Tokyo 2020: Indian women’s hockey team chase history in bronze match

The Indian eves will take on Great Britain at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Friday with the hopes of winning their first-ever Olympic medal.

Indian women's hockey team in a file photo. (Courtesy: Hockey India/Twitter)
By Karthik Raman | Aug 5, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Indian women’s hockey team will face Great Britain on Friday in a bid to win their first-ever Olympic medal. The women’s hockey team played their hearts out in the Tokyo Olympics last four clash against Argentina at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Wednesday, but, the Indian eves went down 2-1 in their first-ever Olympic semi-final. However, an Olympic medal hope is still alive for the Indian women’s hockey team as they will take on World Number 4 Great Britain in the bronze medal match on Friday.

The Indian women’s hockey chief coach Sjoerd Marijne felt that the team played with the right spirit in the semi-final against Argentina. “We were really competitive against Argentina. It was about converting the small opportunities and we converted a Penalty Corner into a goal. We were very close so the loss is hurting the team very much, but now it’s about recovery and looking forward to the next match,” he added.

“We can still win a medal. I am proud of the way the girls performed against Argentina. They played an Olympic semi-final for the first time and it’s not easy. We played with the right spirit and I am very happy with that,” said Marijne.

‘We have to follow our processes’

Women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal is confident that the national side will give everything it has on Friday to win its first Olympic medal. “We played really well against Argentina, however, it was disappointing not to book a place in the Olympic final. We have performed really well in this tournament and we still have a chance to win a medal. We are confident about our individual games and we will give everything we have to win our first Olympic medal. We have a chance to make history on Friday,” said Rani.

The skipper believes that in order to win the match, the team will have to stay in the moment and focus on executing their plans. “It’ll be all about staying in the moment for us. We have to follow our processes and if we execute our plans properly, we will be able to get a good result in the bronze medal match. We defeated Great Britain in our last encounter against them in February 2020 so we will take a lot of confidence from that match,” said the forward.

India will take on Great Britain at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on Friday (6th August) at 07:00 hrs IST / 10:30 hrs JST.