen this Indian team’s performance and are inspired by the team to start playing hockey or any other sport,” he added.

Marijne also said the Indian team has won something more than a medal, “We showed a fighting spirit in the Bronze Medal match against Great Britain, but it wasn’t enough.” “We gave away too many PCs and in these kinds of matches, you have to convert all your PCs into goals and I must say Gurjit (Kaur) did really well. I told the team that we didn’t win a medal, but we achieved something bigger than a medal and that’s inspiring an entire nation,” the coach added. Asked about the turning point for the Indian team in the Olympics, Marijne said, “After the Pool match against Great Britain, I was extremely angry with the team. I told the team that if you go down then show that you really tried and then go down.” “I told the team that they will have to do better and I think the team’s mindset transformed after that match. I and Janneke had a lot of individual meetings with the girls and they found the key for the next matches themselves. I think that was an important part of the tournament for us,” he pointed out.

Marijne stressed the fact that staying in the moment was very important for the Indian team in the Olympics, “We finished among the top four in this competition and every team is now taking us seriously. I think that is a big step.
“We have always looked to stay in the moment and be busy with our task. We have tried to develop this mindset for a long time. We wanted to avoid thinking about winning or losing because that makes you nervous and we wanted to stay away from that,” said Marijne.

During the media conference, the Indian women’s hockey team’s analytical coach Janneke Schopman said that she has been impressed with the team’s desire to always get better. “What I have seen in this Indian team is their desire to learn. They ask a lot of questions and are willing to try a lot of things, which is quite impressive. The girls want to learn and want to improve. “As a Coach, you want your team to have success, but for me, it was great to see how the team fought and how they played as a team. It’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of this team because of their mindset, wanting to learn, to get better, to fall, but to get back up. It’s truly been amazing,” said Schopman. (ANI)